11.In many communities, large, buried iron pipes carry the water supply to the houses. Whenever it is necessary to connect the house plumbing (often copper) to this pipe, regulations usually require that an official inspector observe the connection. Explain why?
Most communities do this so the right materials are used and it is done ai accordnce with their city codes
yes, joining the dissimilar metals leads to corrosion. nowadays I think a PVC coupling eliminates that problem.
Copper and iron react to one another in the presence of dirt and minerals to create a flow of electrons and a resulting corrosion of the metals. In order to prevent the reaction from occurring, a special fitting is used to join the copper and the iron together. The fitting is referred to as a dielectric fitting. It will not allow electrons to flow and thereby prevents the corrosive action from taking place. If the dielectric fitting is not installed or if it is installed incorrectly, the electron flow and corrosion will result in the pipe bursting within a relatively short time span of a few years. With the dielectric fitting properly installed, the pipes should have 25 to 35 years minimum life spans.
