Water pipes - Definition and Overview

This article is about pipes used to carry water in plumbing. For the smoking device known as a water pipe, see Hookah. For other uses of the word, see pipe.

A system of copper water pipes used in a radiator heating system.

Water pipes are tubes, frequently made of polyvinyl chloride or copper, that carry pressurized fresh water to buildings (as part of a municipal water system), as well as through the building.

For many centuries, lead was the favored material for water pipes, due to its malleability (this use was so common that the word "plumbing" derives from the Latin word for lead). This was a source of lead related health problems in the years before the health hazards of ingesting lead were fully understood; among these were stillbirth and high rates of infant mortality. Lead water pipes were still in common use in the early 20th century and remain in many households.

See also: Pipeline transport.

External link

• Lead Water Pipes and Infant Mortality in Turn-of-the-Century Massachusetts (http://papers.nber.org/papers/W9549)