Skip to content
Know Your Pipes A reference to home pipe and fittings A–ZDid you know
Browse categories

Kitec pipe

Entry in Drain pipe and retired pipe · Updated · Written by the Know Your Pipes editors from the sources listed under References

Kitec plumbing is a multilayer water supply system made by IPEX, built mainly from PEX-AL-PEX pipe (an aluminum layer between layers of cross-linked polyethylene) joined with brass fittings.[1][3] The fittings proved prone to dezincification and leaks, which led to class actions in the United States and Canada.[1][3]

The settlement defines the "Kitec System" broadly: PEX-AL-PEX, PE-AL-PE and PERT-AL-PERT pipe, plain PEX pipe, valves, fittings and components made by or for IPEX.[1] Besides Kitec, it was sold as PlumbBetter, IPEX AQUA, WarmRite, Kitec XPA, AmbioComfort, XPA, KERR Controls and Plomberie Améliorée.[1]

1 Construction

The aluminum layer in the pipe wall was meant to stop oxygen diffusing into the water system.[3] The brass fittings were attached to the pipe with compression rings or clamps.[3] Related all-plastic tubing is described under PEX pipe.

2 Why the fittings failed

The leaks came mainly from the brass. In a forensic engineering review of one housing area of 34,000 homes, the failed fittings were a high-zinc duplex brass of 35 to 40% zinc, and they were leaking within three to six years.[3] The failure was uniform-layer dezincification: zinc leaches out of the alloy and leaves a porous, weak copper "sponge" that leaks at the joints.[3] The leached zinc can also build mounds of zinc oxide inside the fitting that choke the flow.[3]

The same review lists conditions that speed the process: high temperature, slow or stagnant water, low aeration, brass above 15% zinc and high chloride in the water.[3] Water in that area was considered non-corrosive to other metals but proved aggressive to the high-zinc brass.[3] The wider topic is covered under brass fittings and dezincification.

3 Identification

Signs of a Kitec system (from the settlement administrator)
Where or whatWhat to look for
Pipe colorUsually orange for hot and blue for cold[1][2]
Pipe printA brand name such as Kitec; standards CSA B137.9/10 and ASTM F1974[1]
FittingsBrass, sometimes stamped "Kitec" or "KTC"[1]
Best places to lookNear the water heater, in the mechanical room, under sinks and vanities[1]
Early fitting failureWhite residue building up on the outside of a fitting[1]
Early pipe failureBlackening or bulging of the pipe[1]

Problems usually show first near the water heater.[1] Kitec was also sold in red, gray and black, so color alone does not confirm it.[2] Other multilayer pipe looks similar; reading pipe markings and identifying your pipes explain the print line.

4 Class settlement

The US case, In re Kitec Plumbing System Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2098), was heard in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, with parallel classes in Ontario and Quebec.[4] The settling defendants were IPEX Inc., IPEX USA LLC, IPEX USA Inc. and IPEX Distribution Inc.[1] The settlement created a US$125 million fund, less attorneys' fees and costs, for repairing buildings plumbed with Kitec, paying roughly half of the estimated repair or replacement cost per qualified leak.[1] Final approval hearings were set for November 17, 2011, in the United States and later that month and in early December in Canada.[4]

The claims deadline was January 9, 2020, and has passed.[1] The administrator reports that about 10,000 claims arrived in the weeks before the deadline and that settlement payments have since been issued.[5] The litigation did not involve health claims, and health issues were not covered.[1]

Replacing Kitec means a repipe with another supply material, such as PEX or CPVC pipe, done by a licensed plumber under permit.

See also

  • Identifying the pipes in your houseColor, scratch, magnet and print-line clues that tell lead, galvanized steel, copper, PEX, CPVC, PVC and ABS apart.
  • Brass fittings and dezincificationBrass is a copper-zinc alloy used for valves and fittings; dezincification is corrosion that removes its zinc.
  • PVC Schedule 40 pipeWhite rigid PVC pipe made to ASTM D1785; used for cold-water pressure lines outside the house and, when dual-marked, for drains.
  • PVC Schedule 80 pipeDark gray, thick-wall PVC pressure pipe; same outside diameter as Schedule 40 but a smaller bore and higher pressure rating.
  • PVC DWV and foam-core pipeWhite PVC drain, waste and vent pipe, made solid-wall (ASTM D2665) or with a lighter cellular foam core (ASTM F891); drainage only.
  • ABS pipeBlack acrylonitrile butadiene styrene drain, waste and vent pipe; solvent-cemented with ABS cement and used much like white PVC DWV.

References

  1. Kitec Settlement Claims Administrator, "Frequently Asked Questions" — kitecsettlement.com
  2. Kitec Settlement Claims Administrator, "Kitec System Photos" — kitecsettlement.com
  3. American Academy of Forensic Sciences, R.N. Anderson, "A Really Big Corrosion Litigation," Proceedings, Engineering Sciences Section C7 (2012) — aafs.org
  4. US District Court, Northern District of Texas; Ontario Superior Court of Justice; Superior Court of Québec, "Notice of Preliminary Approval of Settlement," In re Kitec Plumbing System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2098 (2011) — kitecsettlement.com
  5. Kitec Settlement Claims Administrator, "Kitec System Products Liability Settlement" (case status) — kitecsettlement.com