What will clean out old water pipes?

Q. Is there a solution I can use to clean out the water pipes in my home so as to increase the volume of water in them? The pipes are about 50 years old? Harry S. Thompson Laguna Beach, California

A. Fifty-year-old pipe is probably galvanized or black and the constriction may be more than a chemical can break loose or dissolve.

One product you can try in your effort to unstop the pipes is called Aquadene , made by the Stiles-Kem Corporation, Zion, IL 60099. There are others, of course. Be sure to follow the directions on the label.

If such a chemical fails to loosen the constrictions, you may have to install new pipe. Let us hope, however, that the old pipes are capable of chemical flushing.