repair water main leak

[kantanuuv]

hi there...i didn't see an exterior plumbing area, so i put this question here...just wondered if you had any advice about repairing an underground water leak...i've located and dug up the pipe....the leak is on the PVC end (at least it looks like PVC) of an elbow...the elbow makes the transition to the copper/brass pipe that runs down to the meter/valve....i guess my 2 biggest questions are 1) how do you join PVC to copper?, and 2) the ground appears to have shifted over the years, and now the pipes are stressed, that is - no longer at a 90 degree angle...more like 100 degrees...short of digging up and replacing the whole of both pipes, how can you correct for something like that?...please email me...sdtaylor@epivox.com...many thanks!

[LazyPup]

PVC is approved and commonly used for water supply (The line from the municipal main to the house main shutoff valve.)

For supply service it is common to use a PVC male thread adapter that is threaded into a copper female thread adapter. (The code prohibits using a PVC female adapter).

PVC pipe is fairly flexible and will tolerate some bending but it is best not to have the point of stress on a joint. The solution would be to dig back a foot or so on both ends of the joint, realign the pipes and install a short lenght if necessary to spread the stress out over a short distance.