Home > Remedies > Water > Water Q&A > Is Drinking Water Through Copper Pipes Safe?
Is Drinking Water Through Copper Pipes Safe?Posted By Sarah (Altadena, CA) on 07/01/2021
Replied by GertJr (Madison ) on 07/02/2021
Replied by Mama to Many (TN) on 07/02/2021
I grew up in a house with copper pipes. I don't know of any health issues that I had from it.
I think one thing that affects the leaching of copper into the water is the corrosiveness of the water supply. My husband does plumbing work. The water in our town destroys the plumbing. He sees it all of the time.
One thing to do to reduce any possible leaching of copper would be to let the water run a bit so that you aren't drinking water that has been sitting in the pipes.
You could also get bloodwork done to check your copper levels if you are concerned.
~Mama to Many~
Replied by GertJr (Madison ) on 07/03/2021
I think the solder used in connecting the copper pipe was lead, so it's possible that lead could leach out into the water--more prevalent in hot water than in cold. I, too, was taught as a child to not drink out of the hot water pipe but we were told to run the tap on the cold for a bit before drinking to flush out anything. We didn't have city water, so that could have been a safety thing or for the lead solder. I don't remember. We also used a silver pitcher for our milk (delivered in bottles that had to be washed and returned, so we decanted into a silver pitcher and returned the bottles). The 'silver spoon' sayings originated here--to keep the bacteria down in foodstuffs, they would leave a silver spoon or several coins in it. Since the poor didn't have any silver, they often got sick.Replied by Michael (New Zealand) on 07/03/2021
Re. Copper PipesGreetings and Story Time folks!
Our drinking water now (occasionally) comes from the sky and is collected off the roof and stored in large tanks. This poses a slight problem in a drought especially if one is an avid gardener as I am. We no longer grow vegetables in January and February due to this fact (+ too many insects in the height of summer). One tank is plastic and the other old concrete. We live in a rural area I.e. no smog / acid rain thank God.
Along with the property, we inherited some old, copper, water supply pipes, which have been gradually replaced over the years with "modern materials" just because of on-going leaks in the connections really.
If your water supply is non-corrosive, as long as you are not drinking water from the hot water tap, things should be tickety boo. My mother told me as a child (me that is) that I should never drink from the hot tap and I assumed it was because of possible bacteria living in our warm-water supply cistern. Maybe she was referring to the copper but we were taught not to question our adults in those days!! She probably believed that the Roman Empire's lead water piping was the main reason their empire crumbled for the lack of proper plumbing! In one house I lived in, we could only afford to heat the water once per week before dressing in our "Sunday Best" because our electricity was so expensive!
If you are skeptical a) you weren't around then or b) you haven't watched the "Four Yorkshiremen" on u tube.
For sure, too much copper in the human body is detrimental to our health but we DO need a trace, or minuscule, amount along with many other trace elements in order to lead a healthy life- most posters know this I imagine.
When we raised stock/cattle, we often needed to inject them subcutaneously with copper because we currently live in a region where there is a copper deficiency in the soil and most farmers were doing the same otherwise the stock absolutely would not "thrive".
It is an excellent idea to have two filters. One large-micron one to filter the big stuff and a fine-micron one to cope with the remaining pollutants. A carbon filter is great for the latter especially if Guardia (sp?) is present (sparrows on the roof etc-best not to dwell on that one). So far as I am aware, no filter can filter out everything though. I doubt it would filter out fluoride for example.
Cheers once again from Down Under
