A new housing industry snapshot shows copper use on the rise-up by 10 percent in two years for cold water plumbing in new homes and renovations.
 
Over 600 of Australia’s largest home building companies took part in the Housing Industry Association survey.
 
Both builders and plumbers said that ‘quality’ was the reason they chose copper over plastic, with ‘less leaks’ a major factor.
 
The use of copper for gas and solar hot water connections also grew in this year’s survey.
 
“These findings come on top of other research showing that copper is now close to the cost of most plastic plumbing systems,” said John Fennell from the Copper Development Centre.Australia.
 
“The word from builders and plumbers is that the green message is also important-apart from its recyclability, copper just has a longer life with less call outs and replacements than plastic,” Mr Fennell added.
 
“The manufacturers like Crane Copper Tube and MM Kembla have also introduced smart copper piping solutions that make connections much faster.”

“International research showing copper surfaces kill bacteria and influenza germs, even swine flu, is now getting more attention too,” Mr Fennell added.