New Survey Shows Permeability a Critical Corrosion Factor

According to an independent survey of wastewater engineers, municipalmanagers and contractors, a chemically resistant lining’s permeability tocorrosive substances was shown to be the most important consideration duringproduct selection.

The survey was conducted in April 2006 by WaterOnline, a leading service forthe water and wastewater industry. The survey was sponsored by Sauereisen Inc.,a third-generation manufacturer of industrial construction materials.

“Because of government-mandated industrial pretreatment, longer detentiontimes for wastewater due to air quality regulations and other factors, concretestructures in wastewater infrastructure are exposed to more severe conditionsnow than in the past,” says Randy Nixon, senior consultant at Corrosion ProbeInc., a leading engineering and consulting firm in the field of corrosion andmaterial science. “Under these conditions, permeability is perhaps the mostprominent factor in the failure of coatings designed to protect concrete fromthis rapid degradation.”

Although approximately 70 percent of those surveyed said permeability tocorrosive substances is the most critical factor for chemically resistantlinings, more than 64 percent said permeability is the most commonly overlookedaspect of corrosion-resistant lining selection. The study also revealed chemicalresistance to be the most important quality of protective linings, with porosityranked as the No. 1 factor in determining chemical resistance.

“We’ve been protecting infrastructure for generations and, based on therepeated feedback of our customers, decided it was time to do some research tostatistically prove what they’ve been telling us,” says C. Karl Sauereisen, vicepresident. “This survey demonstrates the importance of a thorough understandingof concepts like permeability, permeance and water vapor transmission.”