Blue water in the 2nd bathroom (Sarasota, North Port: condominium, houses, new construction)

[paradiddle]

I am getting blue water in the 2nd bathroom all fixtures. I am thinking I have a copper problem.
I hear that forced epoxy is one method to fix leaks and coat pipes but may not be long term. Of course re-pipe to plastic may the ultimate solution. I don't know how they can check for actual leak area even though it's obvious that its somewhere on far end of house away from the source pipe.

House built for us in South Venice built in 2003 with copper pipe in slab. Well water with softener system.

My other concern is that a family member has gastrointestinal problems since coming to Florida. We also use an R/O system for the drinking water. I do change the filters. I was reading that high levels of copper can contribute but that may or may not be an issue. I will get water tested again inside house this time to rule things out.

[paradiddle]

Photo from build in 2003-2004

[TamRE]

Blue water is a characteristic of copper corrosion. Are you familiar with the pin-hole leaks? It is found in many homes in Venice and Sarasota County. https://www.scgov.net/WaterServices/...holeLeaks.aspx

I hope you find the problem and get it fixed. Good luck!

[paradiddle]

Having read other threads on the dreaded copper pinhole leaks and reading news stories over the years since we moved here, yes I am familiar. We are on well and septic so the county water testing doesn't apply. When I watched them build this house in stages I was looking at the buried pipe in concrete and thought "I guess its just the way they do it down here". Many houses have been built etc.

Coming from up north with basements we always had the full view of the plumbing. I now can see that copper in concrete is a dopey idea considering too many factors that can demise. Copper quality, water quality, soil type, etc. I know its been done for years but re-piping is also a big business. It looks like buried plastic is the way to go now in new construction but we will probably find out in 25 years the problems with that system.

anyway - any thoughts on the epoxy system? I have an island in the kitchen so re-piping would require added construction to hide the pipes. I am going to get some quotes either way on this stuff but like anything I didn't think it would happen to us. sigh.......

[TamRE]

We have the manabloc plumbing in our home and it is all in the walls and not under the concrete. Our home was built in 2006. But when we had our previous home built in North Port in 2004 it was exactly like yours with everything starting in the concrete.

I still think the blue water is probably from copper pipes. Some people have the copper replaced with PVC piping. They just cap off in the wall the copper and re-plumb the entire house.

Here's something I found on the Internet - What Causes a Blue Tint in Well Water? | eHow

[debvic]

We hand a house built in CitrusCounty in 2004-2006 ,yes it took twenty months due to all the tradesmen shortages during that time. I recall trenches were dug in which the plastic pipe was run then covered with dirt .then the slab was poured, the pipes were not inthe slab except for where they came up in the walls. I can't imagine why they would run the pipes in the actual cement as houses settle fr the first few yrs after construction. A house that s only 10 yrs old should not be having major plumbing issues.

[TamRE]

Originally Posted by debvic

We hand a house built in CitrusCounty in 2004-2006 ,yes it took twenty months due to all the tradesmen shortages during that time. I recall trenches were dug in which the plastic pipe was run then covered with dirt .then the slab was poured, the pipes were not inthe slab except for where they came up in the walls. I can't imagine why they would run the pipes in the actual cement as houses settle fr the first few yrs after construction. A house that s only 10 yrs old should not be having major plumbing issues.

There were several homes in Venice that had pin-hole leaks after only a couple of years of being built. The plumbing was in the cement. They cut if off and replumbed the entire home in the walls. Many condo developments in Venice have the same problem, not just single family homes.

[krh6609]

Something to keep in mind: If you do need to re-pipe with new cpvc, it will be run through the attic this time and down the walls to the new valves. The water gets very warm and many times hot from being in the attic. I have had to run my water for a few minutes just to cool it down enough to shower in. Make sure you get a very reputable plumber with good credentials. A pipe leak overhead can be a real mess. So you know- I have had 2 homes re-piped and the cost was around $ 2,500 for a 2 bath home. Make sure the company is including new valves and also have them clarify the extent of sheetrock repairs that may need to be addressed. Also, relining the island pipe only may be an option and then repipe the remainder of the house if it helps your budget.

[Nanaimo]

I live in a strata condominium development and it had been recommended that we replace the copper pipes in our buildings because the pipes were corroding and we were having pin-hole leaks often in the pipes.

When I was assigned with this task I looked at all of the options. Replacing all of the pipes would have cost our owners over $2million and been unaffordable for most of the people here. The disruption would have been un-bearable.

It was suggested that we look at "fixing the pipes in place" which made sense to me.

The first option I looked at was an epoxy lining. At first I thought this was pretty high-tech and I was impressed with the concept.....We would have saved about 25% of the cost. As I started researching this I started to get concerned about .....the way they cleaned the pipes to prepare for the coating.....sandblasting already week pipes and then it was the epoxy lining itself. Does the epoxy really adhere to the pipes 100% what happens if the job is not well done? As soon as I discovered a lawsuit I dropped the whole idea.
Pex pipes are the same. We would be drinking plastic and there is a lawsuit because the material was breaking down.

Our property manager then gave me a card he picked up from a convention for a company that works with the water rather than the pipes. The more I researched this system the better it got.

Briefly, the pH of the water is changed from acidic to alkaline and minerals (calcium, magnesium and zinc) are introduced to form a very fine coating over the interior of the pipes.

There has been much research done on copper in drinking water and I spent hours on end searching in every possible way on the internet.

if you search EPA copper in drinking water there is a very easy to understand article regarding this.
I could post many others from my collection.

However, it soon became clear that it was not only the pipes I was worried about but also my health.
To make a long story short this system is non-toxic, environmentally friendly and the most effective way to eliminate copper in drinking water by keeping the copper in the pipes and away from me.

It is not the pipes it is the water that runs through them. Our water is soft so it is acidic and living on the coast it does not have the opportunity to collect minerals. Acid water and no natural coating in the pipes to protect them...or me.
One huge bonus is that this system, for us, cost $28,000 Can for installation and $9 per unit per month to maintain pH and mineral levels.
The most ridiculous part of this whole story is that even the most basic copper pipe should last a lifetime. Brand new copper pipes will initially corrode until the natural mineral in the water form a coating on the inside of the pipes (if you are lucky to have alkaline water and minerals). If you don't have good water you will always have the corrosion weather the pipes are new or old. Therefore replacing pipes after 20-30 years of use will just allow you the pleasure and expense of doing it again in another 20-30 years.
A lot of homework gave me a very cost effective and elegant alternative to a full pipe replacement.

I hope this save someone else a lot of money and brings good health!