undergound well pipe connections- rust resistance, electrolysis, etc-

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stoneaxe

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This is an addendum to my earlier "earthquake resistant pitless connection" thread.

I now have a brass hose barb with 1" poly for the pitless connection. This line tees at the tank house with one side going to the house , and the other in galvanized steel, to the pressure tank switch etc.

This is an undergound tee, galvanized steel, with a brass hose barb, a galvanized nipple, and a brass gate valve, and a galvanized line into the tank house. The well guy said to use a 6" piece of PVC to make a access to the valve which is 24" below grade.

My question is this- is this a corrosion nightmare waiting to happen? All this will be in contact with the dirt, except for the valve which will have the PVC pipe around it. It will not be soaking wet , as there is a small roof overhang above it.

I am halfway thinking of changing the tee and nipple to brass, adding one more brass hose barb, and continuing the 1" poly up above the dirt, inside the tank house. So anything in dirt contact will be brass, poly, with stainless steel clamps.

My previous system had no galvanized below grade-it was all PVC. It lasted thirty one years and still no problem- the only piping problem was the galvanized steel in the tank house, it was internally corroded so bad it was nearly plugged.

This is the time to change it if i am gonna redo the well guys work, as the ditch is open and it is not an easy dig- (wires, etc).

Thanks for your comments!
 

Craigpump

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I use only brass underground and never with galvanized.

Ditch the gate valve and use a curb stop 'cause the stem in the gate valve will break at the worst possible time.
 

Valveman

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Anytime you screw two dissimilar metals together, they cause an electric current called electrolysis that eats away at the softer of the two metals. Wrapping the connection with electric tape will usually prevent corrosion from electrolysis.

However, having all the same kind of metal is best. I liked brass until the government got involved and made them take all the lead out. New “Brass”, which is more copper than brass, now turns green and quickly corrodes away like the Statue of Liberty. So I now prefer Stainless Steel or plastic.

Stainless Steel is about 15% Chromium, which is as toxic or more so than the 8% lead that was in good brass before the government got involved. But some kids got lead poisoning from eating paint off of toys made in China, so now all of a sudden anything with lead is bad. Lead may not have been good in paint, but was a very important part of many metal recipes. Lead doesn’t leach out of brass anymore than Chromium leaches out of Stainless Steel. They both need acidic, hot water, abrasives, or erosion to leach Lead or Chromium into the water.

Testing companies will grind the metal into dust, soak it in acid for a few days, and test for any lead in the solution. That is what they have to do to get lead to leach out of metals, which is not at all a realistic test.

A lot of people in the government got re-elected making people think extra legislation made plumbing products safer. In reality, these new regulations greatly increased the cost of plumbing products, greatly reduced the quality, and didn’t make anything safer.

Previous generations lived long and healthy lives with real Lead Soldier and 8% lead in all brass fittings. Now we get “lead free” brass, 15% Ethanol in our gas, and health care “death panels”, while they continue to “spend us into prosperity”. But the government always knows what is best for us. LOL Sorry, stepping down from my soap box now.
 

stoneaxe

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Anytime you screw two dissimilar metals together, they cause an electric current called electrolysis that eats away at the softer of the two metals. Wrapping the connection with electric tape will usually prevent corrosion from electrolysis.

However, having all the same kind of metal is best. I liked brass until the government got involved and made them take all the lead out. New “Brass”, which is more copper than brass, now turns green and quickly corrodes away like the Statue of Liberty. So I now prefer Stainless Steel or plastic.

Stainless Steel is about 15% Chromium, which is as toxic or more so than the 8% lead that was in good brass before the government got involved. But some kids got lead poisoning from eating paint off of toys made in China, so now all of a sudden anything with lead is bad. Lead may not have been good in paint, but was a very important part of many metal recipes. Lead doesn’t leach out of brass anymore than Chromium leaches out of Stainless Steel. They both need acidic, hot water, abrasives, or erosion to leach Lead or Chromium into the water.

Testing companies will grind the metal into dust, soak it in acid for a few days, and test for any lead in the solution. That is what they have to do to get lead to leach out of metals, which is not at all a realistic test.

A lot of people in the government got re-elected making people think extra legislation made plumbing products safer. In reality, these new regulations greatly increased the cost of plumbing products, greatly reduced the quality, and didn’t make anything safer.

Previous generations lived long and healthy lives with real Lead Soldier and 8% lead in all brass fittings. Now we get “lead free” brass, 15% Ethanol in our gas, and health care “death panels”, while they continue to “spend us into prosperity”. But the government always knows what is best for us. LOL Sorry, stepping down from my soap box now.

Yeah, the worst part is that damn few of them are elected, most are career bureaucrats expanding their domains looking for other excuses to save the world. The EPA was good idea in the beginning, I remember when acid from the etching plants and dye from the velvet factory went straight into the rivers- but they cleaned up 95 percent of the pollution in the first 10 years, 4 percent in the next 20 years, and now they want to bring the country to an economic full stop to get the last perceived 1/10 of 1 percent, which will take every dollar in existence and 300 years .
 

Valveman

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now they want to bring the country to an economic full stop to get the last perceived 1/10 of 1 percent, which will take every dollar in existence and 300 years .

Hit the nail right on the head.

The only real solution to pollution, climate change, fuel, food, water and other shortages is population control. The planet cannot support so many of us parasites. But nobody will mention that because it would mean a reduction in voters, consumers, and any need for bureaucrats. So we do the opposite of what needs to be done, we pay people to have even more kids. Birth control and abortion maybe immoral to some people, but over population is as cruel as dropping an unwanted dog off by a busy freeway.

Getting off soap box again, sorry.
 
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