precisionpete
New Member
I am full-gut-renovating a house that was built in the 1920s. It's in a neighbourhood of Toronto known for its excellent water quality. So I do not suspect it has anything to do with the city.
In removing the old iron pipes, they are just full of this soft orange slime (see pics). Yuch!
I understand this to be iron bacteria. When I ran the water in the house, it would run orange for a while. I understand this is normal for 100-year-old iron pipes. Normal, but not desirable. And we are replacing everything after the water meter in the reno. Including the drains and stacks.
My concern is the bacteria seem to have contaminated the copper pipes coming in from the city. The copper picture below is a few feet before the start of the iron pipes and just after the water meter. So, the bacteria have travelled somewhat upstream...
At this point, I am assuming that the copper runs all the way to the city connection and that all lead pipes have been replace. I'm still waiting for the results from the lead water test from the city.
My question is... Can the supply lines be somehow cleaned and disinfected sufficiently to solve the problem permanently? If there is no more iron to feed on, will the bacteria stay away? The supply line seems to be 1" ID copper.
Any advice will be most appreciated.
In removing the old iron pipes, they are just full of this soft orange slime (see pics). Yuch!
I understand this to be iron bacteria. When I ran the water in the house, it would run orange for a while. I understand this is normal for 100-year-old iron pipes. Normal, but not desirable. And we are replacing everything after the water meter in the reno. Including the drains and stacks.
My concern is the bacteria seem to have contaminated the copper pipes coming in from the city. The copper picture below is a few feet before the start of the iron pipes and just after the water meter. So, the bacteria have travelled somewhat upstream...
At this point, I am assuming that the copper runs all the way to the city connection and that all lead pipes have been replace. I'm still waiting for the results from the lead water test from the city.
My question is... Can the supply lines be somehow cleaned and disinfected sufficiently to solve the problem permanently? If there is no more iron to feed on, will the bacteria stay away? The supply line seems to be 1" ID copper.
Any advice will be most appreciated.