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Correlation of damage in Copper Potable Water Installations with laboratory data with emphasis on operating conditions and design parameters
Author(s) -
Wagner D.,
Peinemann H.,
Siedlarek H.,
Fischer W. R.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
materials and corrosion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.487
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1521-4176
pISSN - 0947-5117
DOI - 10.1002/maco.19960471004
Subject(s) - potable water , copper , environmental science , corrosion , environmental engineering , metallurgy , materials science
Microbial influenced corrosion (MIC) occurred in copper drinking water installations of a water distribution area in Germany in a number of mainly institutional buildings. The extent of the manifestations of corrosion typical for this process differed considerably although the operating time of the affected installations was comparable. This difference must have been caused mainly by operating conditions and design parameters since the composition of the potable water and the quality of the copper tubes did not vary. This question has been investigated by setting up two test rigs operating at ambient temperature in an institutional building whose copper installation was severely affected by MIC. The corrosion process was successfully simulated in these test rigs. Corroded copper samples were taken from different house installations in this water distribution area and from the test rigs. The copper pipes of the different sources were inspected with respect to different operating conditions and design parameters. The obtained results cover the spectrum of the extent of the manifestations typical for this MIC process. Besides an induction period, a seasonal influence was evaluated for one institutional building.