Aging water pipelines tend to rupture at a rate of 36 breaks each year for every 20 miles. Corrosion damage (internal and external) is recognized as the major contributor to pipeline breaks. In fact, aging water lines have been reported to leak at rates of up to 250 gallons per hour per mile!
For over 150 years, drinking water has been transported and distributed with concrete or steel pipes. Those pipes are deteriorating at a rapid pace each year. When water was plentiful and populations were smaller, this was not such a big problem. Today water may be one of the most precious commodities in the world. The demand to replace steel and concrete pipes with polyethylene pipes has risen exponentially around the world.
Leaking or corroded water pipelines can quickly produce a wide range of powerful effects. A few of those effects include:
- The risk of contaminating a water supply, resulting in disease. - Impaired water quality (e.g. "red" (rusty) water from internal corrosion). - Reduced hydraulic capacity (internal corrosion products and surface deposits). - Increased cost and effort of water treatment. - Isolation of a leak location for repair operations can lead to increased pressure in other parts of the systems, with possible additional costly leaks resulting from the rising pressure, especially in aging systems. - Loss of water after costs for its procurement, treatment and pressurization have already been incurred. - Lost revenue for system operators. - Higher costs for system users. - Water "vulnerability" and shortage. - Property damage (i.e. sink holes and flooding resulting from water leaks). - Exposure to litigation.