How to remove hard water deposites in pipes.?

Question

I have recently purchased an older home, which i am now living in. The water flow to the upstairs bathroom is slow and low pressure from years of hard water build up. Because of the way the plumbing has been run it would be thousands of dollars and the removal of a floor and a couple walls to rerun the piping. Is there any way to clean the hard water deposits from the pipes with out spending all that money and replacing them? I didnt know if vinegar water or some other form of solvent might work. Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

You must be very careful with what you put into your potable (drinking) water pipes --you should not put anything in them that is not fit for human consumption.

There is no sure way of cleaning them out except with a procedure to "sandblast" them --which is part of the epoxy lining process. This is typically less expensive than re-piping (replacing your pipes) and will provide you a solution which will last up to another 50 years.

Answer 2

have u tried CLR it works really great for removing hard water deposits...

hope that works.   also 7up is good for removing rust.

Answer 3

Replacing copper pipes is expensive and takes a long time. Instead you can restore them with epoxy pipe lining. The epoxy lining process by CuraFlo cleans the pipes and ads 25-50 years to their life. Epoxy lining helps increase the water flow and water pressure. You can check out a video on there website.

Another alternative is pex piping. It is less expensive than copper but more evasive than Curaflo. pex is a flexible plastic tube.

I would be careful putting foods which may cause bacteria to grow (soda pop) or solvents in my water lines. They will be very hard to remove.

Answer 4

Not that I know of, but I'm not a plumber.  The pipes also may have rust in addition to the hard water build up.  You might try to reroute the pipes through some walls to crawl spaces or the attic. Consult a professional pipefitter who does repair and remodel.  The wall finish is probably as much as the pipe work.   Maybe an exposed run that is boxed in after it is finished for concealment.