Locating hidden galvanized plumbing?

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kkwansj

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Hi,

For a couple of years we were experiencing rusty water coming out of our utility sink in the garage. The previous owner installed it himself and used galvanized plumbing. It only affected the utility sink and the washing machine so as long as we flushed the utility sink before doing laundry we were not immediately concerned.

Recently we decided to get it fixed. So we hired a licensed plumber to replace it with copper. He opened up the wall behind the utility sink and replaced the galvanized pipes back until he reached copper. This appeared to solve he problem.

But after returning from a 2 week vacation, we used the sink and we saw rusty water again! Granted it was not nearly as much as before, but there was still some.

My assumption is that there is a split in the cold water line between the utility sink/washing machine and the rest of the house. I base this on the fact sink in the kitchen (which is adjacent to the garage) as well as the bathrooms do not output any visible rusty water. So that then leads me to believe that the problem plumbing lies some where after the split, but before the utility sink.

So is there any professional/professional company that I can hire with some sort of technique for locating where this galvanized plumbing may be, without tearing open all the walls to find it?


Thanks,
kkwansj
 
It might also be possible that some rust deposits had built up on the inside of the supply tubing leading from the stop valves to the faucet and even inside the faucet itself. With the water having set in these areas for a couple of weeks, it could have picked up some that rust and that is what you observed.
 
It might also be possible that some rust deposits had built up on the inside of the supply tubing leading from the stop valves to the faucet and even inside the faucet itself. With the water having set in these areas for a couple of weeks, it could have picked up some that rust and that is what you observed.

[rust deposits] I such a case is it possible to run the sink for an period of time in order to flush it out? If so, what would be a reasonable amount of time?

[supply tubing] The utility sink faucet was a wall mount that we replaced, per the plumber's recommendation, with another identical.


Thanks!
kkwansj
 
[supply tubing] The utility sink faucet was a wall mount that we replaced, per the plumber's recommendation, with another identical.


Thanks!
kkwansj

Was the utility sink reconnected using galvanized pipe?

Between these two posts, MAYBE we have arrived at the answer to the mystery.

A wall-mount faucet is often connected AND mounted by threading it onto pipe nipples that are stubbed out of the wall just a short amount, so that when the valve sections are threaded onto them, the pipe nipples are not visible. It is very common to use galvanized piping for these nipples, as not only is the galvanized nipple strong enough to securely mount the faucet to, but galvanized nipples are cheap and easy to find at almost any place that sells plumbing parts in a large assortment of sizes.

Even though these nipples are very short in such a case, I have seen them result in a rusty water discharge if the fixture in question is left unused for an extended period of time.

IF this is the case, you can either just live with the minor irritation, or you can have the galvanized pipe nipples replaced with brass.
 
I've never seen a wall mount in any pipe other than galvanized, and being hidden, happens way too much!
 
If you had a split in your pipe the water would be going out the split not in.

Galvanized piping does not create rust. It accumulates it from iron in the water. If you have city water without iron, I have no idea where you would be getting rust from.
 
Just today, in a clubhouse/leasing area for an apartment complex that we are building, I ran into something very similar to this. Not something that is a problem per se, but demonstrates my point.

The pool baths are required to have hose bibs in them. The way we normally plumb these is to use a CPVC slip x brass 1/2" FIP 90 fitting that is screwed to a piece of 2x4 in the wall ( a wingell to those in the trade. After the tilework is done, we remove the long capped nipple that we installed when we pressure tested the system, and install a short galvanized nipple that just sticks out of the wall, and then thread the hosebib onto that. This was done late last week. I tested the final trim installation today, and when I turned on each hose bib, a short burst of rusty colored water was present. This is on a city water system. And I have noticed this exact same thing on every hosebib or wall faucet that has been installed with a galvanized nipple.
 
Between these two posts, MAYBE we have arrived at the answer to the mystery.

A wall-mount faucet is often connected AND mounted by threading it onto pipe nipples that are stubbed out of the wall just a short amount, so that when the valve sections are threaded onto them, the pipe nipples are not visible. It is very common to use galvanized piping for these nipples, as not only is the galvanized nipple strong enough to securely mount the faucet to, but galvanized nipples are cheap and easy to find at almost any place that sells plumbing parts in a large assortment of sizes.

Even though these nipples are very short in such a case, I have seen them result in a rusty water discharge if the fixture in question is left unused for an extended period of time.

IF this is the case, you can either just live with the minor irritation, or you can have the galvanized pipe nipples replaced with brass.

I'll take a picture and post it.
 
I've never seen a wall mount in any pipe other than galvanized, and being hidden, happens way too much!

Now even if this was true... wouldn't the rust also come out of the utility sink as well?

So far it seems to be only coming out of the kitchen sink.
 
Now even if this was true... wouldn't the rust also come out of the utility sink as well?

So far it seems to be only coming out of the kitchen sink.
?? In your original post, you said that the rusty discharge was coming only from the utility sink, and not the kitchen. That is the premise that I have been operating from.

But anyway, if it is from the kitchen, did the plumber open up the wall behind the kitchen sink and check that piping?
 

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