The Story of Copper and Corrosion

Why might copper corrode? It’s not at much danger of corrosion when exposed to unpolluted water and air that’s free from oxidizing acids. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the situation in a home. The presence of oxidizing acids; heavy-metal salts, sulfur, and ammonia; and a number of sulfur and ammonia compounds can cause corrosion to set in. Water that comes from a well is much more likely to contain these materials and put copper lines in jeopardy—but it can occur in the civic water system as well.

The most insidious and common form of copper corrosion is pitting corrosion, and it’s something that plumbers encounter often. Contact with chloride, hypochlorite, or bromide ions is what will trigger pitting corrosion. This corrosion occurs in a small area, and is often hard to spot visually. It gradually weakens the surface of copper until tiny leaks start up, the notorious pinhole leaks that professional plumbers often have to fix. These small leaks are problems because they often go unnoticed until they’ve created construction damage and the growth of mold and mildew in a house. 

There’s also a problem called galvanic corrosion in copper. This occurs is a copper line is connected to a steel or aluminum pipe—something that might occur because of sloppy repair or installation job. The two metals in connection creates a galvanic reaction that will lead to the copper corroding.

Don’t Delay Fixing Copper Pipe Leaks

Copper leaks from corrosion are often tricky to spot. You should look for signs of discolouration on the walls of your house, or bumps in the floor boards and underneath the carpet. Increases in your water bills are also a warning: small leaks can add up to a few extra gallons of water per month! If you know that you have copper pipes in your household plumbing, never delay to call us for a permanent solution to pinhole leaks before they become costly. We’ll have the problem repaired in no time.