Do you know if they are as good
as silver?
I wouldnt experiment with any type of coloidial copper
if thats what you mean.
unless you have the proper equipment and knowledge to do so.
copper will form a greenish blue tarnish like silvers black
colored tarnish over time as you know because of oxidation.
the copper pipes are beginning to make a comeback in new homes because of the antibacterial health benefits and the availability of lead free solder used to join the pipes.
still even in a new home the water distribution pipes leading to the new home will have gobs of free bacteria to drink unless you have a home distillery to cleanse the free bacteria from the water supply.
If you run the water long enough in a copper pipe system then the copper may not completely cleanse the slime.
so it would be cheaper to use a small home distillery for your drinking water that removes the slime.
but you would still be bathing in the slime and washing your
clothes in the slime.
I imagine that in the UK you guys have some really old water pipes in use , so some of them might be the old leaded water pipes , you might want to check.
I have seen actual lead pipes that formed a 3-4 ft connection between two service pipes in the 70's.
then it was burried!
I wonder if its still in use.
It was used because of movement issues of the ground to maintain a connection.