# copper pipe deterioration



## roving plumber (Apr 25, 2011)

I have worked on several systems from single family homes in N. Idaho to recently a hotel in N. Dakota where the copper piping was deteriorating. I have heard in the past it is a ph issue or that there is an imbalance of minerals in the water that leads to it attacking the copper. I have seen this on systems fed both with wells and on community water systems. Sometimes green streaks in fixtures are a sign but not always but most always pin hole leaks start showing up...any thoughts?..this may have been discussed before but I could not find a thread on it.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

have a good read here...
http://www.copper.org/resources/properties/protection/underground.html
and then look around there for more...


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## roving plumber (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks for the link Redwood, but all the copper issues I have delt with are within the structure not underground. We basically repiped a guys house with pex a few areas at a time...he had companies that sell water treatment equipment test it and they couldn't diagnose a problem with his water...but it was eating up the copper pipe..?


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

You need to cut the bad section out and send them off to a lab.

You also need to take some water samples to the lab as well.


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## NYC Plumber (May 4, 2011)

roving plumber said:


> I have worked on several systems from single family homes in N. Idaho to recently a hotel in N. Dakota where the copper piping was deteriorating. I have heard in the past it is a ph issue or that there is an imbalance of minerals in the water that leads to it attacking the copper. I have seen this on systems fed both with wells and on community water systems. Sometimes green streaks in fixtures are a sign but not always but most always pin hole leaks start showing up...any thoughts?..this may have been discussed before but I could not find a thread on it.


Never heard of that for aboveground.
I wouldn't drink any water that deteriorates copper that's for sure...


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## harry54 (May 13, 2011)

Copper deterioration could be coming from electrolysis also. Check to see if any grounds from the electric system are hooked to a pipe anywhere


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## shakeyglenn68 (Dec 29, 2010)

roving plumber said:


> the copper piping was deteriorating.


Oklahoma gets it a lot on wells. Above ground and below. Here its the hard water attacks the pipes. The PH and minuet particles in the water (not caught by filters) that are abrasive to the lines. Had to cut out 10 feet of piping once till I could find a suitable section on just a pin hole.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

Impingement is only and issue if the pipes are undersized. Are you sure it's an erosion-corrosion issue and not low PH?



shakeyglenn68 said:


> Oklahoma gets it a lot on wells. Above ground and below. Here its the hard water attacks the pipes. The PH and minuet particles in the water (not caught by filters) that are abrasive to the lines. Had to cut out 10 feet of piping once till I could find a suitable section on just a pin hole.


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## ap plumbing (Nov 9, 2010)

Protech said:


> Impingement is only and issue if the pipes are undersized. Are you sure it's an erosion-corrosion issue and not low PH?


 a pro tech who did ur website looks good ? do you come out on the organic section on google because of the city domain names for example bartow plumber


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## shakeyglenn68 (Dec 29, 2010)

Protech said:


> Impingement is only and issue if the pipes are undersized. Are you sure it's an erosion-corrosion issue and not low PH?


The PH was fixed by a Water softener company They installed a softener at the well head. The owner had the whole home re-piped twice before they called our company to do the repair.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

ap plumbing said:


> a pro tech who did ur website looks good ? do you come out on the organic section on google because of the city domain names for example bartow plumber


if you can't articulate a sentence on a discussion board, you would do well to leave the s e o to the web guy.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

shakeyglenn68 said:


> The PH was fixed by a Water softener company They installed a softener at the well head. The owner had the whole home re-piped twice before they called our company to do the repair.


softeners do not fix ph problems. even if we assume that an acid neutralizer was in fashion installed, how do we know that it was properly maintained?


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## ap plumbing (Nov 9, 2010)

Protech said:


> if you can't articulate a sentence on a discussion board, you would do well to leave the s e o to the web guy.


 so I guess thats what you did


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## U666A (Dec 11, 2010)

NYC Plumber said:


> Never heard of that for aboveground.
> I wouldn't drink any water that deteriorates copper that's for sure...


Reverse Osmosis water will rapidly deteriorate copper piping.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

NYC Plumber said:


> I wouldn't drink any water that deteriorates copper that's for sure...


Many wells have PH problems....

A Neutral PH is 7.0 and you don't have to drop it very far towards the acidic side to have real problems with copper pipes.

A 6.8 ph is where the problems with copper start and if it is down about 6.4 - 6.5 ph you are really sure to see corrosion....

On the other side going toward the alkaline side there is much more lenience with problems starting at about 9.0 ph....

And yes, if you were on a well system without municipal water supply near your home you would be drinking the water....


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## shakeyglenn68 (Dec 29, 2010)

Protech said:


> softeners do not fix ph problems. even if we assume that an acid neutralizer was in fashion installed, how do we know that it was properly maintained?


We don't know on both, HO was elderly on a fixed income so we can figure at best she let some salesman yap her ear off to spend mega bucks to fix something the wrong way. We went in to fix the bad pipe nothing more. Even having a BOSS that will finance the assistance to pay the bill due to him, and a 25% off for senior citizens didn't stop the HO's from saying "Keep the bill small!"


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## AKdaplumba (Jan 12, 2010)

enjoy the job security:thumbsup:


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