"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Ian Middleton"
says...
"Mike" wrote in message
...

"Ian Middleton" wrote in message
news Can water softener waste (probably containing calcium/magnesioum
chloride
and may be some salt) be passed through copper pipe OK ?

Would it attack the copper ? I very much doubt it but worth asking.


Almost everything attacks copper pipe until it forms a protective
shield
of
the various oxides and other Cu salts inside. Providing nothing is
done
to remove these at intervals the pipe should be okay.

But why not just use plastic ?

A colleague at work, after hearing about the wonders of my water softener
decide he would like one too. The optimum place for it would be in a
cupboard near the rising main and other pipework in his utility room. The
waste drain would by via a nicely polished peice of 35mm copper pipe
running
under a large victorian sink. Doesn't want to change the copper pipe as
its
a feature, but worried that something might eat it away ???



So stick some plastic pipe inside it.
He is just going to stick with the copper as he found numerous references
via Google to US newsgroup postings about water softener waste and copper
pipes. It appears copper waste pipes are much more common in the US than in
UK and there were no reported problems.