# If you live in an old house, beware..



## buxtronix (20/6/13)

After getting a water leak here in the house (built in the 50's), we had all the old galvanized plumbing replaced with copper yesterday. Both water pressure and taste improved immensely right away, and I think I finally found out what's been making my beer have a sharp taste.

Check out this pipe my water was feeling through! That's basically rust and corrosion from 50 years of use.

If your house still has plumbing from before the 70's, your water is probably going through the same crap...


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## bum (20/6/13)

buxtronix said:


> After getting a water leak here in the house (built in the 50's), we had all the old galvanized plumbing replaced with copper yesterday. Both water pressure and taste improved immensely right away, and I think I finally found out what's been making my beer have a sharp taste.
> 
> Check out this pipe my water was feeling through! That's basically rust and corrosion from 50 years of use.
> 
> If your house still has plumbing from before the 70's, your water is probably going through the same crap...


Have you had a look inside the cistern at all?


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## chewy (20/6/13)

And before it gets to your house its running thru steel and miles and miles of that asbestos stuff.. Gives me belly laughs!!


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## 431neb (20/6/13)

chewy said:


> And before it gets to your house its running thru steel and miles and miles of that asbestos stuff.. Gives me belly laughs!!


Luckily if you are breathing the water you're are fucked anyway.


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## GrumpyPaul (20/6/13)

According to the Dr. my arteries are going to look something like that pipe if I dont do something about my cholesterol.


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## Bribie G (20/6/13)

Your LDL cholesterol, not your HDL. The reason you get atherosclerosis is because of inflammatory spots on the artery walls exacerbated by LDL cholesterol, so to redress the balance eat less vegetable oils and increase your intake of eggs, butter and full fat meat.


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## Phoney (20/6/13)

My house was built in the 20's, I believe all of that rust and corrosion will be killed off in a 60 minute boil.

Right guys?


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## DU99 (20/6/13)

replaced water lines few years ago,even the gas line,and the heart plumbing has be redone


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## mrTbeer (20/6/13)

Most Councils use Polybutylene or Ductile Iron. 30+years ago it was Asbestos Cement and Earthen-ware.
Fittings can be powdercoated steel, brass, copper, polyethylene etc.
They all last a bloody long time and only get replaced on failure.

And ignorant folk still complain about chloride, chloramine & fluoride??


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## jaypes (20/6/13)

looks like one of my mates old bongs!


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## buxtronix (20/6/13)

phoneyhuh said:


> My house was built in the 20's, I believe all of that rust and corrosion will be killed off in a 60 minute boil.
> 
> Right guys?


Boiling kills bugs. Metal/rust residues will simply get concentrated.


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## DU99 (20/6/13)

:icon_offtopic: Added flavour..Yum


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## Yob (20/6/13)

Wouldnt a goodly portion be filtered by the grain bed?


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## wbosher (20/6/13)

A bit of iron is good for ya. :lol:


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## rotten (20/6/13)

Mmmmmm iron. Everything kills you eventually. Some things quicker than others


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## felten (20/6/13)

They say iron can be tasted in beer even in minute concentrations, and can cause many negative reactions. Water pipes are ~40 years old here, but thankfully copper.


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## mrTbeer (20/6/13)

DICL pipes are lined with cement mortar for anti corrosion hence better tasting beer.


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## Bizier (21/6/13)

felten said:


> They say iron can be tasted in beer even in minute concentrations, and can cause many negative reactions. Water pipes are ~40 years old here, but thankfully copper.


There was a neat trick which was given at the ECU short course, which is to rub a drop of beer on the back of your hand and sniff it. If it is high in iron, it smells like blood or rusty nails.


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## nathan_madness (21/6/13)

Install a Reverse Osmosis system you'll never look back and you won't believe how good water tastes.


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## Droopy (7/7/13)

With the much rusty and irony beer in you - will magnets stick to you???


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## Florian (7/7/13)

buxtronix said:


> Boiling kills bugs. Metal/rust residues will simply get concentrated.


and drop out, one would think.


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## toncils (14/9/13)




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## Goose (16/10/13)

nathan_madness said:


> Install a Reverse Osmosis system you'll never look back and you won't believe how good water tastes.


If you can afford it, and the increased water bills... its very inefficient basis the amount of water you need to feed into it versus what you get out.

A multi stage water filter with replaceable cartridges does just fine...


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## sp0rk (16/10/13)

Goose said:


> If you can afford it, and the increased water bills... its very inefficient basis the amount of water you need to feed into it versus what you get out.
> 
> A multi stage water filter with replaceable cartridges does just fine...


It doesn't give you the control over your water chemistry that RO does, though
Also, an iron removal filter (not just a normal filter cartridge that won't remove iron) is going to cost you minimum $280
The cost for the extra water is going to be less than $10 a year, which would mean the iron filter will take 28 years to pay itself off


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## Dunkelbrau (19/10/13)

RO has a waste of 4:1 drinkable, however you can divert that waste water out into garden uses or an other water uses you have. Easy enough to install a small tank like the one the clean water goes into for pretty cheap. Then use that for anything other than drinking/consumption.

Efficiency is based on what you do with it, not the dirty:clean ratio.


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## heyhey (19/10/13)

What is cheap anyway, you get stung by service fees mostly (at least in VIC)


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## Beerisyummy (29/10/13)

Any old pipework looks like that! Copper looks the same over time and I'm sure the new plastic systems will too.

From my own experience you'll get less dissolved solids in older areas with older pipes. There's also factors like distance from reservoir and recent rainfall that come into play.

Personally, I use a reverse osmosis, activated carbon, 2x particulate and deionisation filter. I still drink from the tap though.


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