Corrosion of water works equipment and installations is a major item since it may result in 1) interrupted service, 2) inferior water quality and 3) excessive cost of maintenance. Many public and industrial water supplies come from wells. In Illinois alone there are about 200,000 water wells, of which some 3000 produce water for municipal and industrial purposes. These wells have depths varying from 15 to 2200 feet, with pump settings of 10 to 700 feet and capacities up to 2000 gpm.
Economics sometimes dictates that corrosion be ignored because the cost of replacement may be less than the cost of prevention. However, in many cases, the cost of pulling and resetting a turbine pump exceeds the cost of the pump. The economic loss due to interrupted service is also an important consideration.
Corrosion is concerned with metals, combinations of metals and their environment. When the known facts concerning the...
