Studies of the rate of attack of aluminum by various waters have been made by Seligman,1 Hatfield,2 Bengough and Hudson,3 and other investigators. The results of these investigations together with a large number of actual service installations have disclosed that any discussion concerning the use of aluminum-base alloys in contact with fresh waters is quite complex. A tremendous variation exists in the chemical constituents present in fresh waters in different geographical locations. In general, when discussing their use in contact with aluminum and its alloys, fresh waters may be divided into the following four classifications:
It is not possible to predict the corrosiveness of a given tap water on aluminum-base alloys from the type of analysis which is ordinarily made on waters. No significant correlation is known between such items as chloride content, sulfate content, total solids, total hardness, total alkalinity, etc., and the corrosiveness of waters...
