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What Are Galvanized Pipes?
In today's age, people tend to be more conscious about their health and always keep an eye on the quality of food and drinks they take in. They always maintain a proper check and balance about the quality of water. Quality of water is, indeed, the most important factor relating to health risks.
Almost all bacterial diseases are waterborne. Therefore, municipal water goes through a proper treatment plan before making it available for use. This ensures the quality of water for residential purposes. However, there is a concern related to the transportation of water from the treatment unit to household use.
Of course, it is done through plumbing systems, and galvanized steel pipes are the most common plumbing pipes.
Are Galvanized Pipes Safe For Drinking Water?
The most common type of plumbing pipe is galvanized steel pipes. Galvanized pipes are the old pipes, being replaced steadily. Galvanized steel pipes are steel pipes coated with zinc to provide the steel extra strength and protection to prevent them from corrosion.
The galvanized steel pipes, if used for a long time, the continuous exposure to water make them inappropriate for drinking purposes. This is because the continuous exposure of environmental effects to the galvanized pipes, degrade the quality of the pipes. With time, the galvanized pipes start to degrade and begin to corrode.
This corrosion in return becomes the source of contamination for the water flowing through it. The contamination includes iron, copper, lead, zinc and cadmium. These are the major contaminants that make water inappropriate for drinking purposes.
The Benefits Of Galvanized Pipes
Back then, people preferred using galvanized pipes for indoor and outdoor plumbing. Similarly, they were in common use for industrial plumbing also. The reason for their widespread use is their cost-effectiveness and durability. Also, they have a wide diameter that helps them to pass more water at once.
Although galvanized pipes have a number of benefits, yet there are some of the major health hazards concerned with the use of galvanized pipes. Apart from the advantages that galvanized pipes have; they also could be the source of contaminants for the water. These contaminants cause health related disorders when used for drinking purposes.
Life Expectancy Of Galvanized Pipes
Even under the most conserved environment, galvanized pipes will corrode with time. The typical life expectancy of the galvanized pipes is around 25-40 years but could fail more quickly under harsh environmental conditions.
While the pipe may appear intact from the outside, it could have been rusting from the inside. This will decrease the life expectancy of the galvanized pipes and also lessens the quality of water flowing through it.
The major reason that causes a decrease in the life expectancy of the galvanized pipes is rusting and corrosion. Extreme environmental factors cause the reduction in the quality of galvanized pipes, which in turn causes contaminations when used for drinking purposes.
Disadvantages Of Using Galvanized Pipes
Although the galvanized steel pipes are zinc-coated to prevent the steel from corrosion. Still with time, due to the continuous exposure of water, the galvanized pipes will corrode. It's bad news for your plumbing. When a galvanized pipe corrodes, it produces lead, a toxic substance.
Lead is the cause of many health hazards related to waterborne diseases. Taking appropriate actions against the water quality in the galvanized pipes helps to determine the lead quantity and the source of lead in water. Both the distribution system and the household plumbing could be the source of lead in water.
The effects of lead and other contamination, that includes zinc, cadmium, iron and copper, in the water vary with the level and complexity of contamination.
Contaminants In Galvanized Pipes
First and foremost, the corrosion increases the leaching process within the galvanized pipes. Although there is no single and most appropriate way to prevent the corrosion of galvanized pipes. Yet, there is something you can do. You can measure the quantity of lead in the water coming out of your plumbing faucets.
When it comes to health effects, there is no direct relationship with the corrosion of pipes. However, the leaching process inside the pipes causes health hazards. Leaching of lead is the same thing that quality control operation focuses on while testing the quality of the water.
Other than lead, other common contaminants include iron and copper. The presence of iron and copper in water flowing through the galvanized water pipes can be detected by the taste and colour of the water coming from the water heater. However, you must be more cautious about the presence and level of lead, cadmium, and zinc which is the major contaminant. The normalised amount of zinc is 10 mg/L.
Zinc comes from the galvanized pipes. Since galvanized pipes are steel pipes coated with zinc. So, zinc can easily find its way into the flowing water. Make sure to test the water flowing through your galvanized pipes. This will also help you detect the levels of lead and cadmium in the water. The only treatment is to detect the source of contamination and consider replacing them.
Health Hazards Of Galvanized Water Pipes
Lead can lead to several diseases, including flu, muscle weakness, and digestion disorders. You could feel muscles aching and pain, if you continue to drink lead-contaminated water for a long time. Children are more vulnerable to lead-contaminated disorders. Children could suffer from the following disorders, even exposed to lead, even for a short period.
- The nervous system and brain activities could be affected.
- Attention deficit interactivity disorder affects learning and behaviour and learning disabilities.
- May show slow mental and physical growth.
- Hearing disorders and impaired motor coordination.
Adults are also not on the safe side. They are equally susceptible to lead contamination and health hazards. Long-term exposure to high lead can cause the following disorders.
- Bone disorders
- Kidney disorders
- Digestive problems
- Neurological effects
- Disruptive reproductive system affecting pregnancy
- Muscle aching and pain
- Learning and coordination problems
- Mental and physical growth issues
The immediate action needed to take if you find these symptoms is to shift to mineral or bottled water, and in the meanwhile resolve your piping issues. Drinking water from the galvanized piping continuously for a longer time increases your chances of getting yourself exposed to contamination.
You must run a quality control check to detect the causes of the contamination and consider resolving that issue on an urgent basis.
Are Galvanized Pipes Affecting Your Health?
If you continue using galvanized pipes, you are exposing yourself to the contamination that would affect your health. But how to know if your galvanized pipes are the source of contamination. Take a screwdriver and scratch the exposed part of your galvanized pipes.
If you see rust on the surface of the pipes, it will be the first indication that your pipes are a source of contamination and other related health hazard issues. In this case, you should be replacing your galvanized steel pipes.
Making Water In Galvanized Pipes Drinkable
Water flowing through the older galvanized pipes is always on the verge of causing disorder. Therefore, be on the safer side and use the filter. Filter helps you in blocking unwanted and health hazard contaminants. Providing you with clean, hygienic, and drinkable water.
This will save you from several disorders that would have occurred because of drinking water directly from the tap, attached to galvanized pipes. Alternatively, if filters fail to provide you with the appropriate blockade of contaminants, consider replacing the galvanized pipes.
Safe Drinking Water From Galvanized Pipes
To keep your family safe from those health hazard contamination, which in most cases includes lead, zinc, cadmium, and copper, you should use the filter or consider replacing whole galvanized plumbing. If you drink water directly from the tap, or galvanized pipe faucets it is not good for your health.
