One of my previous homes was a 150 year old farmhouse, that had copper and iron pipes, and well water that had a lot of minerals in it. the copper/iron combination acted like a battery, and the iron pipes filled with rust (and looked like the arteries of a heart attack victim!) and I had to replace ALL of them. I had to replace the pressure tank for the well pump a couple of times.
My current home is 95 years old, and the plumbing has been redone at least once since being built. When the house was first built, it used coal to fire the steam-heat boiler, and also a coal-burning stove in the kitchen (we still have the original blueprints, that's how I know).