Corrosion is one of the most complicated and costly problems facing drinking water utilities. Corrosion of iron pipes can lead to economic losses and customer complaints, while lead corrosion poses a serious health risk. This work first synthesizes nearly 100 years of iron corrosion research to provide the water industry with an updated understanding of factors that influence iron pipe corrosion including water quality and composition, flow conditions, biological activity, and corrosion inhibitors. Potential impacts of upcoming regulations on iron corrosion are also considered. Next, a four-year study is presented that evaluated the effect of water quality and phosphate inhibitors on the corrosion of iron pipes under extended stagnant water conditions. Surprisingly, many of the water quality parameters traditionally thought to influence iron corrosion were not controlling under these "worst case" stagnant conditions. Moreover, addition of phosphate inhibitors often had either no statistically significant effect or actually increased iron concentration, scale build-up and overall weight loss. Temperature is often overlooked when corrosion of distribution systems pipes is considered. Temperature impacts many parameters that are critical to pipe corrosion including physical properties of the solution, thermodynamic and physical properties of corrosion scale, chemical rates, and biological activity. Moreover, variations in temperature and temperature gradients may give rise to new corrosion phenomena worthy of consideration by water treatment personnel. In laboratory experiments, cast iron samples at 5°C had 23% more weight loss, ten times higher iron release to water, and twice as much tuberculation compared to samples at 25°C. For lead corrosion, hexametaphosphate inhibitors were proven to increase release of both particulate and soluble lead to drinking water by 200 - 3500% over a wide range of water qualities when compared to orthophosphate, effectively ending a long term debate as to their impacts. Utilities should consider these adverse effects whenever polyphosphate is used to prevent scaling or iron precipitation. / Ph. D.

A range of techniques designed to monitor copper pitting propensity were applied at two water utilities with known pitting disposition. In addition to traditional approaches including ECorr rise, chlorine decay kinetics, and surface analyses, a novel method was attempted to develop "pitting currents" between copper samples exposed to differential flow. This method allowed pitting current, potential, and resistance between "pits" and sections of copper pipe to be measured. As part of this evaluation, effects of different corrosion inhibitors and secondary disinfectants were investigated in an attempt to identify water quality modifications that might alleviate copper pitting at each utility. At a Florida utility where customers were experiencing a severe pitting problem, experiments investigated the effectiveness of corrosion inhibitors including orthophosphate, an orthophosphate-polyphosphate blend, and zinc polyphosphate. Results suggested that zinc polyphosphate provided the greatest likelihood of mitigating copper pitting corrosion, whereas orthophosphate and the orthophosphate-polyphosphate blend actually increased electrochemical indications of pitting. According to theory, orthophosphates can increase pitting intensity if applied in insufficient quantities, whereas cathodic inhibitors, such as zinc, can only reduce corrosion rates. Surface analyses determined that zinc polyphosphate produced the least amount of scale, whereas the control produced the greatest amount. Further, surface analyses also suggested that zinc and phosphorus may behave synergistically during precipitation reactions which decrease copper release. Subsequent testing at Virginia Tech laboratories confirmed that some of the benefits from the zinc polyphosphate product were directly attributed to zinc. Consistent with previous research, pitting propensity of the water in the absence of inhibitor decreased at pH 7.5 relative to pH 8.5 (Marshall, 2004). In addition, higher concentrations of chloramines increased the pitting propensity of the water, although the ratio of chlorine to ammonia had little effect. Similar experiments were also conducted at a utility in Iowa. Copper pitting has always existed in this area at some low level; however an outbreak of copper pinhole leaks recently occurred that is temporally correlated with high chlorine and chloramine concentrations. Experiments investigated combinations of disinfectant type (free chlorine or chloramines) and corrosion inhibitor (orthophosphate or zinc polyphosphate) in an attempt to decrease pitting propensity. Results indicated that the addition of zinc polyphosphate decreased pitting propensity in free chlorine systems as well as systems dosed with chloramines. In contrast, the addition of orthophosphate seemed to be ineffective in either system. Final surface analyses confirmed that inhibitors performed most effectively in the free chlorine system, whereas no clear benefits were realized in chloramine systems. / Master of Science

Concrete corrosion has serious societal and economic impacts and is an important concern in a utility's overall corrosion control strategy. Though concrete based pipes and linings are only restricted to the distribution mains, they still make up a large percentage of the drinking water infrastructure at about 17% of its total length. An improved understanding of the corrosion mechanisms involved steps that can be taken to mitigate concrete corrosion are very important. This study examined the role of phosphate chemicals, water chemistry, temperature and gaseous cavitation on the degradation of cement-based pipes and linings. It also provides information for utilities to make informed decisions regarding the use, effectiveness, and application of phosphate corrosion inhibitors relative to concrete corrosion control. Under low alkalinity and low pH conditions, considered to be highly aggressive in the literature, we noticed very substantial corrosion of concrete in laboratory experiments. At high pH and high alkalinity conditions, the buildup of scale (e.g., calcium carbonate) on the inside of the pipe is the major concern. The addition of phosphate inhibitors strongly influenced both concrete corrosion and scaling. At low alkalinity the addition of zinc orthophosphate or polyphosphate reduced corrosion of concrete. The addition of orthophosphate under low alkalinity conditions increased aluminum leaching and could push aluminum concentrations above the EPA SMCL threshold. At high alkalinity conditions the addition of orthophosphate is highly effective at reducing scaling, and aluminum leaching was not a concern. The presence of high concentrations of magnesium and silicon could form magnesium aluminum oxyhydroxides and magnesium silicates which could act as a protective scale on the concrete surface. However, this precipitate forms only at pH values above 9.5. The effectiveness of this protective scale in reducing corrosion of concrete was not established unambiguously in this research. Temperature plays a key role in corrosion of concrete. Calcite solubility increases at lower temperatures however at higher temperatures corrosion of concrete increases, which implies that corrosion of concrete is not driven by calcite solubility. At higher alkalinities scaling of concrete is higher at lower temperatures. This indicates that calcite solubility controls scaling of concrete at higher alkalinities. Tests with gaseous cavitation indicate that corrosion of concrete does not increase in the presence of gaseous cavitation. Vaporous cavitation is more detrimental to concrete than gaseous cavitation. / Master of Science