There has been an epidemic of pinhole leaks in copper pipes causing major water damage in homes on the island and in other parts of Indian River County for years now, which shows no sign of stopping. In response, island homeowners have begun replacing pipes preemptively to avoid expensive repairs, sometimes spurred on by new insurance company demands.

Proactively preventing pinhole leaks in copper pipes can involve re-piping an entire house. Other water damage prevention methods include installing filtration systems to remove chemicals that may cause corrosion in the pipes or automatic shutoff devices that limit water damage if there is a leak – a favorite condition now being insisted on by some insurance companies at homeowner policy renewal time.

“We heard about the leaky copper pipes by accident and we were appalled,” said Sherry Alpert, a snowbird resident who lives in Sea Oaks. Even though she has never had a leak, she just spent $9,000 to have a plumber totally re-pipe her one-floor, 1,666-square-foot house before she left for Massachusetts for the summer. That sum did not include the cost of replastering and repairing the areas where the new pipes were installed.

Alpert said she hired a plumber after hearing about neighbors who suffered extensive water damage in their two-story home that destroyed floors, carpets, furniture and cabinets – damage that cost much more than $9,000 to repair. A pipe had burst while the neighbors were away.

“Many people around here have replaced their pipes,” Alpert said. “Many others gamble it won’t happen to them. But when it happened to close friends recently and they had to move to a hotel, we committed to the costly pipe replacement. This felt like an anvil hanging over our heads. It’s costing homeowners an enormous amount of money to fix [water damage from unexpected leaks].”

Harry Howle, a leading local insurance agent and a former mayor of the City of Vero Beach, said claims for water damage are by far the most common insurance claims filed by Indian River County residents. “If the insurance companies looked at a map of Indian River County, singularly, and saw all the spots where leaks have occurred, they might be tempted to remove the coverage altogether,” Howle said.

To limit their payouts, Howle said, many insurance companies now inspect homes before offering renewals and insist on automatic shutoff systems to limit damage if there is a leak.

Insurance companies also typically limit what damages they will pay for, Howle said. Any loss must take place within the walls of a home and above the construction slab – leaks under the slab or in pipes leading to the house but outside the walls are not covered.

“I have had leaks in the underground water piping leading to my house,” says Carlo Rietveld, a 22-year resident on the north island. “A friend of mine also had a leaking water pipe – luckily it was only in his garage.”

Rietveld, a retired international banker who used to finance water system construction projects around the world, said pinhole leaks are often caused by “interior pitting corrosion that eats through the pipe’s protective coating.” The “small, insidious and progressive failures” can cause hidden, significant structural damage, water loss and reduced water pressure, he said.

Indian River County spent $84,000 in 2022 on a study by an outside consultant in response to numerous complaints about corrosion in water pipes, but no record could be found of any action taken as a result.

To control bacteria and make water suitable for home distribution, most municipal water systems treat water with chloramines, but these can react with copper, leading to interior corrosion in the pipes. Rietveld said his experience has shown that high water velocity, sharp turns, sand, sediment or excess flux can also physically scour a pipe’s interior, leading to weak spots. Damage inside a pipe often isn’t visible from the outside.

Jared Taylor, the owner of Southern Plumbing, said his company has been called in many times to homes all over the county to fix problems caused by leaky pipes in his 26 years in the business. What he typically finds after a pipe fails is that chemicals in the water have caused a crystallization on the inside of the pipe, leading to a weak spot that eventually burst.

Taylor says newer homes that have been built in the last few years often come with water filtration systems, and in older homes, he strongly recommends installing filtration systems or shutoff valves “to prevent problems.”