Safe Pipes Using Aluminium and Copper Alloys

Fresh water is the most important source of life on the planet. Ninety-nine percent of all living organisms relies their survival on fresh water. Unlike ocean water, it contains purely diatoms of hydrogen and oxygen that are essential to the human and animal metabolism. Although some other elements can mix with water and add to its function in hydration.

Only about 3 percent of the water on earth is fresh water and from this fraction, more than 2 percent is solidified glacier. In other words, all living things nourish on only less than 1 percent of it. This small amount is distributed and renewed through rivers, ponds, lakes and streams. For human consumption, most water are pumped from the water table underground, treated and purified before releasing to the public through huge and small pipelines.

The water that is released through the pipelines must be clean and safe for human consumption. Commercial distributors of drinking water not only implement corporate water treatment procedure, but make sure that pipelines are clean enough to channel the water to houses and other facilities. They secure the internal surface of the pipes to be free from algae and fungi that can release toxic enzymes or bacteria that might cause sickness.

Pipelines have various types depending on their expected use. Those that are used for domestic water system are usually made of metals that have internal aluminum covering. Aluminium pipes are highly resistant to corrosion and are best used to keep water free from rust. Other pipes such as those used in oil transmission and gas systems are made of other materials.

Most domestic water pipes today are made of aluminium and copper alloys. Copper alloys are more resistant to corrosion than basic aluminium. Some metallurgists alloy copper with zinc to make it even resistant to molds and mildew that can form in the moist state of pipes. Bronze, a type of copper alloy, can be used in making canon and canon balls, automobile transmission pilot bearings, torsion springs and more.

On the other hand, aluminum can be wrought to other useful material not just aluminium pipes. Aluminum is better than copper in conductivity, thus making it a better material for electrical wires. Because it does not easily melt, it is extensively used in rocketry and in the creation of plates and parts of combustion engines.