I have a 4″ clay pipe which is a downspout drain and is leaking.  The pipe runs under an addition to the house.  There isn’t sufficient space under the addition to access the pipe at all.  Any ideas of how I can pull a liner or flexible pipe through the 4″ clay pipe (which also bends slightly?)  Currently, run off from the downspout runs under the house and there is no other place to go with the drainage.

-Bill

Bill, there are firms that specialize in lining failing pipes, but I’m not aware of any liners that you can use yourself. I would suggest that you contact a plumbing company in your area that has sock lining technologies. You may require access from one or both ends depending upon which sock lining technology is used.

-Brian

Does CuraFlo lining contain BPA?

-Roberta

Roberta, CuraFlo’s epoxy, CuraPoxy^® is certified to ANSI/NSF Standard 61 –the established governmental safety standard for drinking water system components. That certification ensures products are free of unsafe levels of contaminants such as BPA (bisphenol-A). For more information about how epoxy and polycarbonate products (water bottles) differ, please refer to this previous post of mine on this very topic.

-Dr. Dave

My back yard drain (partially under cement) is the old orangeberg pipe. When it is snaked out to remove and roots etc I am now receiving parts of the pipe. Total replacement would be tremendous. Can one sleeve orangeberg and is it economical? Can one use  the epoxy liner to fix?

-Richard

Richard, Orangeburg pipe, also called “fibre conduit”, is made from made from layers of wood pulp and pitch (for more information, see the article on Wikipedia here). Because Orangeburg lacks in structural integrity (even when it was new), it’s not a suitable host pipe for epoxy lining. It might be possible to sock line Orangeburg pipe if enough of it is intact, but you’ll need to consult with a company that offers these services to find out. The North American Society for Trenchless Technology’s website, is a good place to start looking for companies that offer different trenchless solutions that might have a solution for you, or at least offer additional insight.

-Brian

Does the PEX plastic tubing used for plumbing contain bisphenol-A (BPA)?

-Debbie

We have Pex plastic pipes in our house supplying water to our bathrooms. Does Pex pipes contain BPA or any other toxic chemical?

-Barry

Debbie and Barry, I don’t have the first hand experience with PEX to directly speak to its chemical composition. However, I can tell you that if it is ANSI/NSF 61 certified, it meets the U.S. government’s strict standards for safe drinking water safety. This standard has been in place since 1988 and has been used to certify over 12,000 products. You can get more information about the ANSI/NSF 61 standard by visiting NSF International’s website and CuraFlo’s website.

-Dr. Dave

We replaced our hot water tank 5 months ago and since then, in the room behind the closet where the tank is located, we can hear a “ping”. It is almost rhythmic. We have turned the power off on the tank thinking it was electrical but the noise continued for one hour. We have replaced the thermostat, which interestingly enough made a slight difference in that it generally stops during the night but as soon as water is turned on it starts again and will go for hours afterwards. I think it sounds like water dripping from one pipe onto another, my husband thinks I’m a worry wart! No water appears under the wall (we are on a slab). The noise is extremely faint in the closet where the tank is but can also be heard faintly in the other bathroom quite a distance away. Any suggestions? The manufacturer of the tank said it may be a “singing” element and to replace those with a better quality but if that was the case, it would be quiet when the power was off would it not? Please, any suggestions?

-Rae

Rae, it is possible for home water heaters to become noisy less than a year after they’ve been installed. And many times you can only hear the noises at night, when the inside of your home is quiet and there isn’t much going on outside.

In gas heaters, the noise can be caused by the buildup of lime, other minerals, or sand on the bottom of the water heater’s tank. When the heater’s gas burner comes on, the heated water bubbling through the mineral formations and sediment creates the noise. Electric heaters can generate singing or hissing noises, they have heating elements that are immersed in the tank’s water, and lime or scale accumulating on the elements causes the noises. The elements can be removed and cleaned with vinegar, but in really bad cases the element may need to be replaced.

You might be able to cut down the noise by disconnecting the heater and flushing the tank. But, it may not be possible to remove all the mineral deposits from the bottom of the tank, so that when you hook the tank back up, it may just become noisy again. If you have hard water, a solution might be for you to install a water softener, to prevent mineral build up.

-Brian

Does copper kill fungus or Bacteria? What is the effect of epoxy lining on Bacteria?

-Don

Don, copper won’t kill bacteria or fungus –in fact, in both copper and galvanized steel pipes, bacteria and other microscopic organisms grow in encrustation on the corroded pipe wall or on the corroded areas themselves. Epoxy pipe lining prevents corrosion and encrustation by creating a barrier between the pipe and water. The bacteria and other organisms will no longer be present to cause bad tasting or smelling water.

-Dr. Dave

Is there any type of fitting/connector to connect CPVC cold water line to PVC?

-Chuck

Chuck, I’m not sure if that type of fitting/connector exists or if those pipe types are at all compatible. Gluing a MIP adaptor (Male Iron Pipe Adapter, which has male pipe threads and will adapt to PVC and a few other types of pipe to make a transition from threaded pipe to a type other than threaded) on each end and then using a union might do the trick, but I would recommend checking the manufacturer’s website or contacting them.

-Brian

My plumbing is clogging/ slowly draining tub and toilet combo. We snaked from back of house to city sewer line- 80 feet- seemed clear enough. Then we flushed the toilet a few times- fine. Then we filled the bath tub halfway and it would not drain actually came back into toilet a bit. we mini-snaked the bath tub and toilet- they continued to trade their water back and forth… Could this be a vent problem? Or does it totally sound like a main sewer clog or break. We are going to snake from the soilstack to the city next- Just trying everything before having to shell out the big bucks for a whole new sewer line.

-Val

Val, If you’re flushing only twice and its already backing up into you bathtub, it suggests that whatever is wrong is located very close to the toilet (if the rest of the line is clear). I suggest hiring a local plumbing contractor to insert a camera down into the line and provide you with a report. With today’s cameras they’ll be able to see for themselves and show you what’s wrong and pinpoint the location of the problem -in color. Make sure you examine the report carefully and ask any questions you have right away.

-Brian

I’ve heard that more and more people are sealing copper pipes from homes? Is this really a serious problem? Someone I know painted their copper pipes white to look like plastic. Is that a good solution?

–Chris

Chris, theft of copper in general, not just copper pipe, is a huge problem not only here in the U.S., but around the world. Thieves are tearing out copper pipes and copper wiring from just about any source they can get their hands on, including homes or buildings under construction (any construction site in general is a target), abandoned/condemned homes and buildings (foreclosure lists are commonly used), phone lines, and street lights.

Both the Chinese and Indian economies are growing rapidly and have created a huge demand for copper (and other non-ferrous metals) over the past several years. If you add that to the dropping value of the dollar, it’s easy to see why the price of copper has shot up from about 80 cents per pound to more than $3.50 per pound (within the last 10 years).

Just listen to this May 20, 2008 story by Marketplace®’s Jeff Tyler about how copper theft is hitting U.S. cities’ infrastructure hard:

And have a look at some incidents of copper theft from around the world, just from last month!

7/29/08: Police bust alleged copper wire theft gang (Dandan, Saipan)

7/28/08: Store under construction targeted in copper pipe theft (Portsmouth, NH)

7/27/08: ‘Syndicates behind copper pipe theft’ (Cape Town, South Africa)

7/24/08: Copper theft a rapidly growing crime (Las Vegas, NV)

7/17/08: Man’s day in the cells for copper-theft attempt (Halifax, United Kingdom)

7/16/08: Man killed in Ohio during copper theft (New Miami, OH)

7/10/08: Copper Theft: “Inside Job” (Pensacola, FL)

7/09/08: Youth granted bail on copper wire theft charge (Georgetown, Guyana)

7/08/08: July brings no freedom from wire theft (Spanaway, WA)

7/01/08: Police following leads in copper pipe, cash theft (Warren, VT)

Photo: Air conditioning unit destroyed by copper thieves. Click here to read the full story. Used with permission. ©2008, Thompson Realty.

Painting your copper pipes won’t necessarily prevent them from being stolen, but to a thief in a hurry, they just might appear to be undesirable plastic. Another thing you can do is replace basement windows with glass block windows –these let the light in while obscuring thieves view and are much more difficult to break (when properly installed) than ordinary windows. Air conditioners (more so central units than window ones) are a common target too, it’s best to secure them or hide from view –your local installer may have some useful ideas.

–Brian

What happened if the underground hot water pipe is leaking?  What is the estimate cost to find the leaking pipe underground if I must demolished the concrete?  Any good advice?

–Ashley

Ashley, what you have is called a “slab leak” and digging/tearing up the concrete is a pretty expensive and time consuming way to solve your pipe leak problem, possibly costing in the neighborhood of $2,000 to $5,000.  Epoxy lining the affected pipe might be a faster and more cost-effective option –if the leaking pipe isn’t too badly damaged (an epoxy lining company should be able to determine that). In the lining process, hoses are connected to fixtures or valves at both ends of the pipe, so there’s no need to tear up your concrete. The pipe gets cleaned out and then lined with an epoxy that restores the pipe to like-new condition.

-Brian