Plumbers in the house (1 Viewer)

Dick7Access

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I have some water pipes (PVC) in my house that are clogged with lime from my well. Florida is one big floating lime island. Anybody know an easy way to unclog them?
 

Micron

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Acid, such as vinegar, lime or lemon juice - but you didn't say if they were supply lines or drains. I'm guessing supply because most pvc drain pipe is below ground (at least in my area).
If drains, same thing - acid of some sort, but if the scale is real bad you're looking at routing I'd say, if not complete replacement. Likely the line diameter is too small for routing.
There is a product called CLR (Calcium Lime Rust if I recall correctly) but not sure that it's meant for potable water lines.

Your problem could extend all the way back to the well pressure line? If you have a pressure tank, likely that's got scale in it too.
 

Dick7Access

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Acid, such as vinegar, lime or lemon juice - but you didn't say if they were supply lines or drains. I'm guessing supply because most pvc drain pipe is below ground (at least in my area).
If drains, same thing - acid of some sort, but if the scale is real bad you're looking at routing I'd say, if not complete replacement. Likely the line diameter is too small for routing.
There is a product called CLR (Calcium Lime Rust if I recall correctly) but not sure that it's meant for potable water lines.

Your problem could extend all the way back to the well pressure line? If you have a pressure tank, likely that's got scale in it too.
Thanks for answering. yes I know about vinegar. I use it all the time in my drains. No problem there as they are 1 1/2 lines and the only problem with them is the traps. I fill them once a week in the morning before I leave the house and flush them at night. It's my supply lines. The problem I am contemplating is how do I get vinegar into the supply lines they are 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch, and how do I know if the vinegar is not air trapped some place and not reaching the lime build up.
 

CJ_London

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I live in an area which has fairly hard water (as called in the UK), not the hardest, but you do get limescale buildup over time. Some people put in water softeners. I use a magnet.

This link says they don't work https://www.mrwatergeek.com/magnetic-water-softener/

And here's one on the science https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653518305836

But my experience is I installed one about 10 years ago in my previous house (it cost around £20 as I recall and was clamped around a 25mm copper pipe about 4 feet from the stopcock.) . Over 8 years I only had to descale the kettle once, and taps/showers etc had no buildup of limescale. Two years ago we moved about 1/4 mile to another house but no magnet on the supply. So far I have descaled the kettle 3 times and it's about due to be done again.

We're in the middle of a major renovation including replacing all the plumbing - I'll be putting another magnet on the supply. Whether they work on pvc pipes I would not like to say

Note this is about preventative measure - if you pipes are clogged, a magnet is not a solution
 

The_Doc_Man

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Dick, my best guess is to spend money once and ask a professional plumber in the area how they approach the problem for long-term solution. Since you are dealing with supply lines rather than drain lines, CLR is questionable because of what the active materials will do to your digestion. And since we have talked personally about this during your two visits, I know your digestion is like mine in some ways. Your solution might be some kind of water pre-treatment system that has an easily cleaned drain setup. You would run purified water through the feed pipes but would have to regularly clean the pre-treat plumbing. At least there, you could get metal pipes that could be rodded out without danger, whereas if you have old PVC, I'd worry about cracking the old lines.
 

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