Guard-gated golf community · Anthem
Anthem Country Club leak detection and repair
Built between 1999 and 2006 behind guarded gates, this is one of the few communities anywhere on the first generation of modern supply pipe rather than the mature version of it.
Anthem Country Club is a guard-gated golf community in Anthem, in unincorporated Maricopa County east of Interstate 17, built between 1999 and 2006, which means early-modern supply material and the fitting systems of that particular moment.
Anthem Country Club occupies a very specific slice of time. It was built between 1999 and 2006, which places it on the leading edge of the material change rather than in the middle of it, and that produces a plumbing profile that neither an older nor a newer community shares.
It sits east of Interstate 17 in unincorporated Maricopa County, behind guarded gates, around two private eighteen-hole courses with two clubhouses and their own pools. So the practical work here involves arranged access, a good deal of shared water, and houses on the first generation of fittings that later became standard.
What plumbing went into an Anthem Country Club home?
CPVC or first-generation PEX, with newer copper in places, because the community was built between 1999 and 2006. Nothing here is old enough to corrode through, and nothing is recent enough to have the current generation of fittings.
That middle position is the interesting part. Early modern systems work on the same principle as current ones but not always with the same components, and the fitting systems of that period are what we look at first. A crimp made in 2001 has had more than two decades to relax; a connection made in a hurry at handover has had the same. Neither is a defect in the material, and both are where these systems actually give way.
Related: slab leak detection and PEX and copper repiping.
| What we go on | In Anthem Country Club |
|---|---|
| Build window | 1999 to 2006 |
| City or jurisdiction | unincorporated Maricopa County, east of Interstate 17 |
| Likely supply material | CPVC and first-generation PEX, with newer copper in places |
| What tends to fail first | the fitting systems of the early 2000s, at crimps and at connections made at handover |
| What we check first | whether the system is an early PEX layout or a CPVC one, because they fail differently |
How does this compare with the rest of Anthem?
It is very close to the rest of Anthem, which is unusual on this list and is the community’s own doing: the whole of Anthem was built inside about a decade.
Anthem’s Census profile is one of the tightest in the Valley, and Anthem Country Club sits squarely inside it. The American Community Survey gives a median year of construction of 2004, with a very large majority of homes built since 2000 and almost nothing predating 1980.
| Housing across Anthem CDP, Arizona | Share |
|---|---|
| Median year built | 2004 |
| Built before 1980 | 1 percent |
| Built since 2000 | 84 percent |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2023). Geography: Census place.
Where do leaks tend to show up in a gated golf community?
On the shared systems, because that is where most of the water is and where nobody is standing when something goes wrong. Two courses, two clubhouses and their pools add up to a great deal of pipe on common ground.
Both are findable, and both start with the same discipline: measure before you look. On irrigation, establish whether the loss is continuous or tied to the schedule. On a pool, compare the drop against a reference exposed to the same air, then repeat with the equipment off to separate the shell from the plumbing.
Related: pool and spa leak detection, community and HOA leak detection and the bucket test.
Asked and answered
What do people at Anthem Country Club ask us?
What pipe is under an Anthem Country Club home?
CPVC or first-generation PEX, with newer copper in places, since the community was built between 1999 and 2006. Nothing here is old enough to corrode through. These systems fail at their fittings, and the fitting systems of the early 2000s are the first thing worth checking on a house of this vintage.
Does living behind a gate complicate a leak call?
Only the arranging of it, and only if nobody mentions it in advance. It is worth flagging when you call, because work on a shared line sometimes needs access to more than one address, and setting that up beforehand usually saves a second visit.
The community pool is losing water. How do you tell if it is a leak?
By measuring rather than watching. A reference volume of water exposed to the same air loses the same amount to evaporation as the pool does, so if the pool drops further over the same period the difference is going somewhere else. Repeating the measurement with the equipment off then separates the shell from the buried plumbing.
Losing water at an Anthem Country Club address?
Tell us whether it is the house, the yard or the pool, and we will say how we would approach it.
5.0 on Google
What customers in the Phoenix valley have written. The words are theirs, on listings we cannot edit.
“Humberto has been amazing! Prompt, professional, and patient. He has gone above and beyond, taking the time to show me how to operate the water valves and educating me so I can continue to monitor for future leaks. He identified multiple leaks and made thoughtful recommendations.”
“Beto was very professional, thorough and patient in explaining everything he was doing and why. It was an excellent and well worth it experience, and this is saying something for an architect who had a hundred questions!”
“The owner and operator of this company is everything a contractor should be. On time, honest, competent, reachable, comprehensive. Hope to work with him again in the future.”