Watermain failures result in the investments of millions of dollars for repairs and replacements. The rate of watermain failures is expected to increase as the existing cast iron infrastructure continues to age. It is estimated that the United States should spend over $1 trillion on underground water infrastructure work over the next 25 years, and $1.7 trillion over the next 40 years. This paper is a continuation of CORROSION 2021 paper no. 16837. We will highlight the failure mechanisms, failure analysis protocols, and corrosion mitigation strategies for watermains that experience breaks. Watermain breaks are mainly due to corrosive soil, pipe material, galvanic action, stray current corrosion, or microbiological induced corrosion (MIC). This paper provides specific case histories involving graphitic corrosion, stray current corrosion, and tuberculation.

Subject
Corrosion failures, Water, Piping, Perforation, Photography, Microstructure, Iron, Soil resistivity, Pipe sections, Stray current, Ductile iron, Soil, Samples
Keywords:
Watermain Break, Ductile Iron (DI) Pipe, Backfill, Polyethylene Encasement, Corrosion, Graphitic Corrosion, Galvanic Corrosion, Stray Current Corrosion, Microbiological Induced Corrosion (MIC)
© 2023 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2023
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.