: > I recently purchased a house which has had some of its galvanized water : > pipe replaced with black pipe. I know that the work is new because : > there are bar codes all over the pipe. I know that this is "not : > good" but I would like to have some notion of how bad it is before I : > decide whether or not to replace the pipe with galvanized. : >
: > a) Is this a code violation (if yes, why?) : > b) What is the life expectancy of black pipe? : > c) What is the life expectancy of galvanized pipe? : > d) Are there any other factors? : >
: > Thank you for your time and energy, : > William : >
: : The major thing you will have to contend with is rust....lots of it. : You'll get tired of the rusty water long before the pipe gives up the ghost. : : Galv iron pipe in water service may last from 20 to 100 yrs, depending : on water conditions. : : I would say that use of blk pipe was inexcusable. : : Jim
Probably a cheap effort to get around some other pipe that was in such bad shape it would have affected the sale. My neighbor in Chgo used black pipe once becuase it was cheap and he "liked" the way it stopped leaking on its own if a fitting wasn't quite right. Five years later he was losing pressure and the culprit turned out to the the street ells; they were all filled with rust & junks. Turn the water off to replace something and he'd have to contend with rusty water and useless aerators for days at a time.
I doubt it's a health hazard, but if it isn't already, it sure should be against codes. Black pipe's for gas, not water.