I don't think this will be rapid enough where one day, out of the blue, a swarm of locust comes and eats all your siding. It will be a slow degradation that we have to respond by moving back to metal piping or some other material. I know someone that worked in PEX piping manufacturing, and they had to deal with Box Elder bugs boring holes in PEX plumbing for over a decade. We will have to adapt to moving back to glass and metal, along with other materials, but I would think, if this turns into bugs and bacteria breaking down plastics on time scales less than 1000 years, it will be a long term good, with some short term disruptions.
More expensive to make, transport and install (heavier), and metal degrades far more quickly than plastic. Cast Iron is used for sewage and rainwater because it's non stick but is actually fairly fragile compared to PVC or whatever the fuck they use now
I don't think this will be rapid enough where one day, out of the blue, a swarm of locust comes and eats all your siding. It will be a slow degradation that we have to respond by moving back to metal piping or some other material. I know someone that worked in PEX piping manufacturing, and they had to deal with Box Elder bugs boring holes in PEX plumbing for over a decade. We will have to adapt to moving back to glass and metal, along with other materials, but I would think, if this turns into bugs and bacteria breaking down plastics on time scales less than 1000 years, it will be a long term good, with some short term disruptions.
Why'd we move away from metal pipes anyway? Is it just more expensive?
More expensive to make, transport and install (heavier), and metal degrades far more quickly than plastic. Cast Iron is used for sewage and rainwater because it's non stick but is actually fairly fragile compared to PVC or whatever the fuck they use now
Huh I would've figured metal would last a while, but I guess it rusts easily. Suprised they haven't engineered ways around that.
If your water has a high pH it will corrode your copper piping. My water pipes were so thin you could chew them.
I mean you could use stainless steel or use some kind of coated metal so there are technically non plastic solutions it comes down to cost
And that metal? It was lead.
spoiler
[I'm being totally glib , don't actually know if that's the case for sure, just FYI]
Yeah that goes without saying, but there has to be other safe metals they could use right? Or why not engineer a new lighter one?
More expensive for stainless steel and more corrosion for copper/iron pipe. Also more brain poison for lead pipes.