Join Our Community
    Home
  1. Bathroom
  2. How to Stop Copper Pipe Corrosion | Ask This Old House
How to Stop Copper Pipe Corrosion | Ask This Old House thumbnail

How to Stop Copper Pipe Corrosion | Ask This Old House

Bathroom
By Quentin Peters
4 Views
0 Likes
0 Comments

This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey explains causes and cures for water-pipe corrosion.
SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse

About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we’re ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O’Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.

Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House:
Facebook: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB
Twitter: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTwitter
http://bit.ly/AskTOHTwitter
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asktoh/
http://bit.ly/AskTOHIG
Tumblr: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTumblr

For more on This Old House and Ask This Old House, visit us at: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseWebsite

How to Stop Copper Pipe Corrosion | This Old House
https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/

(Visited 4 times, 1 visits today)
Ask This Old HouseCopper TubingCorrosiondamagediyDIY Ideasdo it yourselfhome improvementhome renovation ideas on a budgethouse plumbing systemHow To BuildHow To FixHow To Installhow to plumb a housepipePlumberplumbingplumbing 101plumbing basicsplumbing tricksrenovationRenovation IdeasRichard TretheweyThis Old Housewater damagewater pipe

About The Author

Quentin Peters

You Might Be Interested In

Comment (0)

  2. This is good info to know as our old house has the old galvanized lines in it that will need to be replaced as I know some have rust inside them because I have to clean rust out the aerator on the bathroom sink a number of times per year.

  9. There are studies coming out now that dispute the initial stated lifespan of copper pipes (50-70 or even 90 years) and downgrading their expected useful life as low as 10 years due to changing water chemistry standards from the EPA. I think the original engineered specs of copper is only 20 years (not 50-70 like suppliers claim) and with the majority of copper lines being installed in the last 35-40 years they're going to start failing en masse. Some will say copper is linked to neurological diseases as well as cancer if found in higher amounts than the body can naturally expel.
    I've heard of concerns with aluminum anode rods as well, aluminum being seen as a culprit in Alzheimer disease.
    I'm a plumber not a doctor, researcher, or a material scientist so I don't know what to think of all this myself.

  12. 'The new pipe was installed and at the water line there are rows of pits'. Wouldn't the water pipe be completely full of water with no air, ie. no 'water line'?

  13. The number one reason for water heater early failure is too high temp setting. Keep the temp low enough to not have to add a lot of cold water for hot water use.
    My heater (in So. CA – very hard water) was made in 1987 and the anode rod was never changed and it still works as good as new.

  14. Hot water storage tanks in the UK are either copper (for unpressurised) or stainless steel (for pressurised). I don't think coated steel ones are allowed.

  15. some people have mentioned that copper is a sterilant,, this is correct. Now consider this, if the water is corrosive then copper corrosion will occur and liver poisioning will be the end result,,,,, Calcium is the mineral that neutralises this corrosion in the same way that magnesium works as a sacrifisal anode works in hot water. Too much magnesium in the body cause blood disorders.

  16. I'm 60 yrs old, and got my anode rod out with a 18 pipe wrench….it was part of the hot water outlet…..if it were a hex nut I would have tapped on it (fairly hard) from all sides first to break the corrosive bond (weld) of the 2 metals….that helps a LOT in plumbing…5 yr anode looked about 1/2 gone. replaced it. $40.00

  18. Hey here is an idea STOP USING COPPER FOR PLUMBING. Not Debatable, I would never live in a house with copper or work on another property with copper.

  26. This was interesting, but I am having a hard time finding the answer to my question: We have copper pipes with corrosion on many of the fittings and valves. Should these fittings be changed, or should the adjacent pipes also be changed? I can not cut the pipe open to take a look, and I imagine the average person can not do that.

  36. ………..The question is ,,,how can iron or its oxides cause corrosion of copper?,,, copper is much less reactive than iron,,,,.. Just like the sacrificial magnesium strip corroded before did the iron then also iron will corrode before copper . Even as a galvanic iron/copper pair the copper shouldn't corrode. I'm thinking that if the galvanic pair is lead/copper that then the copper might corrode. There may be dome little quirks of chemistry I have no knowledge of but at the level ify knowledge then my only explanation is that glass glazing of the hot water tank might have been a Chinese job lined with LEAD glass glazing. Iron can't make copper corrode but lead is more likely to do so …. possible that pressure and temperature can change the chemical properties cos I've heard of this phenomenon with zinc.
    …….A comment by an experienced chemist would be perhaps enlightening ..
    ..One interesting fact I came across is that lead pipes aren't hazardous if the the water supply is high in calcium making the water alkaline but we hope there ain't lead piping any longer, I'll say I've never heard of copper pipes corroding. I'm in Australia and never have heard of copper pipes corroding, it never happens,, I think the quality of the copper is in question .Australian copper is the purest copper known.

  38. A common problem in Florida is lightning. I often bust up a concrete slab to find a pipe that looks like it had a arc welder sparked down the side.

  41. So how do you stop the corrosion to copper? Simple fact is you cannot stop it. Replace it with Pex pipe.
    The biggest problem with copper pipe is electrolysis caused from bad grounding techniques and dissimilar metals connected to your copper. Chemicals used to treat your water are now eating the copper from the inside. Chlorine used to purify water is extremely corrosive to any metal.
    What is said here is true but it’s no where near the whole story. Matter of fact most of the damage to the copper was chemicals and electrolysis.

  42. Since I don't know what I'm doing as a general handyman and puppet head.
    I've taken to flushing new work on cold water pipes with a tank full of hot water.
    A couple of fittings extra and a temporary hose.
    Seems like it's worthwhile.

  43. This video was posted in 2014. It's now 2020 so I'm a little late to the party. This is very interesting information. I've had 2 pin holes on 2 separate occasions in my cold water feed to my second floor vanity. It destroyed the first floor ceiling and wall. I'm in the middle of repairing the second incident so I'm replacing the copper with PEX on as much copper as I can access from the demolition removal.

  51. Regarding getting the anode rod out, I tried with a socket and breaker bar, and it was no dice. Even used a pretty darn long breaker bar and that sucker wasn't moving and the tank was spinning all around. I was amazed, though, at how quickly a corded Kobalt electric impact gun got it out. I think the key is every year taking it out, checking it, and putting it back in at about 80 foot pounds. One of those "do every year when you change the smoke detector batteries" jobs. Once you get it out and put it back in only at a decent tug, always using teflon tape and cleaning off the threads with an old toothbrush, it's not hard to get it out afterwards.

  54. Love this show and the people on and behind the scenes. The lighting and production have gotten 100 times better over past few years. I don’t expect the new shows being filmed in 2020 to be quite the same as they’ve been, unfortunately

  56. Copper is the most noble of all the metals here. Having had to deal with galvanic corrosion in naval environments, I don’t buy it was the iron-at least alone. I’m betting the water is acidic and it’s a well. The inside of that water heater (NOT a hot water heater) is horrific. The glass lining should stop some of this, but that’s not just an anode failure-some was left.

    Funny how we never heard from the “engineer” with the results. I’m a PE and I’d love to see the actual report.

  59. Very interesting and practical information. I appreciate for this opinion. In my opinion UPONOR water pipe systems have many wonderful qualities & can help to safe money for customers .https://www.uponor-usa.com/en/campaign/brand-uponor?www.uponor-usa.com&k_cca=uponor_search_intent&gclid=CjwKCAiA7939BRBMEiwA-hX5J_LCdE4jvE5GSASRyzpVczeQJ6xQSbJVQbSFeBtOQ0RVku0xX9OzSxoCTOsQAvD_BwE . Also +GF+ wonderful systems. https://www.gfps.com/country_US/en_US.html

  60. I have very hard water, so I'm replacing water heaters every few years. The water is so hard that it cannot be treated – the water softener seems to help by maybe 25%

  62. Pretty sure this is going on with my parent's home. All the pipping will need to be replaced & the water heater. I get mouth ulcers if I even get that water anywhere near my mouth. I've been telling them to test it for months, but I know why they won't. They don't want to see the bad news… Gross~

  63. Trethewey is hands down the greatest. Been watching him since the 80's. Iron is less noble than copper so the recirculating iron thru the homeowners HW pipe is NOT the direct reason the copper corroded. It's the iron laying down on the copper pipe and the copper corrosion is from under deposit corrosion. Dissimilar metals in an electrolyte, release of hydrogen ions and a localized pH depression that created the pit.

  65. Can't listen to people talking about "sodder" joints. I'm out, anyway, I've already changed my plumbing for welded jointed plastic pipe, and the only copper used is for butane gas. The pipe work done is by an apprentice trained British Gas engineer, who was careful to use a minimum of flux and sol-der, and pipes insulated from touching any bare brick/concrete, (very important, can cause pitting from corrosion).

  68. Might be nice if they mentioned the common problem of the 5 ft tall heater with a 4 ft long anode rod, and only a 6-7 ft tall basement ceiling. There are replacement rods available in segmented fashion with a cable holding all the pieces together. IOW, it's flexible so you can change it in low clearance situation.

  72. That is why I have a pipe from my hot water heater tied into my cold water line with a ball valve. Any time I have to repair a copper line I always flush the cold water cold water system with hot water. Just be sure to turn off the water to the ice maker. And I use Pex-A for my ice maker line.

  73. Sounds like a lot of problems that might be difficult to avoid, especially if you bought a builder home… I'd say the solution is pex but I'm sure its going to develope its own issues after 50 years.

  74. China. They started flooding the market with cheap copper and they converted old steel pipe factories and as all things from China no quality control. Sorry, the iron from hwt isn’t the problem, it’s in the copper itself.

  77. Everyone should have a water quality sample taken in their home and have it sent to an independent laboratory for testing to find out exactly what's in it. Water heavy in iron, magnesium, and calcium will destroy a house plumbed in copper over time and will also destroy plumbing fixtures. Having a quality water treatment system which is put together specifically to combat your incoming water issues is essential, especially with the aging plumbing infrastructure in the US. In this guy's case, a pre-sediment filter at 5 microns, an iron filter, a carbon filter, and an ion-exchange water softener would totally eliminate his problems. Yeah, it might be a hit to the wallet, but his wallet is going to take hits constantly as he pays a plumber to chase down and patch up the leaking copper, or finally bites the bullet and has a whole-house repipe in Pex or CPVC. Also, no one ever maintained that water heater like it supposed to be maintained. Should be checking the anode rod and dip tube periodically during the life cycle of the water heater. This was a very informative TOH clip. Test your water folks. And don't let some slimy salesman come to your house and do it for you in the hopes of selling you something.

LEAVE YOUR COMMENT

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

CLOSE