We highly recommend that you size your copper pipes correctly and when in doubt, "over" size. Make sure the velocity of the water inside the copper piping not travel over 8 feet per second on the cold side, nor faster than 6 feet per second on the hot side. In our humble opinion it's best to slow down the speed of the water traveling in copper piping even slower than recommended to possibly as slow as a maximum of 4 feet per second. To do so simply "over" sizing your copper pipe sizes. It will cost more initially to "over" size but the piping will be much quieter and also the chances for water hammer will be greatly dimished.

Think you have defective copper pipe? The Copper Development Association is the trade association that represents all the copper tubing manufacturers. They can determine the cause of failures. You can send pipe to them for laboratory analysis. If a manufacturing defect occurs, a claim can be made to the manufacturer by contacting: Jim Weflen Western Region Manager Copper Development Association 760-944-7420

Residential Copper Plumbing Products Warranties Questions?

---

Copper pipe manufacturer's name: Cambridge-Lee Industries Inc. Cerro Copper Products Elkhart Products Corporation Halstead Industries, Inc. Howell Metals Company Mueller Manufacturing Entities c/o Mueller Industries, Inc. NIBCO Inc. Wolverine Tube, Inc. Reading, PA St. Louis, MO Elkhart, IN Greensboro, NC New Market, VA Memphis, TN Elkhart, IN Huntsville, AL 800-926-5588 888-237-7611 800-284-4851 800-242-5824 800-247-2048 800-348-8464 888-446-4226 800-633-4078

Some say that the velocity of water inside copper pipe should not exceed the following: Cold water systems with a flow duration of over 15 minutes = 6 feet per second or less Hot water systems with a flow duration of over 15 minutes = 5fps or less Hot and cold water systems with a flow duration less than 15 minutes = 8fps or less Smallest tube sizes = 1.5 to 3fps Hot recirculating systems = 1.5fps or less

Regarding hard water and acidity:

Health problems associated with the ingestion of copper-contaminated drinking water are not new, said Dick Church, president of the Plumbing Manufacturer's Institute. "We've heard of situations like this before," said Church. "It's known that northern Wisconsin's water has had low pH levels and is very aggressive. As long as the plumbing products meet NSF 61 requirements, this should be a non-issue from the manufacturer's point of view."

No perfect method of piping water exists, said Catherine Bolton, director of communications for the International Copper Association. "Everything needs breaking in. Copper pipes need to build up a coating, and the time that takes depends on the water quality. Once that's set up, it deletes the possibility of leaching problems.

"Situations like those in Wisconsin are not broad-based," added Bolton. "It all depends on the water quality in a particular area. This is a water problem, not a pipe problem. Sellers need to be aware of aggressive water in their area."

An article published in the January issue of the Wisconsin Medical Journal detailed the two outbreaks and outlined the solutions implemented in both situations. In both cases "first-draw" tap water samples were collected in accordance with procedures described in the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper. Analysis of the samples found copper levels exceeding acceptable federal levels.

Once it was discovered that high copper levels caused the patients' health problems, the source of the high copper levels was determined. Aggressive water with low pH levels was being run through newly installed copper pipe. The aggressive water caused the pipe to leach copper into the drinking water supply.

Solutions to lower the copper levels in both situations were successfully implemented. The first situation involved a newly installed copper plumbing system in a trailer park. The owner had replumbed the entire trailer park. Some of the buried sections of copper pipe extended 100 ft., said Chuck Fitzgerald, drinking and ground water specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The long distances made it almost impossible for people to successfully flush their systems before drinking.

"The main problem was that the owner never got the proper permission to install the system," Fitzgerald said. "If he had, we could have predicted his problem and warned him not to do what he did.

"The owner was in violation of federal copper and lead laws, so we had to take official action. We made him install a neutralizing system, which raised the pH levels to 8.5 and increased the hardness from 40 to 120 ppm."

The neutralizing system stopped the trailer park's water from being corrosive. The system wasn't cheap, Fitzgerald noted, but the $10,000 expense could have been avoided if the owner had checked with the proper authorities before beginning work.

"The contractor should have known better, too," Fitzgerald said. "He should have known about the water quality. He got a firm slap on the wrist."

The second situation centered around a condominium development. A 55-year-old woman complained to her physician of nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss. She also noticed her water appeared blue and left a bluish residue in her dog's bowl.

An investigation determined that her water contained a copper concentration of 2.6 mg./l., twice the federal action level. The patient's symptoms disappeared within a week after she began drinking bottled water, the Wisconsin Medical Journal reports.

In the following weeks, 251 families in the complex submitted First-draw samples. Forty-eight of the homes' copper levels exceeded federal limits. Homes built within the past 10 years had the highest levels of copper in their water supplies.

Prior to the reported health problems, the water supplier began adding phosphate to the wells in order to eliminate iron that had found its way into the water supply. An engineering firm hired to investigate the copper contamination concluded that the phosphate kept calcium and magnesium in suspension, preventing carbonates of these minerals from depositing on the inner surface of the copper pipes.

The lack of protective mineral coating caused copper pipes installed after 1991 to be more susceptible to leaching and increased the risk of copper-contaminated drinking water.

"The water supplier stopped adding phosphates to the well and the level of copper is dropping," said Mark Nelson, water supply specialist with the state natural resources department.

Pinholes on only the cold side in copper piping?

Blue staining problems found in some water systems with copper piping is sometimes a matter of inappropriate grounding of electrical systems and the resulting electro-chemical corrosion of copper pipes. If it is, that is generally a correctable situation with a solution.

at THE PlumbingWorld, we offer thousands of plumbing products and more: