Can I use a PVC ball valve for the water main at the street?

Question

I noticed some water seeping up from the ground inline of my water main and to my surprise, under the grass was another valve that I never knew was there. It is PVC and about 3 feet after the main shutoff valve at the street.

It is 1" PVC with a PVC ball valve going to the water meter I assume. The valve has a pinhole leak and I need to replace it. I've replaced many sprinkler pipes before but never anything to do with the water main.

My question is do I repair this line with a normal PVC ball valve and normal PVC glue or do I need to use something else in this situation?

Answer 1

I would not use a PVC valve. Those components need to be heavy-duty, as they're buried and remain in place for decades. Failure means expensive water waste, time and messy effort.

Your water line is probably polyethylene (Pex), and not PVC. Pex is much more flexible and durable than PVC. This calls for clamped connections to brass/bronze hardware.

To give you some idea what I mean by heavy duty, here's what happened to one of my properties last year. My neighbor's brass shutoff valve sprung a pinhole leak. The water jet fanned out and cut through the metal over time. It created a thin slice through the coupler that appeared as though it was made with a hacksaw.

Once the leak grew strong enough it dug through the soil for several inches and ground all the way through my property's valve, with the aid of sand from the soil, creating a large divot in the brass.

I wouldn't mess with PVC unless you want to do the job again in a few years.