Corrosion is the chemical or electrochemical reaction between a material, usually a metal, and its environment that produces a deterioration of the material and its properties. In the United States, cast iron and ductile iron pipe make up the majority of our nation’s aging water infrastructure. These materials are the most vulnerable to deterioration caused by corrosion. Corroded iron pipe brings about leaks, breaks, and pipe failure, resulting in 850 water main breaks a day in the United States. It is recorded that 6 billion gallons of water, the equivalent of California’s daily water usage, is lost every day. Along with the loss of natural resources, local municipalities are also exhausting funds to repair the problem. The cost to repair corroded water lines throughout the country is $3 billion in water main repairs alone and $50.7 billion in total cost. Corrosion is degrading our drinking water and wastewater systems and costing our nation billions of dollars.

Many factors contribute to corrosion-induced water main breaks, including soil conditions, coupling to dissimilar metals, seasonal temperature changes, soil stress, road de-icing salts, and seismic action and stray electrical currents. There are three types of corrosion that occurs in iron water mains: galvanic, tuberculation, and pitting. Each type of corrosion can occur individually or can be a consequence of another. Each can have hazardous effects on the quality of water that we need to survive. Galvanic corrosion is caused by the existence of a galvanic cell – essentially two metals submersed in an electrolyte – that results in an attack on one metal at the expense the other. For a galvanic cell to form, two electrochemically different metals must exist within a localized electrolytic environment. Tuberculation is the development or formation of small mounds of corrosion products and bio-film contamination on the inside of iron pipe. These tubercules roughen the inside of the pipe, increasing its resistance to water flow. It can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Pitting corrosion is a localized form of corrosion by which cavities or “holes” are produced in the material. Pitting is considered to be more dangerous than uniform corrosion damage because it is more difficult to detect, predict and design against.

Corrosion costs U.S. drinking water and wastewater systems $50.7 billion annually, according to a 2002 congressional study. A report entitled, Corrosion, not Age, is to Blame for Most Water Main Breaks, confirms that corrosion is the leading cause of water main breaks in North America. The burden of corrosion-prone pipe materials is not limited to the cost of repairing and replacing failed pipes. It includes the cost of treated water leaking from the system. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that 2.6 trillion gallons of potable water are lost every year through leaking pipes, or 17% of all water pumped in the U.S. Countless studies confirm the extent of the corrosion scourge, and entire industries and organizations like the National Association of Corrosion Engineers have spawned in an attempt to address it. PVC does not corrode and has among the lowest pipe breaks, saving our Earth’s precious water resources. While certain pipe manufacturers continue to explore “solutions” to corrosion – because their materials are affected by it – PVC remains indisputably resistant to it.

Plastic PVC pipe can stop the corrosion problem before it happens because it is immune to corrosion. Plastic pipe exceeds iron pipe in durability, longevity and performance. Independent studies by the American Water Works Association Research Foundation and the Plastics Pipe Institute show PVC and PE, respectively, last longer than 110 years.

To learn more about the benefits of plastic pipe look at the following information:

• Plastic Pipe is Corrosion Resistant
• Corrosion Epidemic

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These figures were produced from a survey of many pipe installation/replacement businesses. It also asked respondents to identify the most common failure mode by selecting from one of the following: corrosion, circumferential crack, longitudinal crack, leakage at joints, fatigue or other.

The average expected life of all new pipe of all materials was 79 years with a range of responses from 30 to 200 years. The survey measured the failure rates of the following types of pipe: cast iron (CI), ductile iron (DI), PVC, concrete pressure pipe (CPP), steel, and asbestos cement which is no longer installed in the US.

The survey requested the respondents to list the  number of failures per year to five years, broken down by pipe material. The desired focus was to examine the year to year variations by pipe material. A single utility might have large year to year variations, but if the number of utilities samples is sufficient, the year to year variation is small. The following graph shows the failure rates by pipe material over a five year period.

Related sources:

http://www.usu.edu/ust/index.cfm?article=51095

http://www.watermainbreakclock.com/

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Find out how much you can save when you use plastic pipe, customize the cost comparison calculator to your job.

PVC vs Ductile Iron Pipe Installed Cost Comparison Calculator

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As an inert material, plastic pipe offers advantages unmatched by metal pipe. Results of the study noted that plastic pipe is resistant to corrosion and outside factors such as: chemical attacks, bacteria growth, and climate changes. Both research studies reaffirmed plastic pipe as the material of choice for longevity.

Excerpts from the Jana Laboratories study: 

“Polyethylene (PE) piping materials have enjoyed a long and successful history in natural gas and water piping applications. In the safety-critical natural gas piping industry, PE pipe is the material of choice in North America, holding a 95% market share in new distribution piping networks. For the water industry, PE pipe dominates the European market at 65% share. In the UK, PE pipe holds almost the entire water market with 85% market share.”

“Case Studies for four utilities and a modeled average utility show that greater than 100 years performance is projected for higher performance PE materials.”

For the complete Jana Laboratories PE report, click here. 

Excerpts from the American Water Works Research Foundation Study: 

“The lower failure rate of North American PVC pipes is attributed to superior slow crack growth resistance and fracture toughness. PVC pipes manufactured in the United States and Canada exhibited an increased resistance to crack initiation, slow crack growth, fatigue crack growth, and ultimate brittle fracture when the researchers compared them with PVC pressure pipes manufactured outside of North America.” 

“Getting back to the question of what to expect from PVC water pipes after 110 years in service, the researchers carefully analyzed 40+ years of available in-service pipe performance information. Their model projects that water utilities should expect a minimum service life of 100 years from PVC pipe when properly designed and installed. From the relatively low failure rates that the researchers project for PVC pipes in service for up to 110 years, PVC pipe is arguably a best-practice option for achieving sustainable water distribution/transmission systems. Moreover, it is reasonable to expect that recent and continuing improvements in the manufacturing of PVC pipe will result in even lower failure rates than those predicted using historical data.”

For the complete American Water Works Research Foundation and Australia’s national science agency PVC study, click here.

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Plastic pipe’s versatility has led to a series of innovative products, engineered for high performance and longevity, providing advantages to save time and money on any job.

Eagle Loc 900 is PVC pipe with an internal joint restraint system. This innovative product eliminates the need for external restraints. Its internal joint restraint system and lightweight reduces installation and labor costs as much as 30 times over traditional methods. The internal joint system locks with a simple push, the superior strength of this pipe makes it the perfect choice for even the most challenging trenchless applications. Eagle Loc 900 is pipe for water sanitary sewer force mains and potable water distribution and transmission.

For more information about Eagle Loc 900, click here.

Eagle Corr PE is better engineered corrugated drainage pipe for long-term durability. Eagle Corr offers dual-gasket technology for a water tight configuration. It is made from HDPE, one of the most chemically inert plastics, and is extremely resistant to corrosion, as well as abrasion, gouging and scratching. It features dual crown corrugation for greater pipe stiffness values, and is expected to significantly exceed 100 years of design service life. This pipe is suitable for use in gravity flow drainage in DOT/capitol improvement, residential, commercial, recreational, agricultural and irrigation applications. Eagle Corr PE is available as a recycled-material product, Eagle Green PE.

For more information about Eagle Corr PE, click here.  For more information about Eagle Green PE, click here.

Ultra Blue PVCO is the highest-performing, most cost-effective pressure pipe for potable water and force main systems. Ultra Blue PVCO is molecularly oriented to be lighter yet stronger including, higher cyclic fatigue strength, greater impact strength and larger interior diameter than conventional PVC at half the thickness, with a larger interior diameter for improved performance. Long-term pressure tests show Ultra Blue has a hydrostatic design basis of 7,100 psi vs. 4,000 psi of conventional PVC. Its long-term hydrostatic strength exceeds the accepted high safety requirements of municipal water systems.

For more information about Ultra Blue PVCO, click here. click here.

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Top Engineering students submit their ideas for a scholarship contest.

• Lifecycle Plastic Pipeline Performance (PDF)
• How Plastic Pipes Flow in a Modern Infrastructure (PDF)
• A Progressive Solution For Water Infrastructure (PDF)
• A Glance At Plastic Pipe From All Angles (PDF)
• The Advantages of Plastic (PDF)

Engineering students from top universities throughout the country declare the advantages of plastic pipe over other materials. Read about the benefits of plastic pipe in a modern water infrastructure from these five academic papers.

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