Hi Liz,

Yes you can. Use the fast setting hot glue. It is made for this purpose. Don't do the bread thing. Are you priming the pipe cut ends before gluing? The purple primer softens the pvc material a little to make a better pipe glue bond. Also file the ends at a slight bevel which allows the glue to bead better and allows the pipe to slide in easier. More work better quality less problems later. Aloha

A couple of years ago I had a dump truck deliver a load of top soil. The truck backed up over a burried PVC water line and broke the line, I did not notice it until about an hour later.

Called a plumber and he came out. He shut the water off at the supply valve and then dug the area around the leak out then used a plastic drink cup to remove the standing water around the PVC pipe. He made the repair right there using the purple primer on all the connections and then brushed on the cement. Put every thing together, covered the hole, turned the water back on and it was fixed.

He took no steps to remove any water in the supply line. He just wiped the outside of the supply pipe to make sure it was clean of dirt. I commented that I did not know you could do what he did while everything was wet. He said it was no problem with PVC. He said it is not like making a solder conection on copper pipe.

thanks sooooo much, yes I use the purple primer, and file the pipe a little. I just didn't think it would stay glued if done when wet. I'm so frustrated this year, I think it's time I think about redoing the system, it's over 15 yrs old and I seem to run around the fields like a lunatic capping and fixing gushers. But the thought of all that digging...........
Again thank you for the response.

I've used the blue pvc cement because I was doing sprinkler system in the rain so much .. says on the can, for wet pipes. Swimming pool pumps seem to like it around here. Funny looking when bright blue joints on white pipe, but Works!

Here is a link that might be useful: Blue_PVC_Cement.html