QUENTIN ROUX / Staff

David Baker talks to Marco Association of Condominiums members about ways his company can restore copper water pipes affected by pinhole leaks.

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Controversy, affirmation or denial aside, one of the island’s hot-button issues – copper pipe pinhole leaks — continues.

To address the need for pipe restoration caused by pinhole leaks, at least one major plumbing services company has established a branch office in the area.

“It’s happening down here,” said vice president of ADF Plumbing Services of Clearwater, David Baker, “and that’s why we’re in business.”

Baker was addressing members of the Marco Association of Condominiums on the problem of increasing pinhole leaks in houses and condos on the island, particularly older ones.

Up front, Baker asked for a show of hands from association members who’d experienced pinhole leaks at their properties, and about a third of the 40 people present indicated they had.

Baker did not apportion direct blame, other than describe Marco’s water as “aggressive,” due to the addition of a chloramide that is basically a cleaning agent.

The problem here, he said, is that the agent removes a “patina” build-up caused by calcium, salts and magnesium in the water that are a result of pipes trying to protect themselves.

“Over a period of time, running chloramide (which makes for good drinking water, by the way) etches the inside of pipes ... and now that the patina is being cleaned, pinholes are going to start,” Baker said.

At the same time, he pointed out that over time, corrosion can occur from the outside in when piping is encased in concrete, or indeed from the inside out — particularly when the lowest grade of copper piping is used.

Baker said his company’s solution to leaks is by applying an approved epoxy to the inside of pipes in a non-invasive procedure.

“This is something (for which) homeowners or associations — depending on the ages of the structures — should set aside reserves,” Baker said.

“It could happen within 10 or 15 years, or sooner with the thinner copper.

The double-edged sword here, he added, is that the thicker copper is exorbitant to the point that it’s not worth the cost.

On costs, from a question from the floor, Baker said he couldn’t provide ball park figures because of extreme variations, but one of his customers in the audience did say he’d spent about $9,000 on pipe restoration following pinhole leaks.

When the controversy peaked about a year ago, Dr. Bruce Weinstein, a project manager with the City of Marco Island utilities department, submitted a guest commentary which can be accessed in full by clicking on the www.marcoeagle.com/news/2007/may/08/guest_commentary_city_addresses_issue_pinhole_leak/ link.

Essentially, Weinstein said, one reason cited for the increasing number of leaks in many communities was that more stringent Federal Drinking Water Standards instituted in the mid-1990s removed “inhibitors” – organic materials that protect copper pipe from corroding.

Water utilities, including Marco Island Utilities, began adding allowable, low levels of phosphates to the water to provide a very thin layer of phosphate on the pipes to help prevent corrosion.

The phosphate film would degrade during extended periods of low flow, such as when homes are seasonally occupied, he said, hence he advised part-time residents to have someone periodically flow water to replenish the phosphate coating.

On assorted causes, Weinstein added, a pinhole in a copper pipe will form at one point in the pipe because of some impurities in the copper (or a particle of debris on the pipe), compared to another nearby area of the pipe that does not contain the impurities.

“Almost all of the reported leaks occur in Class M copper pipe used for cold water. The Class M pipe is thinner wall pipe and has a lower cost than the Class L pipe. Many homes and condominiums built on the island until the late 1990s have Class M copper pipe,” he wrote.

Baker also spoke about “outside in” corrosion when pipes are installed in concrete, and said stray electrical current on copper pipe (from appliances and other electrical devices) could also be a culprit.