AC Current Flow on Copper Water Pipes-corrosion

[ghostbuster7]

We have approx. 20-30 amps of AC 60 Hz. current flow on the entire copper waterpiping system in a large brand new 400 unit condo project.The water is from wells in the area.The water only in these condo units smells like rotten eggs,has a blue tinge to it and sometimes sediment flows out of the taps.There is a primary water softener installed in this system.

Question:

Can this AC current flow cause these copper waterpipes to corrode this quickly and produce these results?

 

[mcgyvr]

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=256320

 

[thewellguy]

Something is wrong with your electric system. You should have that kind of juice flowing though the water pipe sytem.

 

[ghostbuster7]

Wellguy:

We are correcting this current flow on the waterpiping system.

If this AC current is eliminated; will all these other problems also disappear?

There appears to be a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of AC current flow/electrolysis action on copper waterpipes.Even the copper organization website appears to be waffling on this issue.DC current will definitely cause this reaction,AC current it appears the jury may be still out.

 

[thewellguy]

The rotten egg smell is caused hydrogen sulfide. If this a naturally occuring ground water bacterica. The current may be making it worse. Your softner should be removing this. The blue color and the flakes, I'm not sure about. What color, size, hardness are the flakes?

A side from the water issues, this needs to be fixed strictly as a safety issue. I'd hate to be the plumber that takes a pipe apart for the first time.

 

[stevenal]

I've heard two hypothesis': Some pipe joints tend to be semiconductive, and act as diodes. Electrons entering the water on one half cycle get swept away by the water flow so they cannot return on the next half cycle.

 

[photoengineer]

Water that smells like eggs indicates sulfur, which is highly corrosive to copper.

I don't think off hand that AC current will directly corrode copper.

Cedar Bluff Engineering

http://cedarbluffengineering.webs.com