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I wanted to report back and thank all the folks here for their advice. We did end up using a 2" PE pipe. The interesting thing was that my plumber had never used it. Neither had 4 other who I got quotes from. They were willing to use PVC or PEX but other than my plumber, no one was even willing to look into PE. The city inspector had never seen it and had to check the california code book to see if it was even approved (It is). The local plumbing supply stores (big box and speciality) did not have it or have in the length that I needed (280ft). So the plumber took his van up to San Francisco to buy it. The plumbing supply store also told him that he has to use a special machine for the joints that he can rent but he had to get trained before he could do that. So my plumber did get trained, rented the machine, got the pipe. It took him a few hours to lay the pipe, wrap some 18 guage wire (CA code for non-metal service lines). He connected to an existing copper for a cottage, connected to a landscape faucet, and the main house. The cost was much more reasonable than Copper. We are in middle of a remodel, so we did not need a special permit.. just an inspection. Saga over.

"Baloney, I don't believe it. What is the source of the information for these claims?" A common example is that water heaters last an average of 1.5 to 2.5 years around here. We're on a water system that runs from 25 gpg to 35 gpg hardness. Replaced my WH in 1995 and still on the same one so that's 7 water heaters I haven't paid for at an average cost of $800 installed or around $5600. My softener cost me around $700 so I'm $4900 ahead... even considering that softener salt cost me about $60 a year... good enough cost offset for you? I haven't has to touch a faucet to fix a drip or open the toilet tank once since 1995. Appliance repair people I know tell me that hard water kills tankless water heaters and front load washers and dishwashers. Oh yea, our dishwasher was installed in 1995 also and it hasn't skipped a beat and the ice maker in my 1995 fridge works great while my neighbors who don't have a softener don't have ice cubes but they do buy bottles and bottles and bottles and bottles of bottled water. People tell me, and my wife agrees, that clothes last significantly longer when washed in soft water. I can tell you that clothes washed in soft water are markedly more comfortable to wear... far less stiff and scratchy. "Some also think it should be plumbed to hot only because the elevated salt level isn't healthy to drink, but opinions are divided on this..." They may think but they don't know what they don't know. No ion exchange softener that is operating properly adds ANY salt to the softened water. Got it, that's ANY salt added. What is added are sodium or potassium ions not salt. So, for you who think, how much sodium (not salt) is really added to soften water? The formula for added sodium is 7.85 mg/l (about a quart) of softened water per grain per gallon of compensated hardness. EXAMPLE 20 gpg * 7.85 = 157 mg of sodium added per liter of softened water, not salt. How does this sodium content of softened water compare to sodium found in common foods? The table demonstrates the usual range of sodium in common foods. Food Amount Mg of Sodium Ketchup 1 tablespoon 204 Milk 2 Cups 226 Frozen Peas 1/2 Cup 295 Bread 2 Slices 322 Corn Flakes 1 oz. 260 Parmesan Cheese 1 oz. 528 Tomato Juice 4 oz. 504 Tomato Soup 1 Cup 932 Chili 1 Cup 1194 Beef Broth 1 Cup 1152 Get a softener and stop eating tomato soup. Softening only the hot water will give you hard water at every appliance and fixture where hot and cold are mixed. You'll pay for soft water and not get it. Any water treatment pro who advocates softening only hot water is either stupid, a scam artist, or to install a softener correctly would be too difficult or too expensive for the homeowner and they don't want to lose a sale (see scam artist). That you don't like the feel of soft water is a valid criticism for some and data suggests that there is an acclamation curve of about 6 weeks and getting used to using far less soap and detergent.

Gents, Thanks for the post and suggestion. I found this articles validates what you guys suggesting me http://www.familyhandyman.com/plumbing/repair/how-to-join-dissimilar-pipes/view-all . I'm very nervous right now with the time bomb dresser coupling ahead my kitchen. I have another question. I plan to change the pipe the whole house in a couple of months. I will do stop-gap solution by changing the PVC dresser coupling to a steel coupling per your advice. My other question is, what type should I change to when it's time to change for the entire house, there are a bunch of them out there. 1) PEX 2) CPVC 3) PPVC 4) Copper Please give suggestion what and why. Our home is over 40 years old, 2 adults and 2 dogs living in 1800 sqft home. Thanks.