Evaluation of Water-Repelling Additives for Use in Concrete-Based Sanitary Sewer Infrastructure
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 15, Issue 2
Abstract
Laboratory and field investigations were conducted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of water-repelling additives in reducing the microbial-induced corrosion of concrete-based infrastructure in sanitary sewer systems. Water-repellent additives, used together with silica fume were observed to reduce the sorptivity and increase the acid resistance of concrete under laboratory conditions. This finding was expected because water-repelling additives reduce the affinity of capillary pore surfaces to moisture, and silica fume refines the size distribution and connectivity of capillary pores. Silica fume further refines the chemistry of cement hydration products, yielding enhanced resistance to acid attack. However, despite the low sorptivity and high acid resistance of concrete formulation incorporating water-repelling additives and silica fume, the resistance to microbial-induced corrosion in actual field conditions could not be improved with the strategies considered in this investigation. This new finding indicates that laboratory physical and chemical tests are not adequate for assessing the performance of concrete under microbial attack. Microbial attack can overwhelm the physical and chemical barriers against deterioration that are introduced by water-repellent additives.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research reported herein was conducted jointly by Technova Corporation and Michigan State University under the sponsorships of the U.S. EPA. The writers are also thankful to the Great Lakes Cement Promotion Association for financial support of the project.
References
Fisher, A. K., Bullen, F., and Beal, D. (2001). “The durability of cellulose fiber reinforced concrete pipes in sewage applications.” Cem. Concr. Res., 31(4), 543–553.
Hewayde, E., Allouche, E. N., and Nakhla, G. F. (2003). “Experimental investigations of the effect of selected admixtures on the resistance of concrete to sulfuric acid attack.” Proc., ASCE Int. Conf. on Pipeline Engineering and Construction: New Pipeline Technologies, Security, and Safety, Vol. 1, 504–513.
Lichtenstein, J. (2002). “Coatings for concrete and concrete pipe.” Mat. Perf., 41(7), 66–67.
Sand, W., Dumas, T., and Marcharqent, S. (1994). “Accelerated biogenic sulfuric-acid corrosion test for evaluating the performance of calcium-aluminate based concrete in sewage applications.” ASTM Spech Technical Publication No. 1232, Philadelphia, 234–249.
Shook, W. E., and Bell, L. W. (1998). “Corrosion control in concrete pipe and manholes.” Technical Presentation, Water Environmental Federation, Orlando, Fla.
Vincke, E., Boon, N., and Verstraete, W. (2001). “Analysis of the microbial communities on corroded concrete sewer pipes—Case study.” Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 57(5–6), 776–785.
Zuern, M. (1989). “Sewage systems—A holistic view (Abwasserleitungssysteme—ganzheitliche Betrachtung).” Betonwerk Fertigteil-Tech., 63(1), 101–106.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 15 • Issue 2 • June 2009
Pages: 106 - 110
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 17, 2006
Accepted: Sep 5, 2007
Published online: May 15, 2009
Published in print: Jun 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.