Manufacturing changes in copper alloys and their performance in the field

Compliance with the updated lead free laws for domestic water led manufacturers to change their copper alloy compositions and machining processes. As a result of these changes, new brass and bronze alloys were introduced to the commercial plumbing market in 2008. Unfortunately, some of these manufacturing changes have resulted in poor field performance when installing valves. The goal of this white paper is to present the changes in the manufacturing of copper alloys and to address dezincification susceptibility as a result of the updated lead free laws.

Lauren Berenato has been with Jomar Valve since February of 2019. She is the national specifications manager for the commercial plumbing division of the company. She connects the 23 manufacturer’s representative agencies in the United States with Jomar to help advance the plumbing and hydronics industries to the most efficient methods of developing their systems. Prior to working with Jomar, Lauren served as the national business development manager with a valve manufacturer. She has been involved in the plumbing and hydronics industries since 2016. She is a member of ASPE, ASA, and AIM/R; within ASA she is involved in the emerging leaders division, plumbing division as well as women in industry division. Berenato also serves on the ASPE Region 1 Board as the affiliate liaison member.