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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Could Your Phoenix Pipe Plumbing be Impacting Your Health?

Phoenix Pipe Plumbing
Phoenix Pipe Plumbing
If your Phoenix pipe plumbing uses galvanized piping, you might notice how the water is sometimes a little... different.  Galvanized pipes are steel pipes coated in zinc to prevent rusting.  These pipes were installed in homes as the common practice from the early 1900s up to sometime around the second World War.  When they first were installed, these pipes weren't an issue.  But with wear and tear over time, the pipes lost the protective zinc coating on the interior, allowing the steel inside the pipe to rust. Eventually, this rust flakes off and is brought with the rest of the water to any bath tub, sink, or toilet in your home.  This can discolor the water and give it a metallic taste.  This rust isn't going to impact your health too much, but if you start seeing discolored water or if your water starts tasting metallic, call a plumber to look at your pipes.  You may need to have them replaced.
Phoenix Pipe Plumbing
Phoenix Pipe Plumbing

One of the other major issues with galvanized plumbing is its tendency to hold onto lead.  If your water had lead in it at some point before, galvanized plumbing will have reacted with the lead and there may still be some in the pipe.  When the pipe rusts and wears down this lead can be released into the water supply, perpetuating a problem of leaded water long after the original source of the issue has been addressed.

Phoenix Pipe Plumbing
Phoenix Pipe Plumbing
Fortunately, this is a problem that you likely won't have to deal with.  Galvanized pipe was only really installed pre-WWII, so if your home was built post-WWII your Phoenix pipe plumbing likely won't face these issues.  Even if your home is older, the pipes may have already been replaced.  But even if the pipes have previously been replaced it may not be a bad idea to check for the issues associated with it.



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