This month’s question has to do with residual pipe compounds that can be found inside the plumbing/pipes at your home. Let’s look at the question, and then the answer.

When installing new pipes from top of driven-point water well pipe to shallow well jet water pump & then over to bladder pressure tank, if so much pipe compound is used that it squeezes out INSIDE the pipes, can it make you sick?

Whether it makes you sick or not can only be determined by a medical professional. As a water expert however, I can tell you emphatically that if there are visible signs of pipe compound inside your pipes, the installer was incompetent and did a bad job; a careless job.

Pipe compounds, cleaners, and adhesives should never find their way to the inside of drinking water pipes. When connecting slip joints, the chemical compounds should only be applied to the inside of the female connection (outer pipe), and should not be applied to the last 1/16 inch of that pipe so that it does not squeeze into the inner wall of the drinking water pipe.

Any contractor who installs drinking water pipes otherwise is careless and subjects the consumer to health issues. Manufacturers can blab on all they want about their compounds being food grade or FDA approved. When I hear that I ask them to make a ham sandwich for themselves and use their compounds instead of condiments.