859-359-4833 Earlier in October we were called out to a home where our initial task was to replace a section of galvanized water line in the home that had corroded a hole into the water piping near the water heater. Given the concern of this leak becoming more problematic, it was discussed with the property owner and the mutual decision was to replace the bad section of piping. Given the age of this structure (50+ years old) we gave the simple list of possibilities that has to do with aging water piping systems. Just the contact, movement or sudden vibration with old galvanized water lines can cause debris to flow into the piping that leads to faucets, valves, toilet fill valves and many other items that can clog or make items like faucet cartridges malfunction. Galvanized water lines have lasted for many years with the proof that they are still installed and operating in the Northern Kentucky area for all these years.
This job was a simple six foot section of pipe to be removed that was 1/2″ in diameter and reconnected at both ends. This repair went without any issues or problems with turning the water back on in the home along with having the current resident of the home running faucets wide open as to prevent any dirt or debris from clogging up or disrupting flow at any faucet. It is always made aware prior to the customer well in advance as to not create any surprise situations. This is where years in the profession of plumbing is providing the positive experience for the consumer even when things can go a different direction that we want it to.
As a rule as a service provider in old structures where everything in the home (not just plumbing) can be fragile or delicate, I always ask the owner of the home to turn the water on or off. This is where a second problem became of the repair of the first problem. The property owner most times knows the location of where the main water shutoff valve is. As a plumber for over thirty years I understand that any valve that hasn’t been touched in months/years/decades that it’s a good idea to let the customer touch this valve. Why? Because we don’t want to be accused of creating more work in a home when the situation (in this case, aging water shutoff valve) is bound to happen regardless of who touches the valve. So in this case, it’s better that it happened with the customer themselves and not the plumber. Unfortunate, but a valve that is extremely old is made of red brass, decades of use long can make the material brittle and when it becomes engaged is when the oops! moment arrives. This valve was a stop valve with a rotational handle with a packing nut directly behind the handle that started leaking both in the open and closed position. The area this work was completed is in a high pressure zone that is gravity fed from a nearby city where no pumping systems are used to deliver potable water to the residences.
As you can see in the picture the condition of the water service is old and is a former setup for a meter tab connection to what used to be an inside water meter installation. This was a very common scenario in the area years ago where meter readers were a common practice where the local water purveyor would hire those in the industry to go around and do meter readings to determine the amount of water used by each individual property. The meters measure the number of cubic feet of water used in a certain time interval and the cost of water is based on what the local water purveyor charges for potable water per cubic foot.
But as time and technology moved forward the concept of having numerous people walk entire communities one house at a time just like postal workers was labor intensive and time consuming. New designs such as putting outside meters in the ground that were thermally protected with the depth and a solid metal covering on top. These work well in multiple locations and can withstand heavy traffic like in roadways, sidewalks, driveways and other paved surfaces. The most ideal location for most water meter locations are between the city curb and the city sidewalk. There is usually always a grassy area where the meter bases can be set with minimal interference. The water meters of today have a function of being digital, able to be operated by a satellite upload and can provide all water usage from a centralized location with a computer system that associates the property address to the meter location.
In this picture this is the beginning steps of how we took apart and removed the majority of the piping at the main by removing the shutoff valve, the grounding clamp that serves as the ground to the electrical panel and then the two meter tabs and jumper that was placed in between the meter’s initial indoor location. There are two schools of thought when a repair of this nature is being performed; if you are already of the knowledge that these numerous connections are possible future leaks, why leave it? There’s no reasonable excuse for a competent plumber to leave such a mess of future problems for the customer to spend again. It’s a respect to those who provide an income (the property owner) to provide the best type of customer service that affords a solid repair without having additional reasons to fix other issues later. It can also be the eventual callback to the plumbing company that follows this possibility: “It wasn’t leaking until you touched it!” You never want to have a callback when a customer spent hundreds of dollars with your professionalism only to find out you didn’t take the extra steps to kill two birds with one stone. A great analogy that speaks for itself.
Once we had two ‘good’ starting points to work with (one being the water piping coming out of the floor and one being what connects to the rest of the water piping system) we were off to the races. We brought an entire box of older piping and fittings that was perfect for this type of work. We utilized 1/2″ brass piping, a full port threaded ball valve, a brass transitional fitting that went from threaded to sweat. We used type L copper that is a thicker walled piping that was similar to the copper jumper that was placed between the meter tabs and a simple copper male adapter to reconnect into the galvanized ninety that leads to the existing main water line. The discussion about galvanic corrosion has its place when making such a connection with dissimilar materials but given the condition of the 50 plus year old galvanized piping and the new copper piping installed, the purpose of this emergency plumbing repair has its purpose and meaning for the time invested. The customer is interested in a re pipe of removing all galvanized but mind you they just spent not one but three times the cost they expected to spend for the initial repair since the situation blossomed into more work. Plumbers have a responsibility to minimize costs for their customers long before maximizing profits. This mentality unfortunately doesn’t follow the logic of many these days but we make a point to let it be known that we do care.
The finished work of this repair turned out great! A new grounding clamp was installed to ensure proper bonding and we trimmed off the extra copper wire to make the repair more uniform. We explained to the customer that a heat tape was strongly recommended along with high density armaflex foam insulation would protect this investment. It initially had an old small blanket wrapped tightly around the piping and the valve to protect it from freezing temperatures.
