Noveon has announced the completion of a nearly 40-year pipe pressure test on the CPVC compound it developed as the former Performance Materials division of BFGoodrich, and which is used in FlowGuard Gold® pipe and fittings.

According to the company, on Nov. 29, 1963, the R&D personnel initiated a lab test that would subject a piece of PVC pipe (that would become the forerunner for today's FlowGuard Gold CPVC plumbing system) to more than 10 times the amount of water pressure of a typical American home.

To be exact, the pipe sample remained under 791 pounds of pressure for nearly 40 years before it finally failed within the past year. Average household water pressure, in contrast, is between 60-70 pounds.

In a separate test, a piece of FlowGuard Gold CPVC pipe remained under 1,170 pounds of pressure for more than 12-1/2 years before recently failing.

"We are only required to submit 16,000 hours (667 days) of test data in order to have our pipe material pressure rated," noted Michelle Knight, R&D engineer. "Our goal is to verify the material's predicted long-term performance characteristics so that it can be used with total confidence in the field."