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Reply With QuoteGet an electrician to check for stray currents in your pipes.
corroded copper pipes? Hi guys,
I live in Melbourne and a couple days ago when filling up the bath for our kids we realised the water had a greenish tinge to it.
I did a google search and it seems a lot of the results say the same thing, that its most likely a problem with our pipes and that copper is leaching into the water.
Is this possible? I always thought copper pipes for water would never breakdown, corrode, etc. I spoke to a plumber and he said its most likely the water supply and that occasionally the water treatment percentages change which affects the waters colour. I thought id post here to see if anyone else has encountered this and can shed some light. Thanks.
Get an electrician to check for stray currents in your pipes.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance
Confucius
Call the water supplier.
The plumber is correct.
If your plumber is correct then all your neighbours should have the same problem. Easy to verify.
I say stray currents
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance
Confucius
The water isn't in the pipe long enough to cause that amount of discolouration, even then there would have to be something in the water to begin disolving the pipe itself. Most likely water supply, rain events around Melbourne can cause muddying or a slight tinge to its normal clear appearance. Anyway if that was regular your pipes would have long ago disolved to nothing if it was copper. Copper Sulphate gives a blue hue.
funny you should mention the blue hue, we just ran the bath and its now got a blue hue to it, and now that I think of it, we've seen this blue hue before. Ive attached a photo.Originally Posted by johnc
Does this mean the entire suburb should be experiencing this then? I called my brother who lives in the same suburb but a few kms away and his water is clear. I might go to my neighbours tomorrow as someone suggested and check.
If you have an outside tap close to the water meter draw a sample off that and see what colour it is. Also draw a couple of litres off into a white bucket first thing in the morning from the bathroom, let it stand for a bit and see what colour it is. Try the same after running a bath and see if it becomes clear. That should give you a better idea if the pipes are an issue, go with Cyclic though call a plumber, which I am not. There is an issue I believe with some low grade copper from the 1970's, however that was something I was told by a plumber replacing some failing copper pipe recently.
No, I didn't say call a plumber, the OP has already done that.
I said call the water supplier
Tell them the problem and they will most likely send someone out to take samples.
Ask immediate neighbours if they have the same problem not 3 k away.
If someone uses a hydrant in the street it can upset the water quality because the rush of water stirs up sediment in the mains
and it does not have to be the fire brigade, it can be a water carter filling a truck for delivery or even road workers for wetting down new bases for roads or repairs.
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