Need Help Plumbing Water To Garage

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thekraken

thekraken

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So my water heater, located in my garage brewery, just went out. I figured while I'm replacing it I may as well tee off the heaters cold supply line to use in the brewery, it's about time I had running water in there. the first thing that comes to mind would be to put a hose bib on it, however nearly all the hose bibs specify right on the label 'not for potable water use'. I've got a length of potable water hose but it's just too short to reach around the house to the closest hose bib.

Any advice/ideas?

This brings up another question: so I know standard garden hoses aren't supposed to be for potable water, but are all of our hose bibs not for potable water either ?
 
I'm guessing, hose bibs are made of brass that contains lead, which can leech out over time? Hence not for potable use. They must make potable ones don't you think? Ever go to a campground?

Some hoses are made for potable water, I think they're called RV hoses. However, I'm more afraid of water standing in them over time becoming a health issue.

Added: You may consider using PEX tubing for your extension. Easy to install and fairly cheap. One caveat, they cannot be exposed to sunlight or basically any other UV emitting light, such as fluorescent tubes. Which means they should be hidden behind walls or covered with an opaque layer (tape, insulation, etc.).
 
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You should not be able to find lead brass any longer. It has been mandated for awhile that all plumbing fitting are lead free. Hose bibs at any hardware store will be lead free unless they are looking for big fines. I haven't seen a leaded one in months. Sharkbite tee some pex and a sharkbite hose bib and you'll be done in minutes
 
Just about all the brass valves in the local Lowes had "This product contains lead" and "This is not meant to convey water for human consumption" or "Not intended for potable water use". The only brass valves labeled as "lead free", which just means less than some %, were some cut off valves.

I ended up buying a PVC ball valve --> PVC pipe/fittings to maneuver around the wall --> PVC to Copper pipe (push fit) adapter --> Copper pipe --> brass (lead free) tee push fitting. An overly complicated and ugly solution to a simple problem but at least it's potable.

Now that y'all mention pex I think that could simplify this mess a little bit as long as they fit these push fittings... The d*** problem is that every time I came up with a potential solution the they don't make that one last particular adapter that I needed or if they did it wasn't for potable water use...

Man, I had that Lowes employee scratching his head so hard!
 
PEX with their dedicated (clamped) couplers/reducers/adapters is relatively cheap and very easy to work with, and for a bit more money using a few Sharkbites (although pricey) won't even break the bank. C-PVC is probably next in line, then copper, as it needs solder, flux, and sweating.

I hope you've got C-PVC pipes and couplers, they are for potable water. Regular PVC is for drain pipes.

See, how a seemingly innocent expansion, while you're replacing some old piece, gets you in deep? It gets better (worse actually) when the home is over 40 years old...
 
Ha, one step ahead of you, I went ahead and bit the bullet and picked up the pex fittings, tubings and tools necessary to get the job done properly.

Pex is cheap, the crimps ain't!
 
FYI, I did exactly this on my water heater - tee and hose bib off the cold supply. Worked great, but I took it off a few months ago and the inside was really gross and gunked up. Don't know why (maybe just a result of galvanized pipe interacting with brass fittings) or if it matters in the end, but it may be worth checking into.
 
SilverZero said:
FYI, I did exactly this on my water heater - tee and hose bib off the cold supply. Worked great, but I took it off a few months ago and the inside was really gross and gunked up. Don't know why (maybe just a result of galvanized pipe interacting with brass fittings) or if it matters in the end, but it may be worth checking into.
Click to expand...

Was the water still running clear?
 
I've done this on several water heaters for RO supply, it woks fine. Good source of soft water too if you have a softener. Just use a ball valve if you're worried about the lead. I hate turning those bib gates anyway. If you DO have softener and it's for brewing, you might also look at Ting off the softener supply so you don't worry about bypassing the softener every time you want brew water.

You could use a dielectric union anywhere dissimilar metals touch, although (around here) water heaters don't last long enough to worry too much about it! I have a dielectric where the copper meets the brass, but not where the copper hits the water heater nipple.
 
I ended up teeing off the supply line and soldering in a pex adapter and using all pex fittings/valves/etc., all the pex stuff is potable. I just hated to buy a $50 crimping tool that I may never use again.

Now this brass pex adapter is soldered to a copper tee. Does this present a problem?
 
thekraken said:
I ended up teeing off the supply line and soldering in a pex adapter and using all pex fittings/valves/etc., all the pex stuff is potable. I just hated to buy a $50 crimping tool that I may never use again.

Now this brass pex adapter is soldered to a copper tee. Does this present a problem?
Click to expand...

I think it would not be a problem. Looking at the copper pipes in my basement, ALL the valves are brass.
 
I've been working in the plumbing industry for about 15 years so let me clear a couple of things up.

- There is still leaded brass available but it will always be marked non-potable. Hose bibbs are not considered a potable fixture so they can still be leaded, they just need to be marked. The lead free act went into effect at the beginning of 2014. Before that every brass fitting had lead in it.

- You do not need a dielectric fitting between copper and brass. They are similar enough that they won't harm each other. Brass and galvanized won't affect each other for a very long time. The galvanize will most likely rot out before you'd see any damage to the brass. Copper connections to galvanized is the big no-no you need to look out for.

- Regular PVC can be used for water supply but only for cold water and never inside the foundation. CPVC is rated for both cold and hot water but it becomes incredibly brittle on the hot water side after about ten years. Stay away from CPVC.

- Pex is definitely the way to go for plumbing. Residential plumbers all use pex when it's their choice. The only time copper is ever used anymore is in commercial buildings or industrial applications. If you're crimping make sure you have either pex-A or pex-B. Do not install pex-C as it will split over time.
 
I went with Pex and sharkbites in my garage, very easy to work with and fairly cheap
 
thekraken said:
I ended up teeing off the supply line and soldering in a pex adapter and using all pex fittings/valves/etc., all the pex stuff is potable. I just hated to buy a $50 crimping tool that I may never use again.

Now this brass pex adapter is soldered to a copper tee. Does this present a problem?
Click to expand...

The inexpensive crimper I have been using was $26 (Souix Chief) at Menards and includes 1/2" and 3/4" dies. It is NOT easy to use in tight spaces and in fact cannot be used between my floor joists (16" on center) but I have now done about 2.5 houses with it.

I will never, ever go back to anything else. PEX is just that painless to work with.
 
NateLTB said:
I've been working in the plumbing industry for about 15 years so let me clear a couple of things up.

- There is still leaded brass available but it will always be marked non-potable. Hose bibbs are not considered a potable fixture so they can still be leaded, they just need to be marked. The lead free act went into effect at the beginning of 2014. Before that every brass fitting had lead in it.

- You do not need a dielectric fitting between copper and brass. They are similar enough that they won't harm each other. Brass and galvanized won't affect each other for a very long time. The galvanize will most likely rot out before you'd see any damage to the brass. Copper connections to galvanized is the big no-no you need to look out for.

- Regular PVC can be used for water supply but only for cold water and never inside the foundation. CPVC is rated for both cold and hot water but it becomes incredibly brittle on the hot water side after about ten years. Stay away from CPVC.

- Pex is definitely the way to go for plumbing. Residential plumbers all use pex when it's their choice. The only time copper is ever used anymore is in commercial buildings or industrial applications. If you're crimping make sure you have either pex-A or pex-B. Do not install pex-C as it will split over time.
Click to expand...

Great, thanks for the info. I guess I need to go back and see what which letter pex I used. I just grabbed the 1/2" white pex sticks off the shelf at Lowes, with my luck I bet it'll be type c.

This should be what I used: http://www.lowes.com/pd_308040-61002-APPW1012_1z10xvt__?productId=3660054&pl=1
 
My advice would be to tap off the hot side too. You'll be amazed how often hot water is handy for cleaning.

I tee'd off the hot and cold, using PEX, with inline shut-offs and then ran that to a small wall mount style wash sink faucet threaded for a hose. I use the two inline valves for mixing.
 
donbrew said:
I know I have seen SS hose bibs.

Perhaps an additional reason for nonpotable is the rubber gasket.
Click to expand...

I wound up using a 1/2" pex barb to 1/2" npt fitting, and then a 1/2" npt to hose bib (potable) brass fitting.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
My advice would be to tap off the hot side too. You'll be amazed how often hot water is handy for cleaning.

I tee'd off the hot and cold, using PEX, with inline shut-offs and then ran that to a small wall mount style wash sink faucet threaded for a hose. I use the two inline valves for mixing.
Click to expand...

Think you can snap a picture of your faucet setup?
 

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