Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) Water Pipe
This information reflects our best understanding of product composition in 2021.
Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin is manufactured by adding additional chlorine molecules to a polyvinyl chloride homopolymer, typically via a free radical chlorination reaction. This process increases the chlorine atom content from...
Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin is manufactured by adding additional chlorine molecules to a polyvinyl chloride homopolymer, typically via a free radical chlorination reaction. This process increases the chlorine atom content from about 57% weight of a standard PVC polymer to between 63 and 69% weight of the CPVC polymer. CPVC pipes have several performance benefits over standard PVC pipes. They can withstand higher temperatures, and they have improved fire and corrosion resistance. They are typically designed to operate at a maximum temperature of 180°F at 100 psi. CPVC pipes can be used for hot and cold water distribution systems for single and multifamily buildings as well as many industrial process piping applications. CPVC pipes come in a wide range of copper tube sizes (CTS) as well as schedule 40 and schedule 80 iron pipe sizes (IPS). Joints are typically fused together using solvent cement, which is a combination of CPVC resin and solvents. Some applications also require the use of a primer along with the solvent cement, while threaded connections require the use of PTFE tape. These accessory products may introduce additional hazards but are outside the scope of this CP.