Uponor PEX Lawsuit Alleges ‘Defective’ AquaPEX Pipes Can Crack, Leak Just Years After Installation

A proposed class action lawsuit alleges the now-discontinued red, white and blue PEX pipes made by Uponor are prone to oxidation and can fail within three to 10 years after installation, causing major headaches for property owners who expect potable water piping systems to last a lifetime.

The 77-page Uponor PEX lawsuit states that the company’s AquaPEX pipes are made of polyethylene, which is vulnerable to oxidation and as a result can degrade prematurely. Though blending antioxidants into the polyethylene PEX piping is meant to prevent premature degradation, the class action suit claims Uponor’s method of doing so fails to uniformly mix the antioxidants with the polyethylene, meaning the former is not distributed evenly within the product.

“Lack of homogeneity results in areas of the polymer with less antioxidant protection,” the Uponor PEX class action lawsuit summarizes. “These less-protected areas lead to oxidation of the pipe. This condition further leads to cracks and leaks.”

According to the complaint, Uponor has “long been aware” of the oxidation issue with the AquaPEX piping systems, which were manufactured from roughly 2010 to 2021 and included plastic piping, reinforcement rings and fittings. Despite this, Uponor has intentionally failed to disclose the apparent defects to consumers, distributors, contractors or building officials, the suit alleges.

To date, there has been no Uponor PEX recall, or any other public statement, about the alleged piping problems, the filing notes, accusing the defendant of “concealing the defects” to avoid the “costs, inconveniences, and reputational harms” of recalling “millions of feet of defective pipe.”

Microcracks form during PEX pipe manufacturing, lawsuit says

The case asserts that cracks and leaks in the PEX piping are the result of shoddy manufacturing and cannot be attributed to faulty installation or water temperature or water pressure in the system. Indeed, the complaint insists that “[p]oor installation practices will not cause these defects in the Class Pipe and perfect installation practices will not prevent them.”

More specifically, the filing explains that the cross-linked polyethylene used to make the Uponor PEX piping—which is installed in residential properties for water distribution and circulation, fire protection systems and radiant floor and baseboard heating, among other applications—is exposed to oxygen during the manufacturing process. Tiny imperfections, or “microcracks,” form on the inside surface of the pipe as a result of the reaction between the polyethylene and oxygen, and these cracks eventually spread and grow through the wall of the pipe over time, leading to brittleness and premature degradation, the lawsuit says.

Once it begins, the suit continues, the process of oxidative degradation is accelerated by normal use of the potable water system, causing leaks and potentially significant property damage.

This process is compounded by the flame treatment of Uponor’s red and blue pipes themselves during application of their color coating, which destroys antioxidants on the outer wall of the pipes and further predisposes them to early failure, the case claims.

According to the complaint, the apparent defect is also exacerbated by the fitting installation design system, which, per the filing, creates stress at the edge of the reinforcement rings installed over the fittings. Over time, the stress leads to cracking in the pipe just outside the reinforcement rings, resulting in leaks and property damage, the lawsuit describes.

Although Uponor continues to tout the durability and reliability of its PEX piping, including by claiming that it has a life expectancy of “well over 100 years,” thousands of pipe failures and resultant leaks have been reported to the company by installers and property owners, the suit alleges.

Consumers reasonably believed, based on Uponor’s representations, that the AquaPEX piping system would function properly, the case argues. The complaint contends that property owners would not have purchased and installed the pipes had they known the products were plagued by a defect that would cause them to fail prematurely to potentially disastrous effect.

Plaintiff says Uponor blamed PEX pipe problems on “installation errors”

The plaintiff, an Oceanside, California resident, states that around January 2015 he hired a private plumbing company to replace the copper pipe in his home with Uponor PEX pipe, at a cost of $9,000. The case says the first of three separate water leaks occurred in late October 2022, which prompted the plaintiff’s plumber to request a site inspection by an Uponor representative.

The filing says that although the private company that installed the PEX piping at the plaintiff’s home requested to be reimbursed by Uponor for the out-of-pocket expenses it incurred from repairing the leaking pipe and property damage to the consumer’s residence, Uponor denied the request based on the “false pretense” that the water pressure in the hot water tank, and not the pipe itself, was too high.

The plaintiff asserts in the class action suit that all of the water pressure measured in his house by the Uponor rep was below 80 PSI, in compliance with the Uniform Plumbing Code in California and far below the 100 PSI that Uponor claims the PEX piping can tolerate.

“[E]ven if Uponor asserts there were installation errors, any such deficiencies cannot, and do not, cause the oxidative degradation failures of the [PEX piping] experienced at [the plaintiff’s] residence, which is solely related and unique to the defective manufacturing process,” the lawsuit asserts.

As the suit tells it, the plaintiff and all proposed class members must remove and replace the Uponor PEX plumbing systems in their homes, as replacement of the entire system is “the only means to mitigate further property damage.”

Who can join the Uponor PEX lawsuit?

The Uponor PEX lawsuit looks to represent all individuals and entities that own single-family residential property in California that contains or contained the Uponor PEX red, white and/or blue piping manufactured and installed from 2010 to the present.

How do I get involved in the Uponor PEX class action lawsuit?

Normally, you don’t need to do anything to join or sign up for a class action lawsuit when it’s first filed. In the event of a class action settlement, the people covered by the deal—known as class members—may be notified directly by mail or email with instructions on what to do next and details about their legal rights.

Remember, a class action suit can take months or even years to be resolved.

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