Copper pipes have heavy black buildup inside. Cause and Fix please?

[Charlie Bosco]

I recently moved to to a small ranch house being fed by a well. House was built in 1974. The water stunk to high heaven with Sulfur and was hard as a rock even though there was a softener and Carbon tank installed. Turns out they were both spent.

I have since redone the system by Adding a KL Tank, New Catalytic Carbon Tank and restored the Water Softener to perfection. This leads me to the recent water heater replacement.

When I cut the lines to install the new heater, I noticed they were HEAVILY lined with a hard black carbon like crust. In fact I had to scrape the inside clear a couple of inches in just so I could slide my Sharkbite connector on to the pipe. The little white insert would not clear the buildup! The Hot side was much worse than the cold side.

My assumption is that this buildup is from the years of neglect. The sulfur and hard water wreaked havoc on my pipes. The next question is what is it and will it eventually be dissolved by the soft sulfur free water. Its also just about perfect PH or slightly high.

I did a bit of testing on the residue. Here are my NON Scientific results.. I scraped some chips into both 7% Peroxide and Hydrochloric Acid

Neither one had much of a reaction at all. What I did notice after a few minutes the one in Peroxide turned the liquid a clear green-blue tint and it actually smelled like a straight Turd. ****UPDATE**** Checked the Peroxide mix an hour later and its fizzing like crazy and vapor is coming off it. Liquid is turning a deeper green and looks as though all the deposits are dissolving. I'll check on it again. ***UPDATE 2*** The liquid is still fizzing and its turning more brownish.. Will check again to see it there is a complete consumption of the sample.

The Hydrochloric acid did not do much either, the liquid turned a slight greenish tint but nothing else. So I guess I can rule out calcium or it would have fizzed over.. Only thing I noticed from the Acid was it stunk as well like a terribly rotten fart. ***UPDATE*** No change in 2 hours.

Soooooo, can I assume its some sort of sulfur byproduct?

Here is a photo below.

 

[Jeff H Young]

there is some pretty nasty water in Florida. I remember my water when I lived there. If it dosent stink its not water.
Seriously Id get it tested , assuming its your well? Id be repiping 46 years old unless Im moving Im cutting that out. is it possible thats some kind of epoxy liner?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Charlie Bosco]

there is some pretty nasty water in Florida. I remember my water when I lived there. If it dosent stink its not water.
Seriously Id get it tested , assuming its your well? Id be repiping 46 years old unless Im moving Im cutting that out. is it possible thats some kind of epoxy liner?

Not a liner, in fact I just updated the reaction with 7% Peroxide.. Pretty sure its Sulfur related. Guessing the green blue tint is from the copper pipes being etched..

Yes, water here sucks.. Too deep Iron, too shallow sulfur.. pick your poison..

 

[ditttohead]

You need to get a real water test completed before anything other than guesses could be given.
NTLWATERTEST

Use the link above, Well Standard is sufficient. On the untreated water do you have any smells? If you have a recent laboratory water report you can post that. This would be better in the Water Softener Forum. This is a water quality related issue and that forum is more about water treatment than softening.