Why is my copper water pipes black inside

[jim]

I have a house that is 14 years old and has its own well pump out here in the country . The water is hard in this area so I have a water softener. I was putting in a new pressure tank and was cutting the old copper pipe as I needed it longer for the new tank . I noticed that the inside of the copper water pipe had a dark black color on the inside wall. When I turned on the water faucet to get the air out there was black particals coming out of the faucet as the air was being released.it even clogged some of the faucet aerators . Is somthing corroding my pipes What is in my water? is this unheathy, what kind of filter do I need for this. thanks

[Roxanne]

I have a house that is 14 years old and has its own well pump out here in the country . The water is hard in this area so I have a water softener. I was putting in a new pressure tank and was cutting the old copper pipe as I needed it longer for the new tank . I noticed that the inside of the copper water pipe had a dark black color on the inside wall. When I turned on the water faucet to get the air out there was black particals coming out of the faucet as the air was being released.it even clogged some of the faucet aerators . Is somthing corroding my pipes What is in my water? is this unheathy, what kind of filter do I need for this. thanks

Hi Jim,

I'm not a Water Quality Specialist but my best guess would we that you have some sort of Managnese build-up in your pipes. Does the water coming from that pipe also have a bitter, metallic taste?

[jim]

The water does not seem to taste bad, I did not include this in my first post but we have a lot of iron in our water as the water is redish color that is straight from the well before it goes through the water softener.

[Gary Slusser]

Black residue inside pipes is usually caused by H2S (sulfur - rotten egg), so is there or has there been any odor in the water? It builds up a bit and when the water is drained out of the pipes air enters and the residue dries and flakes off and is flushed out when you turn the water on. Corroded copper is green.

[jim]

Somtimes we get that rotten egg oder just in the hot water. I have been told that the water heater itself maybe turning water that has hydrogen sulfate in it to hydroge sulfide from the magnesum rod. I have also been told that taking this rod out will void warranty of water heater. Is this black stuff harmful to health and is it going the shorten the life of my copper water pipes? thanks

[Gary Slusser]

H2S is corrosive but you don't have enough to cause a problem to copper tubing.

The only cause of hot water only odor is SRB (sulfate reducing bacteria) in your water, it reacts with certain types of anode rods to create H2S (hydrogen sulfide gas) in the hot water.

To get rid of a hot water only odor, you must kill the bacteria with water treatment equipment using a disinfectant. Or you can turn the temp up to 140* for awhile or remove the rod or replace it with a different type. But I suspect that you have the H2S in the cold water too.