copper pipes corroding through?

Customer's house, there are several locations where water is seeping through the pipes. Are there tests that can be done to find out what is causing this? there seems to be no fixture damage, or deposits. The electrical system was not bonded to the plumbing, and there was no continuity between the two. Electrolytic damage? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Reply to
mainiacs
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Check the Ph of the water.

Reply to
HeatMan

Some friends of mine have an old house with well water. Apparently their water has no minerals in it and consequently over time their copper pipes began to errode away. For several years they put on patches and hoses with clamps to keep the water from leaking out. I had never heard of such a thing, but I saw how thin the walls of the existing pipe had become. In some places the pipe was paper thin. Their plumbing system also had no ground continuity and I had installed a 10' ground rod to compensate for this.

They finally had to get all new pipes throughout the house and install some water treatment equipment to restore balance to their water. It is too soon to tell if this actually works or not, but they had consulted with many experts before the repairs were made.

You might want to have the water tested at your customer's house.

Reply to
John Grabowski

"mainiacs" wrote

electrical

Yes there are tests. But there are many causes of pinhole leaks in copper tubing. Electrical grounds, both the panel box grounding and appliance/phone, etc. grounds on the water lines must be good, and should be moved to (good) ground rods. Dissimilar metals corrosion, high dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide, TDS, chlorides content, carbonic acid and certain types of bacteria along with lightening strikes, and hopefully I'm not missing one or two things, all can cause this type problem.

From your signature, you should be able to check the grounding issues. A water treatment dealer experienced with this problem should be called in for the rest. And if one parameter is found and fixed, don't stop looking for other causes or you may not fix the problem but think you have.

I have to say that with leaks as you describe, or I visualize, replumbing sounds as if it's in order here. The aggressive water or electrical ground problems still have to be fixed because this adds metals to the water which is a health concern. It also destroys fixtures and water using appliances.

Gary Quality Water Associates

Reply to
Gary Slusser

"John Grabowski" wrote

The lack of minerals, or the amount, has little to do with the causes of this type problem. It is true that very aggressive waters have low mineral content (naturally soft water) but that type water will have a high acid, DO and CO2 content as well and they are the real cause factors. Adding mineral, as in a sacrificial mineral (crushed limestone) filter buffers the acidity and reduces the DO an CO2 content while adding hardness and increasing the pH and TDS content of the water. There are many other causes of water line corrosion and some are high TDS, chlorides, sulfates etc. (mineral content) where the water acts like a slurry causing erosion corrosion. That damage is usually close to fittings, as is improper preparation of the tubing by not reaming the end before soldering. Bacteria is another cause. They produce a local acidic effect and cause pitting of the surface where more corrosion takes place under protective slime coatings and encrustations.

Here is a good site for this. You have to roam around the site because I can't give you exact URLs for various pages. But start here:

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Gary Quality Water Associates

Reply to
Gary Slusser

It sounds like someone put acid in your water. Do you get high when you drink it? If you do, there is acid in the water, and that is the problem. Well, actually it's not a problem because acid is really groovy. I'd just drink lots of the water and not worry about the pipes. Sooner or later you'll get high enough to want a shower and the pin holes in the pipes are a natural shower created by angels. Best yet, showering will just add to the effect since acid is absorbed by the skin. While you are showering, toss a 33rpm Hendrix record on your record player, crank the volume up, and imagine youself at Woodstock in the rain.

Enjoy your trip!

Groovy internet services

Reply to
farout60's-hip

Don't know where you live, but here in Pacific Northwest there was a company that made copper plumbing pipe/tubing and purposely made the tubing with walls thinner than spec. to enhance their profits. They closed up about 15 years ago and today, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of houses with copper water pipes that are constantly springing leaks. If my memory serves me, the parent company was located in Georgia and 'Wolverine' was the brand name of the copper pipe they manufactured.

Reply to
Loose Cannon

My 1970 house had copper heating coils in the concrete slab. Eventually pinholes resulted in multiple small leaks. I abandonned the original system and replaced it with heavy duty copper pipes. Channels were cut in the slab to get passed doors. Tough work, but it has performed well for a few years.

Reply to
William W. Plummer

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