I am replacing the old Galv and copper supply lines with PEX and before I connect to the city supply, I am told I need to disinfect the lines.

Can anyone tell me what type of solution I should use and for how long?

I see one reference to this and it call for full strength bleach.

Thanks

The only time I have ever had to clean/disinfect lines is when I was doing a large commercial plumbing project (restaurant/hospital, etc.). There is also never a need to use more than a 10%-20% bleach solution to disinfect as well as kill all bacteria in the lines (new pex... why are you disinfecting new pex..? )

Like I said... residentially, this just isn't done. Instead, just run the water for a period to the TUB spout or laundry tub (something without an aerator on spout end) and then run water at all other fixtures. The idea here is to purge line of sediment/debris and air. That should be all you need to do.

If some inspector is insisting that this be done... I would contact the pex pipe company and ask them what they suggest... I have never had to disinfect PEX... sounds ridiculous to me!!.

Good luck! Mark

Mark's right on tarrget. In all the years I've been out there water piping I have never had to disinfect any water systems that were installed in residential construction, no mater what material the pipes. As Mark pointed out, some commercial jobs require you to load the system up with a weak solution of bleach and flush the lines out. Good luck, Tom

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Originally Posted by CarlyTD

I am replacing the old Galv and copper supply lines with PEX and before I connect to the city supply, I am told I need to disinfect the lines.

Can anyone tell me what type of solution I should use and for how long?

I see one reference to this and it call for full strength bleach.

Thanks

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Most PEX tubing manufactured in the last 5 or 6 years has a bactericide coating on the inside of the tubing, so I'm unsure why you would want or need to disinfect it.

If this is a requirement of the local authority, you might want to point out to them that introducing a disinfectant into the system will damage the bactericide and likely void any warranties offered by the manufacturer.