Just because the water flowing out of your faucet is clear doesn’t mean it’s safe for drinking or washing. Toxic chemicals, such as lead, mercury, and arsenic may have been mixed in your tap water through a broken or deteriorating pipeline. In small amounts, they may not increase the water’s turbidity. Then again, a few drops can contain enough toxins to pose danger to your family’s health.
If you live in an old Austin, Texas home with its original plumbing still intact, chances are, your pipes may already be worn down, rusty, or broken; and you are in need of an extensive Austin plumbing replacement. Otherwise, toxic elements can creep into the pipes’ cracks and holes, and eventually might make it to your pitchers, jugs, food, and even your skin when you bathe.
HouseLogic.com writer Joe Bousquin identifies some signs that could indicate a plumbing replacement is necessary in your home.
Watch for signs of trouble
If your house is more than about 60 years old, make it an annual ritual to look at any exposed pipe—in basements, crawlspaces, and utility rooms—for telltale signs of trouble. Check the tubing for discoloration, stains, dimpling, pimples, or flaking, which are all indications of corrosion. If you find irregularities, bring in a plumber to do an inspection.
During an inspection of your plumbing system, you should not only watch out for signs of damage or deterioration. The very material your pipes are made of can also indicate the need for change, keeping in mind that newer studies have found some building materials of old to be generally unsafe or undesirable for household use.
Bousquin identifies some materials for pipes that have been found to be unsafe:
Remove lead and polybutylene
There are two other types of water supply pipe that should be removed immediately no matter how old they are.
Lead pipes, used in the early 1900s, have a life expectancy of 100 years, but they can leach lead into your drinking water, a serious health hazard.
Polybutylene pipes, used from the 1970s through the 1990s, are extremely prone to breakage.
Besides being potential health hazards, old pipes present risks of water damage, which may cause you hundreds of dollars’ worth of repair. Replacing your pipes or an entire Austin plumbing system now can save you more in the long run, even if this means shelling out some money today. To get reliable results, work only with highly experienced plumbing companies like Pure Plumbing Service.
(Source: Do You Need to Replace Your Plumbing?, HouseLogic.com)
