Plumbing Information

Potable Water System

Orange County supplies potable water from an underground reservoir called the Floridan Aquifer. It's primarily fed by rainwater and filtered by sand and rock in a natural filtering process. According to the county, it needs little or no treatment other than disinfection and aeration to remove hydrogen sulfide. The disinfection is achieved by adding chlorine to the water, which is very harsh on your home's water distribution system, severely cutting the service life of your system and fixtures.

Polybutylene

In the early 1980s, polybutylene pipe was used in many homes up until 1995 when it was removed from the market. It is no longer allowed by plumbing code, as it was found that chlorine in the water caused the pipe to crack and fail, leading to major water damage.

Copper Pipes

Most homes in the Orlando area have copper pipes that run under the concrete slab. It's a good idea to shut off every fixture in the home and check the meter to make sure there's no water flowing. Most meters in Orlando, Florida have a leak indicator—usually a small triangle that will spin when water is flowing. If you have a leak, the movement on the indicator will depend on the size of the leak, so pay close attention. You can put a piece of painter's tape close to one of the points of the triangle and mark it with a pen to help you decide if it's moving.

If you find the leak indicator spinning and you're sure all the water in the home is off, there's a good chance your home is one of many in the Orlando, FL area that have a slab leak. A slab leak could be repaired, but it's not recommended due to the high chance of another leak appearing. The best solution would be a re-pipe.

Copper used under slab home construction is Type M and comes in a roll—in the field we call it soft copper. It doesn't hold up well in the Florida ground. We see a lot of failures on the hot side of the water distribution system.

CPVC

CPVC can become brittle over time, and if it's exposed to an extreme environment like a Florida attic in the summertime, the temperature can reach 180°F, making it less flexible and increasing the chances of a major leak and water damage.