Technical Blog

Welcome to John’s Blog. Answers to frequently asked questions are periodically posted here. The objective is to share information about PVC pipe with readers as well as with utilities, design engineers and pipe installers. The blog provides the latest information on PVC pipe design, installation, and application for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.

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John Houle: Senior Technical Consultant, PVC Pipe Industry

John Houle holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri and an MBA from the University of Oregon. He has more than 25 years of experience in the plastic pipe industry in applications engineering, market development, forensic analysis, technical writing, and standards development.

Reasons Why Water Utilities Choose PVC Pipe

Posted By John Houle on Jan 14, 2016

Reasons Why Water Utilities Choose PVC PipeWater utilities have the choice of several materials for their pipe systems. For more than 70 years, PVC’s share of the municipal water market has increased steadily at the expense of iron and other pressure-pipe materials.

The reasons why so many utilities use PVC pipe include:
• Lower initial cost
• Ease of installation
• Compatibility with existing pipe inventories
• Availability of trenchless options
• Design life of 100+ years

For discussion of these and other reasons for PVC’s growth, click here to read my Tech Brief.