Copper Is Also Used For Water Pipes, But In Roman Times Lead Was Used For Plumbing.?
Monday, July 6th, 2009 at
3:28 am
What makes both these metals suitable for this use? What makes lead unsuitable?
Tagged with: Also • Copper • Lead • Pipes • Plumbing • Roman • Times • Used • Water
Filed under: Articles-Home Repair
Lead was cheap and abundant and is very soft, making it easy to work into the desired shape. Unfortunately, it causes lead poisoning (which leads to mental defects) and so is no longer used in plumbing.
Copper is also fairly inexpensive, easy to work, does not corrode as badly as iron/steel and doesn’t cause poisoning.
Both metals are ductile and easily formed.
Lead, the most so which explains it’s use by the Romans.
(’Plumbum’ lead, is the Latin root for plumber.)
Lead is extremely corrosion resistant and was, and still is, great for
waste piping. (Just too soft, and now, too expensive.)
Unfortunately, lead will leach traces of its toxic salts into water,
and thus is unsuitable for potable water piping.
Copper is also resistant to corrosion, bio-static, and great for potable
water pipe. (Just now, too expensive.)
Plastics are now the favored materials for both applications.
Lead still exists in modern plumbing. Hawk, you don’t actually sweat a lead bend. It is a “wiped joint.” There are still some places where only a lead bend will work.
Lead still exists in the older city supply lines near where I live, in supplies to many homes, under some bathroom floors buried in wet set tiles and in most older fixtures. They tell us that coatings on the inside of the lead pipes, promoted by additives in the water, keep the drinking water safe.
Lead ingested especially early in life leads to dulling of the intellect. The danger is less in adulthood but too much will bring insanity.
Locally supply plumbing has seen the use of lead, galvanized iron, brass, copper and some limited plastics and stainless steel. Waste piping has pipe made of terra cotta, paper and tar pipe (orangeburg) cast iron, galvanized iron, lead, copper and now PVC.
Something that makes a good waste pipe is cheap, strong, adaptable, and easy to work with. Supply piping has to be strong, corrosion resistant, clean, and easy to work with.
Some plastics are good for waste pipe but not for supply piping. Lead should probably be in that same category. Copper is getting very expensive. It is easily 5 times the cost of 4 years ago. In most of the world supply piping is now plastic but is not allowed in my local.
One of the main functions entrusted to a plumber is to safeguard the drinking water by keeping the supply plumbing separate from the waste piping.
Lead is soft and easy to work, you wouldnt normally use stone for example because its too difficult to make pipes. It does not rot, like wood, or rust when left in contact with water like iron. It is a material that was available to romans, obviously they didnt have PTFE and so on.
The main problems with Lead are cost, and the fact it is associated with brain damage.
Copper is lighter than lead, and does not have known toxic effects. A lot of modern plumbing is done with plastics as they are light, cheap and non-toxic.
in the early 1900,s lead was the primary metal used for piping. all kinds of pipes were lead. then as time went by the lead plumbers called lead sweater died off so it became a dying part of the industry. just try and find someone today who can sweat a leadbend. eventually they went to galvanized pipe, then braSS THEN COPPER AND THE NEW FAD IS PEX OR PLASTIC TUBING.also with the scare of lead poison pipes had to be ripped out and relaced with whatever material was in fad at the time. Before lead pipes there were wooden pipes. they worked great .
the first two is both right, but in the act of nuclear exposure, the lead would be best for the water, though you would still get poisoned either way!, and don’t bother doing so, it takes what, like ~1,000+ years for the radiation to subside?! you wouldn’t live through it any how!
Both waterproof, and easier bend / stretch into tubes, round bends etc. while being strong to be hardwearing.
Lead is unsuitable because it slowly poisons people.
the lead dissolves in the water and you get lead poisoning. hot water makes more lead dissolve.
lead made the water poisonous
they could insulate the water and it was abundant