How can galvanic corrosion affect your house, and what is it? Well, the most common type of corrosion would be on metal piping through the basement of your house, i.e. water pipes, sewer drains, or valves. Galvanic corrosion happens when two different metals come into contact with each other in the presence of water.
This can lead to rusting, especially in the between the joints of the pipes, where the 2 different metals are in constant contact, which is why you will see rust more commonly in these areas. Also, you’ll see this corrosion in certain elements in your electric water heater. For instance, the copper sheathe and steel base could begin to corrode if they came into contact with water, would lead to serious problems in the future. Galvanized unions can be installed to prevent this corrosion.
To further prevent this corrosion, you can choose metals that have similar compounds, thus not causing the rust. Also, you can avoid threaded connections between the pipes, because they are the most vulnerable to galvanic corrosion.
