Does the porcelain around your faucets Have Blue-Green Staining?
The corrosion of copper pipes or fixtures results in a blue-green staining around the porcelain around your faucets. The main reason is an incorrect pH balance in your water. Homeowners can face many issues connected to the corrosion of copper pipes. Your water can be tested to ensure that it has the right pH balance and reduce the risk of copper corrosion. Usually, raising the pH levels of your water will help to eliminate corrosion and staining and will ensure that your water is safe and healthy to drink.
Does The pH Of The Water Affect Copper Pipes?
Discoloration, blue-green staining and an unpleasant taste are usually associated with an incorrect pH balance in your water. Over time copper pipes and fixtures will show signs of corrosion, aluminium fixtures will begin to have copper staining and even your hair colour can be adversely affected. Most people have no idea that an irregular pH in your water can lead to copper pipes being badly corroded and becoming subject to pinhole leaks causing costly repairs and even flooding in some cases.
You might ask, “incorrect pH balance”? If you remember your chemistry class in high school the pH scale runs from 1 to 14 – 7 being neutral. Above 7 is alkaline and below 7 is acidic. When copper pipes interact with water that is acidic they will actually leach into the tap water making the water a corrosive agent breaking down the copper plumbing. Heat actually speeds up the process and in the first place you start to see signs of corrosion on the hot water lines, and around the hot water tank. If you add electricity into the mix it’s even worse corrosion.
Sides Effects of Copper in Your Water
A minimal amount of copper in your drinking water is not an issue for consumption. It’s when we have an excessive amount of copper that we run into problems. Some of these are nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. Certain liver and kidney diseases have also been linked to high copper in tap water in extreme cases. As you would expect children and the elderly are more adversely affected as well as fish who find it very toxic.
As a side note, high alkaline water and food have significant health benefits, better absorption of nutrients and a healthy immune system being two of these.
What Can Be Done
To avoid this problem a simple water test of the tap water can be done by Affordable Water. Once we know the extent of the problem we can present the solutions available for your home, happy to serve you.