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I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico where many homes have copper supply lines buried in the soil under a concrete slab. Four times now, leaks have developed in the lines and the procedure is for a leak detector company to locate the perforation (by charging the system with nitrogen and using a listening device to hear the escaping gas) and then to chop through the slab to replace the perforated section of pipe. Obviously, this is a rather expensive job.
The leak detector company and the local plumber say the cause is a bacteria which colonizes inside the pipes and whose waste products eat through the copper.
The water company says the cause is electrolysis.
I’d like to know who is correct and more importantly, how to prevent it.
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My bet is on electrolysis sparked by low pH. The problem is often called "pinhole" leaks. Solutions include a "sacrificial anode" (i.e., a big piece of magnesium that corrodes before the pipes will) or non-metallic pipes. It seems to me that pH control would also help, but I haven't specifically heard of this one. The concrete or soil conditions are other possible sources of corrosion. Bacteria? I hope not!
Search http://www.plbg.com for some info on pinhole leaks.
*Sounds like low ph to me too.Possible solutions to treating the water include a neutralizing system or a chemical feed pump. There are some pitfalls to either system, but both could be installed for about a grand. This does nothing to fix existing corrosion.Tom
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I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico where many homes have copper supply lines buried in the soil under a concrete slab. Four times now, leaks have developed in the lines and the procedure is for a leak detector company to locate the perforation (by charging the system with nitrogen and using a listening device to hear the escaping gas) and then to chop through the slab to replace the perforated section of pipe. Obviously, this is a rather expensive job.
The leak detector company and the local plumber say the cause is a bacteria which colonizes inside the pipes and whose waste products eat through the copper.
The water company says the cause is electrolysis.
I'd like to know who is correct and more importantly, how to prevent it.