Materials for water supply and drainage systems

The United Nations’ sustainable development goals and other international efforts to improve water safety have intensified pressure on home builders and other construction-industry firms providing residential and sewage infrastructure to offer improved water safety, reduced emissions of carbon dioxide, and sustainable management of water resources. The goal of enhancing water safety, in particular, has led to a worldwide strengthening of regulatory standards for materials that come into contact with water, with the specific goal of preventing contamination by lead and other toxic eluents that leach into water from brass, copper, and other metals conventionally used to form pipes.

In addition, growing construction of housing, buildings, and infrastructure has increased demand for drinking-water systems, particularly in developing countries. As a result, home builders and other construction-industry firms face a difficult challenge: to take maximal advantage—as appropriate for specific individual circumstances—of materials satisfying regulatory standards around the world, all while navigating the increasing complexities of today’s supply chains.

In this environment, product designers have increasingly sought to replace metals with plastics as constituent materials for components designed to make contact with drinking water—including components that may seem invisible in our daily lives, such as water-use meters, faucets, showers, pipes, junctions, and filters.

But the advantages of switching to resin materials are not limited to protection against toxic eluents and contaminants; the unique properties of resins—including their good mechanical properties, their chemical resistance, and the fact that they do not rust—serve to extend product lifetimes, while their lower weight reduces the cost and environmental impact of shipping products.