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Comment by mmcgaha | Hacker News Reader

Hope we don’t go back to iron. Stuff is rotting away in my mothers home and her gaskets get destroyed by the rust and have to be replaced every year. I would like copper but but it is expensive and there are people who complain about the lead.

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Lead isn't used in new copper installations nor in bronze fittings for potable water.

Lead is still legal in hot water supply lines, which is why you can only get “hot water” fixtures for certain sizes of lines at Home Depot:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-4-in-FIP-x-3-4-in-FIP...

This is the only choice for 3/4 FIP that I can find there. Such lines are used by our water filter and softener. The brass connectors are leaded, and it has a prop 65 warning.

The end result of this loophole is that you probably have at least some leaded plumbing in your home.

Edit: From the product manual.

> Important Information Stainless Steel Water Heater Water Connectors

> WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.

> Lead Free: The wetted surface of this product contacted by consumable water contains less than one quarter of one percent (0.25%) of lead by weight.

Note that the wetted surface standard is because this part is electroplated, and they test it with intact plating. The manual goes on to say you need to inspect it every 6 months, or more often if you have hard water.

I’m guessing most people don’t disassemble and reassemble their home’s plumbing supply lines every few months to see if the brass has been exposed due to contact with water.

It says lead free though. Are you sure it’s not actually lead free brass and not the free machining kind?

They define lead free in the sentence that makes the claim. The last time I looked carefully at this part, I found it was illegal to use it for drinking water supplies. This would be less of a big deal if they stocked lines for potable water, but they do not.

This is why you shouldn’t drink or cook with hot water supply.

https://www.epa.gov/lead/why-cant-i-use-hot-water-tap-drinki...

Yep, that's one reason. And, in general, don't water plants with it either.

Also, in houses with soft water, typically the only inside non-soft water supply is the cold kitchen tap. Poorly repiped homes skip this step and deliver soft water to all taps, none of which can be used to water plants.

Furthermore, in the US, it's foolish to make it a habit to drink or cook with tap water when RO is available. US tap water has never been universally safe and reliable, most of it tastes terrible, and there is no reason to not protect your family and yourself with an insurance policy should there be a water safety problem.

Most of us don't have any ability to install a system like that. I'm not even supposed to nail things into the wall, let alone install a RO water system in my rental.

You're complaining about iron and your solution is copper?! Iron has a longer life expectancy, better failure condition, and is less expensive.

Copper is more corrosion resistant than iron. Cast iron and galvanized pipes are usually swapped out for copper or plastic.

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/plumbing/reviews/types-of-plumb...

Also way more expensive, getting even more expensive and being very much sought after by the EV industry. It's quite easy to work with, I'll grant you that. And looks good compared to Pex/PPR. But we decided to limit its use to boiler rooms. For solar panel installations we went to flexible corrugated stainless steel tubing.

That's not the whole story. Galvanized contrasted with copper: faster scale accumulation, harder to work with, more difficult repairs, and more self-welding. When copper was cheap, it was the clear winner. Old galvanized is a PITA.

No one uses cast iron anymore because it's a huge PITA and brittle.

PS: MAPP (substitute) gas is the only way to do copper soldering. Propane is a waste of time.

You can do lead free solder joints.

What on earth is going on in your mother's home that cast iron is rotting away? I've been in homes well over 100 years old where everything else has been ripped out and replaced apart from the original cast iron that just keeps on doing its job.

Depending on the water quality, cast iron water supply pipes will slowly rust themselves shut or rust towards failure. Could last 100 years, potentially much shorter. All depends on the water supply chemistry.

For supply, I prefer copper but will tolerate pex. I also prefer soldering copper over compression fittings, but that’s more personal preference (although compression fittings [“Viega ProPress”] are great if you need to move fast, can’t get a hot permit in a commercial setting, and you’re confident in the compression fitting’s rubber seal).

Just use pex-al-pex. It's the best thing there is by a longshot.

It depends. PPR is better outside where it's freezing.

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