Checking Your Pipes For Corrosion and Scale Build-up

Corrosion can be a huge problem that is potentially detrimental to your water system. It can cause lasting damage to your water system and have harmful effects on the environment. The harmful effects to the environment lie mainly in the fact that a huge amount of water is wasted through the leaks that occur in so many areas of your water system due to corroded pipes.

The problem does not lie only there. Corrosion can cost you a lot of money! If your pipes are corroded, you might have to replace all of the pipes in your system! Imagine how much of a hassle that would be for you in terms of time, energy, and finances!

Unless your home is newly built, it is imperative that you check your pipes for corrosion. Aside from the issue of water being wasted through corrosive pipes, checking your pipes can also reveal some tell-tale signs of water issues.

How To Check Your Pipes For Corrosion

There are many ways to check for corrosion. Here are some ways to check your pipes.

1. Know Your Pipes—First, you need to know what type of pipes you are using throughout the house. You never know; maybe your pipes are corrosion-proof. If so, there won’t be a need to check them for corrosion, and you just saved yourself time and energy!
2. Test your water—A water test can tell you many things, not only about your water but also about the entire system. In this case, if you want to check for corrosion, test your water for copper. An abnormal level of copper can cause corrosion in your pipes unless you are using corrosion-proof pipes. Test your water with our test kit, available here.
3. Check for Blue Stains—Your pipes may be leaking. If you can find any leaks, check for blue stains. This will help you tell what is causing your pipes to break down and leak. If you can’t locate any leaks, however, you can check your toilet tank or the areas around your fixtures for blue stains.
4. Check for Rust—Rust is a common by-product of corrosion. The easiest way to check for it, especially if you have galvanized pipes, is through your toilet tank.
5. Inspect any cut portion of your pipe – The best time to do this is when you’re having some plumbing issues corrected. While your plumber is working on the issue, you can check the cut parts of your pipes for any signs of corrosion.
6. Inspect the Exterior—If most of your pipes are not underground and are easily accessible, this would be a great option for you to use. Inspect the exterior of your pipes and see if there are any pinhole leaks. If there are any leaks, you can know that they’re caused by corrosion if there are rusty, bluish, white, or salt-looking sediments or stains around the leaks.

Once you figure out that there is corrosion happening in your pipes, you can also dig further to know the cause of it. This way, you’d be able to uproot the problem by installing a system that would get rid of copper and other corrosive substances from your water. The earlier you check for this, the better.

Checking for Scale

Scale can also be a huge problem for your pipes. Scale buildup can cause issues with your water supply because it could clog your pipes, potentially interfering with your water pressure. Scale is caused by water hardness, and if you find out that there is scale formation in your pipes, you can also think about how to soften your water.

You can check your pipes for scales by looking at cut pipe parts,, too. You can do this when you’re having plumbing work done. If your water is very hard, the scale formations on your pipes may be very thick.

You can also check your toilet tank for scale. Just like checking for corrosion, you can have your water tested to see how soft or hard it is.

Your pipes are very important. After all, a water system cannot run without pipes. You need to take better care of your pipes because water supplied to your household passes through them all the time. If there are any issues, they will surely affect the quality of your water, too.

Check your pipes from time to time and remove water contaminants and issues that threaten their quality.