The Basic Mechanisms of Bursts and Leakage

ACHIEVING ZERO LEAKAGE BY
2050: THE BASIC MECHANISMS OF

BURSTS AND LEAKAGE
Report Ref. No. 17/WM/08/60

Programme Area & Reference Water Mains & Services: Leakage WM/08
Report Title Achieving Zero Leakage By 2050: The Basic

Mechanisms Of Bursts And Leakage
Project Management Amanda Fletton, on behalf of UKWIR
Contractor University of Surrey
Author of Report Farrow, J

Jesson, D
Mulheron, M
Nensi, T
Smith, P
Period Covered 2016
UK Water Industry Research Limited provides a framework for a common research programme to
undertake projects, which are considered to be fundamental to water operators on ‘one voice’ issues.
Its contributors are the water and sewerage companies and the water supply companies of England and
Wales, Scottish Water, Northern Ireland Water and Irish Water.
UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60
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UK WATER INDUSTRY RESEARCH LIMITED
ACHIEVING ZERO LEAKAGE BY 2050: THE BASIC MECHANISMS OF BURSTS
AND LEAKAGE
Executive Summary
Objectives
This project is one of five UKWIR projects that form a strategic research programme to
address the question “How can we achieve zero leakage by 2050?”. This project covers the
subject of the basic mechanisms that control bursts and leakage; these typically stem from
the materials that are used in the various UK water networks and the manner in which they
degrade overtime. In achieving the overall goal of the work, the following objectives have
been set:
 Review existing literature on the materials used in the water industry, with a
particular focus on the manner of degradation and the impact of this on the
deterioration of the water network;
 Send out a questionnaire to the industry in order to capture current trends in
leakage, issues of key concern and any appropriate research that contributes to
understanding leakage; and
 Determine the gaps and therefore additional Research & Development needs.
Methodology
For the current work, a significant review of the literature has been undertaken. Scientific
and technical databases were interrogated using Boolean search techniques. This has
identified of the order of 10,000 individual documents associated with leakage in the water
industry. These records were reduced to a meaningful number, focusing on particular
materials and issues. In addition, a questionnaire was developed in association with UKWIR,
which was distributed, to the industry. The information arising from the literature and the
questionnaire has been brought together to provide an overview of the problems with each
material, and these are discussed and recommendations made.
Conclusions and Recommendations
This project has considered the current sector knowledge in the UK and overseas relating to
the mechanisms responsible for leakage and burst events. The project team have carried
out a detailed technical review of the area. The results suggest that all pipe networks that
rely on joints are inherently prone to leakage at some point during their operational life. In
addition, it is clear that all of the materials used in the manufacture of water distribution
networks are prone to degradation over time. The mechanisms by which degradation occur
are material specific and are strongly influenced by the environment in which the pipe
operates during its period in service. Such degradation can lead to both leakage and burst
events depending on the material and type of loading. There is evidence that leakage and
bursts can occur in “clusters” resulting from find and repair strategies. A number of potential
research challenges were identified. The main recommendations are:

 Conduct a national census of material types and quantities found in the UK’s trunk,
distribution and supply networks, that is based around an industry agreed group of
“cohorts” that reflect material type, age, size and known condition.
 Develop a standardized approach to the classification of degradation type (and

extent) that can be applied across the different material types and pipe geometries
found in water networks.
 Develop suitable “limit states” for the key materials found in water networks to
minimise leakage and prevent burst events. Associated with this will be the
development of technologies to allow pipe condition to be determined, relative to
such “limit states”, non-destructively, in situ.
 Develop appropriate material degradation tools to predict the future development of

degradation based on current pipe condition and exposure information. This would
provide the asset manager with “what if?” capacity when comparing operational
repair/replacement options.
 Establish appropriate methods to repair, replace or rehabilitate deteriorated pipes

more effectively, with less disruption, and at reasonable cost to customers and the
community.
 The concept of ‘network’ and the model of water supply should be explored. The
way in which water is supplied is predicated on a model that was developed in a
relatively ad hoc way some three to four hundred years ago. Some consideration of
the usefulness of this model in a world that has undergone significant changes,
together with increasing population densities which could not have been envisaged
when the first elm trunk pipelines were laid would seem to be in order.
 Establish appropriate information forums to assist with the publication and

promulgation of relevant information and technology.
For further information please contact UK Water Industry Research Limited, Room EA1,
1-7 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AA quoting the report reference number

Contents Page Number
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Context 1
1.2 Scope 2
1.3 Outline 3
2 Background 3
2.1 Introduction 3
2.2 A brief history of the water utilities of the UK 3
2.3 Extent of the problem 4
2.4 Leak Management and Control 5
2.5 Methodology 10
2.6 Summary 10
3 Materials 11
3.1 Introduction 11
3.2 Cast Iron 14
3.3 Ductile Iron 19
3.4 Steel 20
3.5 Asbestos Cement 21
3.6 Plastic Pipes (uPVC) 25
3.7 Lead 29
3.8 Pre-stressed concrete 32
3.9 Summary 34
4 Discussion 34
4.1 Introduction 34
4.2 Trunk main and distribution main 35
4.3 Materials Issues 37
4.4 Issues Arising from the Questionnaire 38
4.5 Summary 41
5 Concluding Remarks 42
5.1 Summary 42
5.2 Recommendations 43
Bibliography 45
Appendix 1 Proposals for further work 77
Appendix 2 Cast Iron – Further information 89
Appendix 3 Ductile Iron – Further Information 99
Appendix 4 Asbestos Cement – Further Information 103
Appendix 5 uPVC – Further Information 117
Appendix 6 Questionnaire 129

Glossary
Term / Acronym
AC Asbestos cement
AI Aggressiveness Index
AMI Advanced Metering Infrastructure
APB Acid Producing Bacteria
ASTM American Society of Testing Materials
AWWA American Water Works Association
CI Cast Iron
DI Ductile Iron
DMA District Metered Areas
DoE Department of the Environment
DR Dimension Ratio
GRP Glass fibre reinforced polymer or plastic
HAB Heterotrophic Aerobic Bacteria
IRB Iron Reducing Bacteria
JE Joukowsky Equation
kWh kilowatts per hour
LPS Loose Polyethylene Sleeving
Mn Manganese
Ml/d Million litres per day
Ml/y Million litres per year
MNF Minimum Night flow Analysis
NDE Non-Destructive Evaluation
NRW Non-Revenue Water
OFWAT the UK economic regulator, Office of Water Services
OSV Operating Service Valve
PC Pre-stressed Concrete
Polyethylene - trade names include Polythene, Alkathene etc., Also
MDPE and HDPE refers to High Density and Medium Density
PE Polyethylene respectively
Hydrogen potential relating to the relative acidity or alkalinity of the
pH water
PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
SCG Slow Crack Growth
SELL Sustainable Economic Level of Leakage - a target set by OFWAT
SEM Scanning Electron Microscopy
SRB Sulphate Reducing bacteria
SYLM Slime forming bacteria
uPVC unplasticised Polyvinyl Chloride
UKWIR United Kingdom Water Industry Research
UV Ultra Violet Light

1 Introduction
1.1 Context
The UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) has identified a number of strategic issues which
need to be addressed in order to support the sustainability of the water industry. One of
these issues leads to the question “How can we achieve zero leakage by 2050?”. This
question is prompted by a number of issues and indicators. For example:
 The UK water companies delivered major reductions in leakage levels over the period
1995 to 2005. However the rate of reduction has slowed greatly over the past 10
years.
 Over the UK as a whole, 22% of water produced is still lost through leakage, but
leakage rates can be much higher than this in some localities.
 Whist there is a focus on older portions of the network (mainly consisting of cast iron
and asbestos cement pipes), recent research has also shown that many new
polyethylene networks are not leak-free. Hence, the network as a whole is aging,
albeit at different rates.
 Networks are large and complex. Not all properties are metered and this raises some
issues for determining exact leakage rates.
In view of this, the target of zero leakage is an extremely ambitious one, and cannot be
achieved with existing processes, techniques and equipment, even if used in much greater
quantities than at present. Therefore, a large amount of research and development will be
required if zero leakage is ever to be a realistic target. This research will need to cover many
different aspects of leakage and leakage management, but at present it is far from clear
what research will be required. However, as the title implies, the timescale for achieving this
target is a long one, i.e. 35 years. This means that potentially almost anything is possible, and
the research must not be constrained by the limitations of existing methods and equipment.
The following objectives have been set for this project: The first stage of this process is to
assess specifically what research and development will be required to facilitate the path to
zero leakage:
 What research and development has already been carried out, and broadly what
were the results?
 What research and development is currently in progress?
 What are the gaps, and therefore what additional research will be required to enable
the eventual achievement of zero leakage?
From this, five key areas have been identified:
1. The basic mechanisms of bursts and leakage;
1 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

2. Leak detection and location methods;
3. Leak repair methods;
4. Leak free new networks; and
5. Water accounting.
This report addresses the first of these items.
1.2 Scope
Of the five items to be considered, it is recognized that understanding bursts and leakage,
and the underlying mechanisms, is perhaps the biggest area to be reviewed.
1) Areas of investigation for the overall project need to answer questions such as:
a) What are the causes of bursts and leakage in pipe networks?

b) What are the failure mechanisms?
c) How do leaks form and grow over time?
d) How do pipes, joints and fittings of different materials deteriorate in service?
2) What factors influence deterioration rates? For example:
a) Soil types and soil properties, and the mechanisms of soil-pipe interaction?
b) Water quality and water temperature?
c) Pipeline installation methods?
3) How does leakage relate to deterioration, as pipes will usually deteriorate to some
extent before they begin to leak? Specifically,
a) What impact does pressure have on deterioration and burst frequencies?

b) Are pressure transients significant?
c) Is fatigue due to diurnal pressure variations significant?
d) What is the influence of weather, and climatic extremes?
e) Is traffic loading significant?
f) Recurrence - does fixing one leak often cause another to break out?
As agreed at the start of this project, there are two materials which will not be explicitly
included in this review. Firstly, glass reinforced polymer (GRP, sometimes called glass
reinforced plastic) is widely regarded within the water industry as a material with limitations
on future use. These pipes, particularly those installed during the 1990s and early 2000s
have aged/deteriorated much more rapidly than was predicted when they were first brought
into use and the consensus for these pipes (which are no longer manufactured in the UK) is
that few of these will remain in use by 2050, the time-horizon for this project.
Some (unofficial) information has recently been received that GRP pipelines are in fact
continuing to be constructed, in which case the decision to exclude GRP may need to be
reviewed. It is to be hoped that this represents a new dawn for GRP, which does have
potential to be a useful material in the Asset Manager’s inventory. For this potential to be

realised however, the operational conditions need to be considered carefully, and these
requirements need to be included in the design stage. New installations should be carefully
monitored.
The second material is Polyethylene (MDPE / HPPE) for which it is understood there are few,
if any, issues and any problems in terms of leakage relate to early butt fusion welding and to
electro-fusion couplings. These are being considered under Section 4 of the overall project:
Leak Free Networks. It is inevitable that some information has come to light and hence
notes on this material have been included for comparison with other polymeric materials,
but it has not been the subject of the same review procedure undertaken for other
materials.
1.3 Outline
The report is divided into five chapters. Following this Introduction, Chapter 2 presents
further context by providing a background to the development of the water industry in the
UK and to the scale of the problem. A summary of the methodology employed in this study
is also included in Chapter 2. The report continues with the results from the review of the
literature for cast iron (including pit and spun), ductile iron, steel, asbestos cement and PVC
(polyvinyl chloride), with a focus on the mechanisms of deterioration leading to bursts and
leakage. This is presented as a summary of findings by material in chapter 3 followed by a
discussion, again by material, in chapter 4. (This summary is relatively brief and high level: it
is a distillation of a more in-depth treatment, with the full analysis included by material in a
series of appendices. These appendices include a focused, high-value list of references at
the end of each material. This is supported by a larger bibliography at the end of the
document). Finally, the report presents conclusions and recommendations for further
research.
2 Background
2.1 Introduction
Following on from the scope outlined in the previous chapter, this background provides a
brief history of the nature of the water utilities of the UK, their development over time, the
current health of the networks in terms of leakage and burst rates. This last, in particular,
gives rise to the current work and a brief review of current leak management and control
methods. This provides the context for the rest of the report which relates specifically to the
materials and structures that form the network and the mechanisms for their deterioration
over time.
2.2 A brief history of the water utilities of the UK

While a privileged minority had piped water as early as the 15th century, it was not until the
early 20th century that piped water and sanitation was available for the vast majority.
Today, over 50 million household and non-household consumers in England and Wales
receive water, sanitation and drainage services every day [OFWAT website]. Initially each
area organised its own water and sewerage services and by the end of the Second World
War, there was a highly fragmented industry with about 2,400 different bodies supplying

different levels of service. The bodies were made up of local authorities and statutory
private water companies so planning for water resources was a highly localised activity, with
little co-ordination at either a regional or national level.
Post war legislation resulted in consolidation of these bodies allowing them to benefit from
economies of scale, and making it possible to provide funds for investment in rural areas.
The Water Resources Act 1963 led to further changes recognising the importance of a co-
ordinated approach to water resource planning. An administration system was set up for the
right to remove groundwater (‘abstraction permits’) in order to ensure that existing and
future water resources were adequately conserved.
Today, there are 32 regulated companies in the water and sewerage sectors in England and
Wales. Of these, 18 are regional monopolies that provide either water services, or both
water and sewerage services. Until 2010-11, each company sent OFWAT detailed
information about their performance each year. This annual data submission (or ‘June
return’) was published to allow customers and stakeholders to understand each company’s
performance. From 2011-12 onwards OFWAT stopped collecting the June return and instead
all companies (including small water companies) submit a single, annual performance report.
Information, from the performance data companies publish, is then collated and published
by OFWAT.
2.3 Extent of the problem

The companies are challenged by OFWAT to operate at the sustainable, economic level of
leakage (SELL) and are set annual leakage targets. The SELL is set at the level where reducing
leakage further is more expensive than balancing supply and demand through an alternative
measure. Factors affecting the SELL include; the size and condition of the asset base, the
predominant soil type of the region, operating pressures, the ratio of urban to rural
populations and the pressures on water resources. As these are unequal, companies are
currently held to account for their level of leakage compared to their own target rather than
comparing performance between companies. Thus, as part of their water resources
management plans, companies calculate the appropriate levels of leakage and take into
account social and environmental costs such as disruption to traffic or additional carbon
emissions compared to the benefits of reducing leakage to help balance supply and demand.
Other methods include promoting efficient use of water, metering or developing new
sources of raw water.
The amount of leakage that occurs in millions of litres per day is shown in Figure 2.1, below.
This enables a simple visual comparison with bursts for the various companies, in terms of
bursts per 1000 km of pipeline per year) which are shown in Figure 2.2.
On average, across the UK water network, of the order 155-185 bursts per 1000 km per year
are attended to (composite data from OFWAT, available to 2010). A recent study by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (Thomson et al., 2013) with a much larger
total length of mains, but of similar overall materials, found a burst rate of 150 to 190 breaks
per 1000 km per year. This is a remarkable agreement. It should be noted that when viewed
as a percentage of the water input into the system the amount of leakage varies from 15 to
33% of the input.

2.4 Leak Management and Control
2.4.1 Introduction
High levels of water loss are not only a significant financial loss but also an indication of poor
management and poor physical condition of the water distribution system. In addition,
leakage leads to service interruption and is costly in terms of energy losses. The American
Water Works Association (AWWA) estimates that 5 - 10 billion kWh of electricity generated
annually in the United States is wasted in energizing water that is either lost as leakage or
not paid for (AWWA 2003). Losses may also cause water quality contamination in the system
through the leak sites. With increasing demand from population growth, the high rate of
infrastructure deterioration, there is a need to conserve water resources for the future since
greater losses of treated and energized drinking water could result in water shortages.
Figure 2.1 Annual reported leakage (Ml/d) across water utilities in England and Wales
Anglian
Leakage Data
Dŵr Cymru
1000 Northumbrian
(Essex and Suffolk)
900 Severn Trent
South West
800
Southern
Thames
700
United Utilities
600 Wessex
Ml/d leakage
Yorkshire
500
Affinity Water
- Central area
400
- East area
300 - Southeast area

Bristol
200 Dee Valley
Portsmouth
100
Sembcorp Bournemouth
South East
0
2002-03 2007-08 2008-09 2009-2010 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-2014 2014-15 South Staffs
(Cambridge)
year South Staffs
Sutton & East Surrey

Figure 2.2 Annual reported mains bursts per 1000 km across water utilities in England and
Wales
Mains Bursts per 1000km
500
Anglian
Dŵr Cymru
450 Northumbrian
(Essex and Suffolk)
400 Severn Trent
South West
Southern
350
Thames
No. of Bursts per 1000km
United Utilities
300
Wessex
Yorkshire
250 Affinity Water
- Central area
200 - East area
- Southeast area
Bristol
150
Dee Valley
Portsmouth
100 Sembcorp Bournemouth
South East
50 South Staffs (Cambridge)
South Staffs
Sutton & East Surrey
0
2002-03 2007-08 2008-09 2009-2010
year
Figure 2.3 Leakage as a percentage of distribution input
Anglian
Leakage % of Distribution Input
Dŵr Cymru
Northumbrian
35
(Essex and Suffolk)
30
Severn Trent
25
Leakage (%)
South West
20 Southern
15 Thames
10 United Utilities
5 Wessex
0 Yorkshire
2002-03 2007-08 2008-09 2009-2010 Affinity Water
Year - Central area
- East area
- Southeast area
Losses can be real losses (through leaks, also referred to as physical losses) and apparent
losses (water theft, billing anomalies, or metering inaccuracies). In England and Wales, with
37% household metering, apparent losses are estimated at 118,000 Ml/year with illegal use
estimated at 32,000 Ml/year and meter under-registration at 86,000 Ml/year (OFWAT,
2010). The introduction of automated meter reading and advanced metering infrastructure
(AMI) by many water utilities will minimise apparent losses due to meter reading and data
handling errors. AMI systems with smart meters also provide additional advantages of post
meter leak detection and management.

The process of leakage management and control involves;
 Quantifying water losses
 Leakage monitoring
 Leak detection, location, and repair
 Pressure and asset management.
The methods and tools that have been developed over the years to control water losses
have been reviewed by Mutikanga et al. (2013). Their review identifies tools and methods
for quantifying, monitoring and analysing water flows with the aim of controlling both real
and apparent losses.
The methods reviewed involve a water balance or water audit, District Metered Areas
(DMAs), Minimum Night Flow (MNF) analysis, leakage hydraulic analysis, flow statistical
analysis, acoustics, transients, pressure management, network asset management,
optimization techniques including multi-objective optimization, multi-criteria decision
analysis, online monitoring and detection, and performance benchmarking techniques
including performance indicators and data envelopment analysis.
2.4.2 Quantifying Water losses

Water balance is a method of quantifying the amount of water lost by systematic accounting
of supply and consumption in a distribution system and can be undertaken for the whole
system or for a District metered area (DMA), typically 500 – 3000 properties. The UK
methodology considers meter under-registration as part of revenue water, thus under-
declaring Non Revenue Water (NRW) (Mutikanga et al., 2011). Most components are
estimated using techniques that are not well defined and this ambiguity leaves room for
water utility managers to manipulate and mask NRW figures and their components
(Brothers, 2001). For example, the UK economic regulator, Office of Water Services
(OFWAT), attributes the low leakage levels a decade ago (2000–2001) compared to the high
more recent leakage levels (2009–2010) to manipulation of the water balance data (under-
reporting leakage levels) by Severn Trent and Thames (OFWAT, 2010). Furthermore, in
countries like Greece where there is a minimum charge of water used (20 m3), using billed
metered consumption in the water balance may be misleading (Kanakoudis and Tsitsifli,
2010). The measured inputs are also subject to uncertainties. For effective reporting these
uncertainties and their propagation in NRW must be quantified and reported (Sattary et al.,
2002).
2.4.3 Leakage monitoring

Leakage monitoring involves the continuous or regular measurement of flows (and
pressures) into the DMA with the aim of identifying leakage as excess flow beyond legitimate
consumer usage at the time of minimum night flow (MNF). The MNF usually occurs between
2:00 and 4:00 a.m. when consumer use is normally at a minimum, network pressures are
high, and leakage is at its maximum as a percentage of total inflow into the DMA. Analysis of
MNF is the most widely used method in practice for leakage assessment. MNF analysis is not

very effective in systems with an intermittent water supply, although when used in
conjunction with leakage hydraulic analysis it has proved useful (Cheung and Girrol, 2009)
even in networks with irregular water supply.
Leakage estimation using statistical analysis has been reported by various workers but these
methods have not been tested in the field nor can they pinpoint the leak location. Jankovic-
Nisic et al. (2004) proposed optimal positioning of flow meters and recommended a small
DMA size of 250 properties for a UK case study in the southeast of England for effective leak
and burst detection. They argued that pipes supplying large DMAs are less sensitive to
changes in demand, and therefore any sudden burst or background leakage that is of the
same order of magnitude as domestic consumption would be difficult to detect. Palau et al.
(2012) applied a multivariate statistical technique, called principle component analysis, to
the control of water inflows into DMAs of urban networks. It allows for a sensitive and quick
analysis without the need for computationally demanding mathematical algorithms. The
technique can also be used to detect other abnormal flow conditions in a network such as
the illegal use of water. However, these tools cannot pinpoint the leak locations.
2.4.4 Leakage Detection, Location and Repair

The exact location of a leak is determined mainly using acoustic methods by means of
listening devices, noise loggers, and leak noise correlators. They rely on the noise (sound or
vibration) generated by water leaking from a pressurized main. Modern technology allows
even quiet leaks in non-metallic and large-diameter pipes (over 250 mm) to be detected.
Sensors equipped with multi-parameter measurements (flow, pressure, and noise) are
available. Tethered in-pipe inspection and wireless technologies using video cameras,
microphones, acoustic sensors, and smart balls have made it possible to find leaks in large
diameter pipes. The SAHARA system employed by Thames water to detect and locate trunk
main leaks has had considerable success (Mergelas, 2006). In this system, a sensor is passed
along the inside of the pipe to detect where the leak noise signal is greatest. The carrier
cable moves along the pipe in the direction of the flow, inserted through access chambers
and gate valves placed at regular intervals. During the first two years (1998 – 2000) of the
system being installed, leaks totalling 65 Ml/day were found. In 2004, Thames reported that
the average leak size repaired was approximately 0.15 Ml/day arising mainly from
deteriorated lead run joints on cast iron mains and corrosion through the wall of steel mains.
Around this time they were repairing an average of nearly 200 leaks a day. In 2000, despite
increasing levels of leakage detection and repair expenditure, the level of leakage rose. This
coincided with the very wet conditions in the autumn and winter of that year. This pattern
was repeated in 2003 when there was an exceptionally dry spell. In both years, the
subsequent ground movement and shock resulted in new fractures across the ageing
network. Thames Water faces particular challenges in London. The heavy clay soil moves
much more than other soils as it wets and dries through the seasons putting high stresses
on a corroded and ageing pipe network. The clay soil also restricts the flow of water from
leaks, minimising the sound that it makes and the chance for it to become visible on the
surface. The 24 hour nature of London means that the background noise is continuous. In
addition, most of the capital is concreted over and carries heavy traffic.
Thames Water has developed a plan to reduce leakage by 59 Ml/d over the next 5 years
(from 2015 to 2020). The programme consists of a combination of;

 Active leakage control through detection and repair,
 Mains replacement (targeted at street level),
 Management of leaks on the customer’s pipe network – offering free leak detection
and free repair/replacement of their pipes,
 Pressure management.
Based on experience, improved data and technology and through the roll out of their
metering programme and SMART technology, they plan to target their leak detection and
repair activity with improved accuracy and thus deliver a step change in leakage reduction.
It should be noted that non-acoustic techniques such as tracer gas, infrared imaging, and
ground penetrating radar are also available for the detection of leaks.
2.4.5 Pressure management and leakage estimation

Pressure management is a proactive and cost-effective tool used to reduce leakage. The
Torricelli’s equation relates leakage to pressure. It is widely accepted in practice and applied
to network systems to quantify water loss from leaks. It describes the relationship between
water flow Q (m3/s) and pressure head H (m);
Q = Cd A √2gH
where g = acceleration due to gravity (m/s2), A = leakage orifice area (m2), and Cd = discharge
coefficient. It can also be generalised as;
Q = cHN1
where c and N1 are the leakage coefficient and exponent respectively.
Experimental investigations involving different pipe materials (PVC, steel, cast iron and
asbestos-cement) and crack geometries (longitudinal splits, circular cracks, round holes, and
corrosion clusters), have shown that the leakage exponent varies between 0.5 and 2.3. This
implies that water losses are more sensitive to pressure than suggested by the Torricelli’s
equation (de Miranda et al., 2012).
An accurate determination of the leakage exponent is essential in order to be able to control

real losses using pressure. However, while the opening area depends on pressure, the
processes involved in the expanding leak are more complex than the equation above would
suggest. For example, no account is taken of the deformation of the pipe although studies
have demonstrated that the leakage exponent depends on it. Hence, the leakage exponent
N1 does not provide a good characterization of the pressure response of a leak, and
different leakage exponents result for the same leak when measured at different pressures.
While the dynamic performance of fixed and time-modulated pressure reducing valves for
pressure regulation is well understood, the dynamic performance of flow-modulated
pressure control is still an active research area. However, significant leakage reduction
through pressure management has been reported and optimisation techniques have been
developed to reduce these further. There is also a multi-purpose network hydraulic model

developed for water distribution system analysis (AWWA, 2005). It has been applied for the
last 30 years to network zoning, leakage modelling as pressure dependent demand, and
pressure management planning for leakage control. It is able to predict leak size and
location, although calibration is still a problem.
The methods available for leakage management vary from simple managerial tools such as
performance indicators to highly sophisticated optimization methods such as evolutionary
algorithms. All of these have limited applications to real-world water distribution systems
and closer collaboration between research institutions and water service providers is
advocated in order to close the gap between theory and practice (Mutikanga et al., 2013).
2.5 Methodology
As can be seen from this relatively brief review that leakage monitoring and control is
complex for a number of reasons, which include the variation in age of different networks,
the diverse materials used to form the network at different times, the variability in
geotechnical and operational conditions, and of course the sheer size and complexity of the
network.
In writing this report, it has been necessary to understand what has been done in the past,
and to evaluate the content of the available literature, and to summarise the results in a
meaningful way. Scientific and technical databases were interrogated using Boolean search
techniques. This identified ~10,000 documents (academic papers, industry reports,
textbooks, etc.) relating to water and leakage. Using an iterative process to focus the search
on materials related issues, these 10,000 documents were reduced to ~500 key documents
of which ~150 are of high value. Consequently, a high level summary of the information
collected is included in Chapter 3. A more in-depth review, supporting this summary and the
discussion presented in Chapter 4 is included in materials-specific appendices, as
appropriate.
The review is also supported by the responses to a questionnaire, which was sent out to
members of the Leakage Group within UKWIR. The questionnaire was developed in
collaboration with colleagues from UKWIR and sought to identify any information that might
not be in the public domain.
2.6 Summary
Water treatment and distributions networks are complex aggregations of different materials
that have been in service for different time-scales, and operate under different physico-
chemical, conditions based on their specific location and the demands placed upon them.
Whilst some generalities can be arrived at, residual life at a specific location will depend on
the specific combination of a number of factors. Residual life can be thought of in terms of a
critical failure (burst) or on-going failure (leakage): total losses across a network can run as
high as 24% and there is clearly an opportunity to consider a zero leakage programme not
only in strictly financial terms but also within the remit of a broader sustainability approach.
In the following chapter, the causes of bursts and leakage are summarised by material. It
should be noted that some forms of leakage are inherent to the physical structure of a

network and its geometry and this may give rise to significant challenges in achieving zero
leakage in the short to medium term. This is exacerbated by the variety of materials used in
the network and the range of design lives these materials have – some of these are a lot
shorter than that of the cast iron installed in the mid-19th Century.
3 Materials
3.1 Introduction
Bursts and leakage are a result of a confluence of issues arising from three separate causes:
i) Materials; ii) Pipe Structure; and iii) Network. This chapter will deal with issues arising
from the nature of the materials themselves.
Materials Science and Materials Engineering are concerned with the interrelation between
properties, performance, processing and microstructure. These are linked together and with
an overarching ethos of characterization. Hence, for example, by understanding a material’s
microstructure, it is possible to predict its properties and hence performance, and it is
possible to comment on changes to the processing route in order to change the
microstructure and hence the properties.
The following chapter considers the key materials found in water networks. The chapter
begins with ferrous metals, the oldest, cast irons, being described first: for the purposes of
this report and in terms of the effect on leakage, horizontal pit, vertical pit and spun cast
iron are treated as one group. Whilst the refinement in technique of manufacture led to an
improvement in the quality of pipe produced and the reduction in variation within and
between batches, the fundamental behaviour of the material is essentially very similar,
being dominated by the presence of the graphite flake structure. Ductile irons, whilst still a
form of cast iron, have a spheroidal graphite structure, which gives a stronger and in some
ways tougher material, but gives rise to some subtly different properties, especially with
regard to corrosion. In particular it should be noted that the move to ductile iron leads to
thinner wall section. This trend continues with steel – modern steel pipes typically have a
wall thickness of a few millimetres at most and are extremely reliant on protective coatings.
The chapter continues with asbestos cement and concludes with uPVC and PE.
In terms of the scope, described in section 1.2, there are a number of factors that are
common to many of the pipe materials in use in the UK, and these are described in principle
below. There are however, many differences for different materials and these are described
in more detail in the sections for each particular material. For example, corrosion, by which
we mean a form of materials degradation driven by chemical changes, has a major role in
the deterioration of both Ferrous and Asbestos Cement (AC) pipes, but the form of corrosion
and the manner in which it affects failure is very different. It is emphasised that these are
general background introductions, and that the main details are provided for each material
in later sections.
1. Areas for investigation
a. The main causes of bursts and leakage in pipe networks are defects, damage and
deterioration (the “3Ds”). The former generally applies to manufacturing processes,

while physical damage may occur during manufacture, storage, installation, or by
third parties during the lifetime of the pipes. The rate of deterioration and its impact
on pipe condition relate mainly to the particular material, ground conditions and the
chemistry of the water inside the pipes.
b. Defects, damage and deterioration affect the ability of pipes to withstand the
loadings applied, both external ground and traffic loadings, and internal water
pressure. The probability of failure increases with loading (e.g. over-pressurisation or
surge) and with the extent of defects, damage and deterioration and the actual
mechanisms of failure – which are different for each pipe material.
Some leaks grow and develop over time due to the defects, damage, or deterioration of the
structure of the pipe, e.g. resulting ‘holes’ through the pipe wall. The size of holes tends to
increase over time, due to factors such as further deterioration of the pipe material, erosion
due to the water flowing through the holes, and/or increases in stress in the material
adjacent to the holes, and combinations of all three. Other types of leaks are associated with
joints, gaskets, fittings, or ferrules etc. and again these may be different for each material,
for example ferrules may be directly drilled and tapped into some pipe materials, but may be
installed in the form of ‘saddles’ for others.
The deterioration for each material tends to be specific to that material and is generally a
function of the pipe environment (e.g. ground conditions) and the nature of the material
itself, both in terms of its predisposition to corrosion and the nature and quality of any
protective coatings.
2. What factors influence deterioration rates?
a. Soil types, properties and the mechanisms of interaction are significant in the rates of
deterioration for some pipes. Some soils, for example, are highly corrosive,
particularly in the case of ferrous pipes, and this can be particularly important for
older networks which were often constructed from un-protected cast iron. Soil-pipe
interaction can be particularly important for stiff clay soils, which are prone to
shrinkage and swelling with changes in moisture content resulting in considerably
increased loading on the pipes. This is often consistent with circumferential (or ring)
fractures particularly for small diameters. Other soil type issues may include the
presence of sharp stones, e.g. causing damage to ‘plastic’ pipes.
b. Water quality can cause problems for some pipe materials, e.g. Asbestos cement (AC)
pipes when hardness is less than 75 mg/litre. Most UK pipelines are buried deeper
than 750 mm and are generally unaffected by frost, but can be affected by the
temperature of the water, particularly water sourced from open reservoirs and
treatment works. In winter the water temperature can drop to close to freezing,
while in summer it can rise up to high ‘teens’ of degrees Centigrade, such that there
can be a considerable differential from summer to winter. In general, pipes can
accommodate longitudinal expansion easier than contraction, particularly if the joints
become immobile due to corrosion. This can lead to ‘winter events’ in some areas,
particularly for small diameters where the pipes have deteriorated – resulting in

‘ring-fractures’ as the pipes may be subject to considerable contraction forces but
unable to move at the joints.
c. Some of the research has shown that installation methods, particularly for ‘plastic’
pipes can be the main causes of leaks, especially at joints and fittings. Also, even
slight damage, such as ‘scoring’ or damage resulting in small cracks or micro-cracks
can create defects which may then result in ‘slow crack growth’ over a number of
years, until the crack is large enough for brittle fracture to occur. Again, each material
is different in terms of pre-disposition to deterioration due to damage during
installation.
3. How does leakage relate to deterioration?
a. The research shows that pressure can have a significant impact on deterioration and
burst frequency, particularly where surge pressures or transients are involved which
may be appreciably higher than normal service pressures. As described above, the
probability that a pipe may fail is related to its strength / condition / deterioration
and the applied loadings, of which internal pressure is often the main constituent.
The relationship between pressure and probability of failure again varies with pipe
material.
b. Pressure transients can be very significant, as described above. Over recent years,
more sophisticated sensors have been installed in networks, some of which are able
to detect pressure changes over very short time periods, and more is being
understood about transients and how often they can occur.
c. For new pipes in good condition, it is unlikely that fatigue due to diurnal pressure
variations will be significant. This is very likely to change however, as pipes
deteriorate over time and the ratio between their strength and loading decreases.
Again, the impact is different for each material and their particular failure
mechanisms.
d. The two main influences of weather have been described above. These relate to
changes in soil moisture and the shrinkage/swelling of clays arising from this leading
to ground movement, and to the annual range of water temperature between
summer and winter conditions, resulting in ‘winter events’, i.e. large numbers of
‘weakened’ pipes failing during a brief two or three week period often in January or
February. Long hot summers can also result in increased water demand, e.g. for
garden watering, with the possibility that in some areas of networks, pressures may
become increased, with consequent increase in loading and risk of failure.
e. Research suggests that traffic loading is not generally significant, although this may
change as pipes deteriorate and lose ‘strength’. In a simple sense, external loadings
from traffic and soil, have been shown to most likely result in bending stresses and
ultimately in circumferential fractures, while internal pressures that become too high
are most likely to result in longitudinal fractures. Some of the research has been into
development of models and the use of structural techniques such as finite element
analysis, and this has shown that internal and external loading should be considered
together.

f. In general it is difficult to separate ‘weakening’ with ‘recurrence’. The former
indicates a pipe which has a leak due to corrosion or deterioration in one place, and
is highly likely to be similarly degraded in the same area and hence fail as the pipe is
re-pressurised (spatial clustering). Recurrence describes a situation where a repair is
the direct cause of another leak breaking out, i.e. ‘break clustering’. Significant
“clustering” of failures has been observed in one particular piece of research on
asbestos cement pipes. This demonstrated that the occurrence of a break greatly
increases the chances of other breaks within a relatively short time of the first break.
It is probable the pipe is weakened by the failure and the surrounding soil is
disturbed by the leakage and the repair process (physical disturbance, heavy
machinery etc.).
3.2 Cast Iron

Background
Cast iron is likely to be the oldest pipe material still in use in many water networks, and for
larger, older cities some cast iron pipes may easily date back to the early Victorian period.
Thus, while the design life for most new materials is generally selected to be 50 or 60 years,
many cast iron pipes are already 50 to 100 years old and some may be up to 150 years old. It
has been used for very small diameter service pipes (also known as galvanised iron), for
distribution mains and for larger diameter trunk mains, and it is generally the latter that
have the better rate of ‘survival’.
Cast iron is a strong but brittle and non-homogenous material and the probability of failure
is as likely to relate to defects within the microstructure, as to the actual original ‘strength’
of the pipe. Defects may date back to the original casting processes, particularly for older
pipes, or may be due to subsequent corrosion and deterioration.
According to the research, the main issues for cast iron are:
a. the casting / manufacturing process, in terms of defects in the structure and/or

microstructure;
b. the casting / manufacturing process, in terms of geometry and control of wall

thickness;
c. damage (or latent damage) during storage, transport, installation or during

operational service;
d. corrosion and deterioration over time; and
e. ‘seizing up’ or failure of joints, particularly on small diameter pipes and in corrosive
and / or ground conditions subject to significant amounts of movement.
In terms of large scale, commercial operations, cast iron pipes began to be installed in the
early 19th Century, a practice that continued until the mid-20th Century. During this time,
there were three distinct ‘waves’, characterised by the casting method. Initially pipes were
horizontally pit cast, then vertically cast, then spun cast. Within these waves there was a

great deal of variability in the quality of the production, particularly with regard to horizontal
and earliest vertical castings, as ad hoc foundries would frequently be placed on or near site
in order to reduce the distance the pipes had to be transported. Further, it was not until the
early 20th Century that standards for castings and the required mechanical properties began
to be developed, and therefore much casting was done on an empirical, experimental basis.
This approach means that it is difficult to develop one-size-fits-all approaches for managing
cast iron, although cohorts of pipes can be identified based on age, location and
manufacturer, where this information is available.
The main problems with cast iron relate to the combination of the “3-Ds “ Defects, Damage
and Deterioration. Cast irons are prone to a number of different kinds of defects and,
arguably, their microstructure gives rise to one of the most important. Cast irons are so
called because they can be cast at much lower temperatures than pure iron, thanks to the
incorporation of carbon. However, this carbon is only soluble in the iron matrix in small
concentrations and so the remainder forms a number of microstructural constituents
including graphite flakes. The graphite flakes can act to concentrate stress, transport water
and other chemical species within the microstructure, and generally impact on the overall
performance of the cast iron. This said, it should be noted that under benign conditions cast
iron pipes can last almost indefinitely in service – some pipes laid over 100 years ago have
been removed from service and found to be in almost the same condition as when they
were laid.
The size and shape of the flakes can be controlled, to some extent, by the addition of certain
alloying elements, but the size of the casting is an important factor in the rate of cooling, and
this has a significant effect on the final microstructure. Large flake sizes are typically
associated with high carbon content and slow cooling rates. Cast irons with a low carbon
content subject to rapid cooling will typically form smaller, shorter flakes. Smaller flake sizes
generally tend to give the alloy improved mechanical properties. Most cast irons are formed
from a number of different ‘phases’ of iron and it is useful to recognise these, and how they
affect the properties of the material. The ‘Iron – Carbon’ diagram in Appendix 1 shows the
transformations which occur at different temperatures on cooling, and the different phases
of iron which result, e.g.
 Cementite is a very hard intermetallic compound and its chemical symbol is Fe3C. It is
very hard, but when mixed with soft ferrite layers its average hardness is reduced
considerably.
 Slow cooling produces coarse pearlite which is softer and easier to machine but with
poor toughness. Faster cooling gives very fine layers of ferrite and cementite; harder
and tougher.
 Ferrite is virtually pure iron. It is stable at all temperatures up to 9100 C. The carbon
solubility in ferrite depends upon the temperature, the maximum being 0.02% at 723
C.
 Pearlite is a mixture of alternate strips of ferrite and cementite in a single grain. The
distance between the plates and their thickness is dependent on the cooling rate of
the material; fast cooling creates thin plates that are close together and slow cooling

creates a much coarser structure possessing less toughness. The name for this
structure is derived from its mother of pearl appearance under a microscope. A fully
pearlitic structure occurs at 0.8% Carbon.
Other defects include casting defects (porosity, cold shuts, inclusions, etc.), installation
defects (damage generally induced from poor handling practice in transporting the pipe
from the foundry to site and from removing the pipe from the lorry on which it was
transported to its final location), and defects which occur during service, usually as a result
of corrosion.
For cast iron, literature shows there are two main modes of pipe failure:
i. in the conventional sense for the structure of the pipe, when the loading (i.e.
combination of external and internal pressure ) exceeds the ‘strength’ of the pipe;
and this may be associated with ‘loss of section’ due to corrosion and consequent
loss of strength
ii. brittle fracture, where fracture is due to crack growth – generally initiated from a
defect in the pipe structure
For the second case, the nature of a defect is important in that crack growth will normally
only begin once the defect is of a certain size (see Appendix 1). Defects caused by corrosion
are therefore of particular interest, as they may continue to grow over time until becoming
large enough to initiate crack growth due to the stress(es) within the pipe structure. This
process may at least partly explain why some pipes that have been in service for many
decades may suddenly fail without warning. A loss of section can result in failure of the pipe
wall either longitudinally or circumferentially once the metal becomes too ‘thin’. A defect or
a deep pit (which may act as a stress concentrator) can result in brittle fracture once the
defect reaches a critical size.
It is possible for cast iron pipes to leak before bursting. Smaller diameter distribution pipes
can have a number of corrosion pits, which develop into through-wall holes and cause
considerable leakage, without the pipe actually failing. Larger pipes may leak through cracks
or from joints for some time before the pipe fails. Smaller pipes, especially during cold
winters and hot, dry summers can leak through ring fractures, which can occur due to
stresses imposed by ground movements caused by changes in moisture content.
The need and desirability for protective coatings was recognised during the latter part of the
19th Century, e.g. the development of Dr Angus Smith’s coal tar solution. However, as a ‘rule
of thumb’, it is a reasonable assumption that until the early 20 th Century, most cast iron
pipes were either not provided with protective coatings (either internally or externally), or
that they were unreliable due to a combination of lack of standards, cost, and the ease of
local damage occurring during installation. Thus, for most of the period when cast iron was
the main material of choice for water mains, effectively pipes were either unprotected or
only poorly protected against corrosion.
There is also some suggestion in the literature that fatigue may be a contributory factor to
failure, although this raises some questions. Fatigue would normally require several
thousands of ‘cycles’ e.g. a number of regular or daily pump cycles over numbers of decades,

perhaps 50 to 100 years, requiring a relatively large initial crack to grow only a few
millimetres over this long period. Given the number of fatigue cycles that would need to be
generated, the rate of growth, the geometry of the pipe and installation practices, such
failures, if they occurred might be exceptional rather than the norm. It has been suggested
that fatigue might be a contributory cause to other failures, such as those primarily driven by
corrosion, but there is, as yet, no direct evidence for this.
3.2.1 Corrosion
This is possibly the most important single factor relating to leakage and failure of old cast
iron water mains. However, as with the cast iron itself, there is much variation on what is
observed in the field. Typically, this variation is generally to do with global variation
concerning standards for material and installation, and relating to the nature and
characteristics of both the water being transported and the soil/ground water in which the
pipeline is buried. The more acidic the water being transported the greater is the risk of
internal corrosion, often noticeable by tuberculation inside the pipe and associated potential
water quality issues.
For external surfaces, ‘normal’ (i.e. non-graphitic) corrosion will tend to be associated either
with unburied pipes, or pipes which are only just beginning to corrode. This manifests itself
in the traditional manner of a red oxide forming on the surface. Whilst not, of itself,
protective, this form of corrosion is to some extent self-limiting. However, once underway,
such corrosion can lead to the more damaging process of graphitic corrosion, a form of
corrosion unique to cast irons. Traditionally this has been described as the preferential
leaching of iron, leaving behind the graphitic network. Recent research has shown this to be
incorrect, although for the current purposes it is sufficient to note that the outcome is that a
tenacious layer of the same volume as the parent material is left in place, but that this
corroded microstructure is much reduced in strength and increased in porosity. Indeed,
under some circumstances, a pipe can survive full wall thickness ‘graphitisation’ leading to
weeping of the pipe as the internal water pressure drives liquid through the wall.
Anecdotally, there are those who suggest it is possible to determine the presence and extent
of corrosion in cast iron assets simply by looking at the pipe. However, any such visual
assessment is prone to error as the degraded material left by the graphitisation process can
mimic the original surface such that even the original casting marks can still be clearly
observed. A further point with regard to this form of corrosion is that one typically finds it in
one of two forms, Figure 3.1. The first form is as a uniform layer, which can extend for tens
of millimetres in plane. Alternatively, it may form more penetrating, localised pits. This is
significant because, whilst the residual tensile strength capacity of a pipe may be calculated
by determining the remaining wall thickness in the case of uniform graphitisation, pits tend
to concentrate stress potentially leading to a significant reduction in capacity for even quite
small pits. Recent work has shown a link between the presence of chloride ions and the
formation of pits within cast iron, (Logan et al., 2014).

Figure 3.1 Two different morphologies of graphitisation a: localised and penetrative –
“icicle” and b: general and uniform – “icing”
(a)
(b)
3.2.2 Strength
The documented normal tensile strength of cast iron lies in a range mainly between 90 and
300 MPa (N/mm2), depending on the ‘quality’ of the microstructure and the presence, size
and nature of any defects. Even at the lower end, this will normally provide adequate factors
of safety against tensile failure due to service operating pressures and external loadings for
most water mains. However, the presence of defects and subsequent crack growth as
described by the processes above, can result in failure due to crack growth and brittle
fracture at much lower stress levels, e.g. down to 30 or 40 MPa, and within the range that
may be achieved under normal operating pressures.
Significant ‘loss of section’ through prolonged corrosion can reduce the effective thickness of
the metal, resulting in stress levels higher than would be apparent based on the total
thickness.
In summary, there may be significant local variations along the length of an individual
pipeline, or within local areas of networks, but on average, the most important factors in
relation to the likelihood of leakage and/or failure for cast iron pipes are age, soil type,
internal pressure, and location.
3.2.3 Joints
Pipelines with flexible joints are generally able to withstand the stresses and strains
associated with small amounts of deflection, rotation and longitudinal expansion /
contraction. While most UK pipelines are generally unaffected by frost, they may be subject
to temperature changes of the water they transport, which may vary from e.g. 4 °C in the
winter, up to the order of 20 C in summer. Pipelines may therefore be liable to longitudinal
expansion in the summer, followed by contraction in winter. An individual pipe may be able
to cope with this, by ‘slipping’ slightly within the flexible joints, but research has shown that
badly corroded joints can become ‘locked’, thereby preventing free contraction and
increasing the effective length of sections of pipe, from one up to two or more ‘sticks’.
During long periods of cold weather, lengths of corroded / weakened pipes may then fail in

longitudinal contraction, resulting in ring-fractures as the pipe tries to accommodate the
reduced length. This may often be a feature of ‘winter events’, which itself can be an
indicator of deteriorating pipe condition.
Locked joints can also result in elevated stress levels if for example ground movements occur
(e.g. shrinking / swelling due to moisture changes in stiff heavy clays) and the pipe is unable
to rotate within the joint. Other joint problems include the development of leakage and over
time, the erosion of soil from beneath the pipe resulting in reduced ground support,
movement and / or higher stress levels.
3.3 Ductile Iron

Improvements in cast iron continued during the 20th Century, particularly looking to control
the shape of the graphite within the microstructure, and aiming to produce spheres instead
of flakes. This was achieved in the 1940s, with the addition of magnesium (initially copper-
magnesium alloy), and the result was Ductile Iron - a material with the benefits of cast iron
and with similar mechanical properties, albeit with significantly improved fracture
toughness. Research into the control of the size, distribution and morphology of the graphite
continues today with various elements being used to try to improve the properties.
Ductile iron pipes, manufactured using centrifugal casting techniques, have been used in the
construction of potable water networks since the 1950s (Moser & Folkman, 2008) replacing
the traditional cast iron pipes used previously. Ductile iron is characterized by the spheroidal
nature of the graphite within the iron matrix. This change in morphology of the graphite
significantly improves both the ductility and fracture toughness of the metal when compared
to grey cast iron which contains flakes, although the ultimate strengths of both materials
remain comparable in the as-cast condition. These improved mechanical properties allow
ductile iron pipes, of a given notional external diameter, to be manufactured with smaller
wall thickness than would be possible using a grey cast iron with resulting savings in both
weight and material. This benefit is enhanced by the spun-cast process employed which
ensures limited variation in wall thickness along the length of the pipe.
This has, however, not proved to be totally beneficial, as ductile iron is still prone to the
same issues described for cast iron above in terms of corrosion. While the thinner walls of
ductile iron pipes may initially be as strong or stronger than cast iron, their overall ‘life
expectancy’ may be limited by the shorter time for significant levels of damage to be caused
through ‘loss of section’ and / or pitting or perforation. The development of effective
protective coatings did not keep pace with the development of ductile iron, and many
pipelines constructed during much of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and into the 1980s have been at
risk of corrosion.
Rates of corrosion for unprotected ductile iron can range from 1 micron/year to 1
millimetre/year depending on the exposure and corrosion type, with higher rates being
observed in the case of pitting corrosion. This equates to full-wall penetration of a typical
ductile iron distribution pipe within 10 – 20 years in the most severe cases, although
experience suggests that the lifespan of poorly protected ductile iron pipe is somewhat
longer with values of 20 – 40 years being reported for pipes exposed to an aggressive
external environment, (Folkman, 2012).

Whilst the ability of an individual ductile iron pipe to undergo significant deformation
without fracture reduces the probability of catastrophic pipe burst events it increases the
probability of joint leakage. This is because individual lengths of ductile iron pipe are usually
joined by flanges, couplings, or some form of spigot and socket arrangement and these must
be capable of accommodating movement between adjacent pipes, which can be significant,
whilst remaining watertight under the operating internal water pressure. Whilst a flanged
joint can be used to create a rigid, demountable, connection capable of carrying tension and
compression as well as shear they are generally unsuitable for buried pipework due to the
risk of excessive bending moments. As a consequence, spigot and socket joints are preferred
for connecting buried ductile iron pipes. Modern spigot and socket joints are designed to
prevent direct metal to metal contact with all forces being transmitted through the
elastomeric seal. This arrangement allows some degree of rotation, enabling the pipes to
reduce any imposed stresses. Because such joints cannot carry any tensile or compression
forces the relative movement between pipes can be large raising the possibility of leakage
occurring. It may be noted that the issue of leakage at poorly constructed joints, and as a
consequence of in-service movement, remains a common feature of all ferrous pipes.
As for cast iron, loss of strength can occur either through loss of section or growth of defects
and cracks, and while the fracture toughness of ductile iron is higher than for cast iron,
thinner sections result in higher levels of stress within the pipe structure, with increasing
probability of failure.
In summary, ductile iron pipes have many similarities to cast iron. They are generally
stronger, and in good (i.e. not corrosive) ground conditions, are likely to perform better than
cast iron and remain in good condition. However, in corrosive ground conditions, thinner
wall sections may deteriorate considerably, and for earlier pipes with imperfect protective
coatings, this may result in high levels of leakage and risk of failure.
3.4 Steel
The introduction of steel pipes for transporting potable water represents the logical
development of the ductile iron that itself replaced the cast iron used in Victorian times.
Whilst still essentially an iron-carbon alloy, steels have different microstructures to Cast and
Ductile Irons. In part this is due to the significant quantities of other alloying elements and in
part because of the lower concentration of carbon. Steels typically include 0.8 % carbon
(and up to a maximum of 2 %), which means that there is little to no free carbon which can
form graphite flakes. Hence, whilst the normal mechanisms of corrosion that affect the
majority of ferrous alloys will treat cast iron and steel in the same way, the issues specific to
the flake structure that contribute to degradation via corrosion will not be observed in steel.
Steel is somewhat stiffer than cast iron and offers significantly improved control of strength,
ductility and toughness. This allows the production of thin-walled pipes that are much lighter
than the iron pipes they replace. However, plain carbon steels have been found to be less
resistant to corrosion than cast iron and therefore steel pipes require the application multi-
layer anti-corrosion coatings to be applied on both internal and external surfaces. Such
coatings are designed to provide excellent adhesion to the metal surface along with suitable
active protection, e.g. a layer of zinc galvanising, and passive exclusion, e.g. an epoxy resin-
based topcoat. These systems can offer effective design lives of 60 years when properly

specified, manufactured and installed. However, the premature failure of galvanised steel
pipes has been reported after only 2 years and was associated with the low pH of the water
coupled with mechanical wear resulting from a substantial amount of suspended solids in
the flowing water.
Whilst the use of thin-wall steel pipes offers weight reduction and reduced material demand
it is also a potential "Achilles' heel" for such systems. This is because whilst a thin-walled
steel pipe can cope with operational stresses placed on it, it is relatively easy to dent and
deform during transit, storage and installation. In this context, it may or may not be
significant in terms of operational stresses applied to the damaged pipe. What is evident is
that the corrosion protection layer can become damaged to the point where it may spall off
or otherwise allow water to come into contact with the pipe, leading to localised corrosion
and pitting and eventually leakage. However, there is some evidence that perforated steel
pipes can exhibit limited “self-healing” under certain conditions.
In certain situations, the use of stainless steels pipes has been reported but these are
significantly more expensive and so are typically restricted to process plant and certain
critical components. Stainless steels do not require the use of corrosion protection coatings
or cathodic protection but instead are protected by the formation of a highly stable, passive
oxide film (resulting from additions of high levels of chromium and nickel) that shields the
underlying metal section from attack. However, this can make such alloys prone to crevice
corrosion. In addition, certain austenitic stainless steels, e.g. Grades 304 and 316, are known
to be prone to stress-corrosion cracking when stressed under highly oxidising environments
containing chlorides or ozone. In such circumstances, ferritic stainless steels are preferred as
they offer controllable mechanical properties and good corrosion resistance. There is also
evidence that stainless steel pipes can support biofilm formation putting them at greater risk
of bacteriological induced damage.
3.5 Asbestos Cement
3.5.1 Background
Asbestos Cement (AC) pipes were used extensively for water supply and wastewater
networks throughout the world from the 1920s to the 1980s, around which time most
production was stopped (Hu, Y.,2007). Thus, most AC pipes worldwide, approximately 2.4
million kilometres (NAS, 1982), are at least 30 years old and some may even be up to 100
years old.
AC pipes carrying potable water have been in service in the UK since the 1930s when
production first started. They were used widely in the 1950s and 60s, particularly for small
distribution mains, until the introduction of uPVC in the 60s when this tended to become the
more economic option. However, an increasing proportion of the AC pipe laid towards the
80s was large diameter where materials and laying costs compared favourably with
alternative pipe materials.
The Water Research Centre carried out a survey of the Water Industry’s records and
compiled data on the use of AC pipe with respect to age and water quality, the population
served, the structural performance and the parameters that affect deterioration and failure

rates, for comparison with cast iron and uPVC (WRC Report, 1985). This data helped to
highlight those areas where deterioration and the potential for release of fibres was likely to
be most critical. Data obtained from the water utilities containing 98% of UK mains indicated
that out of the 347,669 km of mains in the ground, over 37,500 km or about 11% of the
system was AC and that approximately 12.1 million or 22% of the population received water
conveyed by AC pipe. Approximately 18,500 km (almost half) of AC pipe had been laid in
areas where a significant proportion of the conveyed water was potentially aggressive (soft
water areas where hardness was less than 75 mg/litre).
The failure rate in non-aggressive (hard water/clay) environments was found to increase
linearly with age. The cause of this trend was not identified but it was assumed that the
external environment and changes in the materials properties probably affected the failure
rates. It was also observed that most of the failures occurred in the dry summer months in
these areas and that ring fractures, commonly caused by bending stresses, were the
predominant failure mode.
In more aggressive (soft water and sandy/gravel) environments, the distribution of failures
was random throughout the year. Corrosion related failures were reported after 20 years’
service and tended to increase with age. One area showed a high increase in longitudinal
failures due to corrosion which affects the ability of the pipe to withstand internal pressure.
Examination of pipes exhumed from a wide variety of environments showed that attack was
localised around defects in the bitumen coating. No simple model could be proposed to
explain the deterioration, although reasonably good correlation could be made for low pH
and low alkalinity waters. The maximum internal degradation observed was 8mm in a period
of 40 years.
3.5.2 Deterioration
Research literature shows that deterioration is related to both chemical and biological
‘attack’, from both the soil / groundwater and from the water being transported (Smolders,
2009). The timescale and extent to which AC pipes deteriorate depends on the levels of
chemical and biological exposure.
Studies have shown that the main cause of deterioration of the pipes is due to chemical
attack of the cement matrix. This can lead directly to corrosion of the pipes through leaching
of hydroxides, and free lime and dissolution of calcium components, which in turn can result
in pH changes and scaling in water mains and domestic installations (Slaats et al., 2004). The
loss of free lime in AC pipe leads to pipe softening, increases in the permeability or porosity
of the pipe (Al-Adeeb and Matti, 1984) and a reduction in the effective thickness of the pipe
wall, and therefore, a loss of mechanical strength. When external stresses exceed the
reduced strength, the pipe fails.
Asbestos cement (AC) pipes are made of a mixture of asbestos fibres (11% by weight) and
Portland cement, later with the addition of silica. The chemical stability and durability of
cementitious products is related to the free lime content, Ca(OH)2, present in the hydrated
products and the aggressiveness of the surrounding media. Free lime is a by-product of the
cement hydration process and its presence is necessary for the stability of dicalcium silicate
and tricalcium silicate.

AI-Adeeb and Matti (1984) conducted a study on AC pipes used for water distribution in
Kuwait. Pipe bursts had been regularly experienced, reducing their life expectancy from 30
years to an average of 9 years. Out of a total of 141 samples of pipe failures, 108 were fresh
water pipe failures (fresh potable water encountered in Kuwait is very soft, its temporary
hardness is equal to or less than 10 mg/I and could be regarded as aggressive water), while
only 33 were brackish water pipe failures, suggesting that most failures were related to the
internal environment. During field pressure testing, AI-Adeeb and Matti (1984) were also
able to demonstrate that water could percolate through the pipe thickness and reach the
outer surface whenever there was a defect in the pipe. 35 specimens were tested for
permeability. Thirteen of the samples burst after being pressurized for periods ranging from
two hours to thirty-five days.
Once Ca(OH)2 is leached out, the hydrated silicate products decompose, with the liberation
of calcium hydroxide so the reactions continue until most of the hydrated silicates are
decomposed. Thus, the material gets weaker and unstable and ultimately leads to pipe
failure. The leaching of hydroxides, free lime and dissolution of calcium compounds results in
loss of strength of AC pipes, and increased likelihood of failure. Deteriorated and failed pipes
have been found to have cracks (both circumferential and longitudinal), which may lead to
both leakage and subsequent failure.
There is also the possibility of sulphate attack, where the chemical processes occurring
during sulphate attack on cementitious products involve a reaction of the sulphate and free
calcium hydroxide liberated during the hydration of cement to form calcium sulphate
(gypsum) and a further reaction of gypsum and hydrated calcium aluminate to form calcium
sulfoaluminate, known as ettringite. These crystalline products have considerably greater
volume (123% to 224% respectively) than the compounds they replace. The crystallisation
process is accompanied by swelling, which induces the pores in the material to burst,
particularly in the surface layers, and ultimately leads to expansion and destruction of the
cementitious product. The extent of these reactions depends on the type of sulphate salts
encountered (sodium, magnesium or calcium).
Growth of biofilms inside pipes can result in ‘black slime’ bacterial growth attached to the
inner surfaces, which have been found to include:
 heterotrophic aerobic bacteria (HAB) and slime forming bacteria (SLYM) dominated
in both the black growths and inside the patina; and
 iron related bacteria, acid producing bacteria (APB), denitrification bacteria and
sulphate reducing bacteria were also commonly present.
Results have also indicated that APB, SLYM, HAB can facilitate pipe weight loss under
anaerobic environments.
The inner layers, closest to the pipe were found to be dominated by slime-forming bacteria
(SLYM), iron-related bacteria (IRB) and acid-producing bacteria (APB), and the latter two play
important roles in leaching of free lime and dissolution of calcium components of AC.
Scanning electron microscopy has shown bacterial activity causes significant loss of hydrated
cement matrix and can cause pipe failure. In summary, microbial activities caused a patina to

form on the inner pipe surface which played a major role in the deterioration of AC pipes in
drinking water distribution systems. The SLYM bacteria which were in direct contact with the
hydrated cement materials, created an environment for other types of bacteria to establish
inside the patina. The activities of HAB, IRB and APB made a local environment anaerobic
and acidic, which greatly accelerated the leaching of free lime and the dissolution of Ca-
bearing minerals in the hydrated cement matrix. Losses of free lime and Ca-bearing silicates
left significant voids and porosity, which in turn reduced the effective wall thickness of the
cement pipe with a subsequent loss of pipe strength.
3.5.3 Joints
For much of the time that AC pipes were installed, the joints were based on rubber gaskets.
It has been found that joints deteriorate over time, e.g. due to biological activities, either
within the soil or the biofilms described above as rubber degrading microbes, bacteria and
fungi, are ubiquitous in the environment especially soil. This has two implications:
 that the joints become much more likely to leak, when the ability of the gasket to
provide a ‘barrier’ to the escape of water deteriorates
 that the function of the joints is affected, with potential structural consequences for
the pipes.
Deteriorated rubber gaskets are likely to leak and also to reduce the overall strength of the
pipes. In 2007, AC pipes in the water network in Krakow, Poland (which originally included
approximately 40 km of AC pipes) were being replaced due to intensive failure of joints
(Zeilina, 2007).
3.5.4 Fibre fracture

Residual strength is also influenced by the behaviour of reinforcing asbestos fibres, which
are dispersed throughout the cement matrix on pipe manufacture. These fibres are typically
short, randomly dispersed and oriented at an angle to any cracks that may develop in the
cement matrix due to strength loss. As a result, the asbestos fibres are subjected to bending
stress as these cracks open, which in turn can lead to flexural fibre rupture before the fibre
attains its full capacity in direct tension. Hence, the reinforcing efficiency of these fibres may
be reduced as degradation proceeds (Katz, 1996).
3.5.5 Summary
Chemical attack, from either the water being transported or external ground / water
conditions can seriously weaken the pipes and increase their porosity and likelihood of
failure, particularly in soft water areas and especially in stiff clay soils or if the pipes become
over-pressurised. Earlier Class B pipes are more prone to fail than later Class C pipes.
Deteriorated and failed pipes have been found to have cracks (both circumferential and
longitudinal), which may lead to both leakage and subsequent failure.
Deteriorated rubber gaskets are likely to leak and to reduce the overall strength of the pipes.

Results of research and investigations show that deterioration may be related to both
chemical and biological ‘attack’, from both the soil / groundwater and from the water being
transported. The timescale over which AC pipes deteriorate seriously enough to fail will
depend on the levels of chemical and biological exposure.
3.6 Plastic Pipes (uPVC)
3.6.1 Introduction
The first polymer to be used in the water industry, uPVC pipes came into popular use for
water supply throughout Europe, North America and Australia during the 1970s, particularly
in areas where soil conditions were corrosive to cast or ductile iron, and also as
manufacturing and production costs reduced compared to more traditional materials. By the
late 1980s and into the 1990s, MDPE (and subsequently HDPE) began to take over from
uPVC, as the ‘plastic’ pipe material of choice for water mains. Therefore, most uPVC pipes
throughout the UK and worldwide are at least 30 years old and many are 40 years old or
more.
Whilst it is always difficult to establish exact numbers for total lengths of pipes, it is probably
safe to say that throughout the UK around 5 % of the trunk main network and 13% of the
distribution network is comprised of uPVC pipes, in total this will be of the order of
thousands of kilometres, perhaps as much as 10,000 km.
While a pipe may fail or become liable to leakage due to ‘Third Party Damage’, brittle
fracture following slow crack growth is probably the most common cause of failure in uPVC
pipes, and the process is described in detail below. Crack growth is often initiated from a
defect (e.g. a manufacturing defect for early uPVC pipes), or from damage to the pipe
structure (e.g. damage which occurred during storage or installation) or from deterioration
(e.g. from leaching of chemicals from the plastic over time).
Ductile failures are uncommon in plastic pipes in water applications under normal loads
(unless the design limits are exceeded). Depending on the crack-initiation and crack-
propagation resistance of the material, brittle failures in pipe can be induced by point loads
(such as from rock impingement), at an average stress applied over long periods of time, in
materials with inadequate slow crack growth (SCG) resistance, or by fatigue from the cyclic
stress in materials with low fatigue resistance.
Crack initiation and propagation studies on PE and uPVC have revealed two main
mechanisms. PE shows one characteristic, slow crack growth (SCG) morphology regardless of
temperature or load cycle but PVC, subjected to slower cycles, higher temperature, or lower
amplitudes display a second mechanism, which involves multiple initiation points with
numerous crazes eventually coalescing to the point of final fracture, Figure 3.2. Craze density
measurements in the vicinity of the advancing crack tip show that craze density increases
with temperature and decreases with increasing cycle frequency (Bernel-Lara et al, 2006).

Figure 3.2 Fatigue, slow crack growth mechanism in PVC pipe. (Oliphant et al., 2012)
3.6.2 Cyclic loading or fatigue

Fatigue resistance, as opposed to resistance to peak surge events, involves different
mechanisms and occurs on different time scales. Cyclic loading or fatigue from repetitive
pressure surges (or the total number of pressure surges over the lifetime of a piping system)
can result in a significantly lower failure strength and performance lifetime compared to the
static pressure long-term material strength and lifetime. In general, PE materials are highly
fatigue resistant while PVC materials are seen to be susceptible to fatigue (Marshall, 1998
and Bowman 1990).
As a brief comparison between uPVC and HDPE, Marshall et al. (1998) report on the cyclical
fatigue strength of PVC and HDPE and their report shows, at a cyclical stress range of 10 MPa
(1450 psi) some PVC pipes failed at approximately 400,000 cycles whereas HDPE pipe
reaches 10,000,000 million cycles before failure.
3.6.3 Joints
Several authors have demonstrated that joints play a major role in PVC network failures.
Data analysed by Reed et al. (2006) obtained from a questionnaire to seven utilities from the
UK (one), USA (four) and Canada (two) showed that from the total mains of 33,247 km,
being cast iron dominant (40% of length) and PVC the fourth most used material (11%), the
PVC joint failures were dominated by gasket/seal failure (55%).
In a Japanese water companies survey on leakages related to water distribution pipelines,

Arai et al. (2010) obtained information for 2004 and 2005. The Japanese network is
composed of approximately 600,000 km of water pipelines. More than 40 % of the total
number of failures were detected at joints. In PVC pipes, more than 60% of the failures were
detected at joints. The Netherlands has 32,071 km of pipe, 95% of which (30,394 km)
consists of the materials PVC, PE, asbestos cement, ductile iron and cast iron. Of all failures,
around 2% are detected at joints (irrespective of the pipe’s material), and over 9 % of all
failures are detected at PVC joints (Arsenio et al., 2013).
Arsenio et al. (2013) discussed eight failure mechanisms for push-fit joints and presented
joint rotation and axial pull-out as the two most important failure mechanisms. PVC push-fit
joints (double sockets) and pipes were tested in the laboratory by Arsenio et al. (2015) to

obtain parameters that can be used to assess the condition of a joint in the field. For pull-out
and bending tests, two threshold conditions were investigated. The first is start of leakage
and the second is material fracture. During bending tests, force was monitored to
characterize the joint’s stiffness.
They found that leakage and intrusion were only detected in a few tests at extreme rotation
angles and in the case of pull-out tests, after the complete pull out of the pipe from the
joint. Thus, leakage and intrusion do not occur for typical operational situations (angles
below 10 degrees) if the rubber ring is in perfect condition. For PVC joints leakage through
the rubber-gasket is mostly dependent on the condition of the rubber. For a rubber ring in
good condition, leakage can only be expected at rotation angles above 10 degrees and in
cases of complete pull-out of the pipe from the joint. Joint stiffness was found to increase
with the level of insertion of pipe inside the joint, diameter and inner pipe pressure. A pipe
inserted further in the joint leads to a decrease in the angle values at which the contact
points start and the start of contact will stiffen the joint. Increase in diameter was an
important factor for increase of joint stiffness (pipe stiffness was found to increase more
than 64 times from a 100 mm to a 315 mm pipe).
3.6.4 Ageing and Deterioration

The popular image of the near-immortal plastic bag haunting the countryside and landfills
for millennia gives rise to the incorrect assumption that plastics in all their forms must be
resistant to degradation. The situation is more complex than this but, briefly, longevity of
the form should not be interpreted as consistency of performance. The obvious corollary in
this context is that of the graphitisation of cast iron main which sees the form of the pipe
remain intact (even to the detail of foundry marks and the like), whilst the cast iron is
converted to graphitic corrosion product.
For the polymers used for water pipes, physical aging is typically due to a small level of
thermodynamic instability: polymer density increases and the molecular mobility decreases
due to small conformational changes in the structure of glassy polymers that are seeking
thermodynamic equilibrium. These changes give rise to “strain softening”, a decrease in
elongation at break on a macroscopic scale, and can eventually lead to crazing and even
brittle fracture.
The presence of oxidizing chemicals (e.g. for disinfection of potable water) even at low
concentrations, may over time add to the above problem, and effectively increase the rate
of deterioration and embrittlement. Exposure to UV radiation may exacerbate the problem
as both UV radiation and chemical exposure can give rise to chain scission and overall
damage to the polymer structure. It should be noted that any time that plastic pipe spends
exposed to sunlight between manufacture and installation will have an effect on long-term
performance.
It should also be remembered that when polymers are deployed, they are rarely ‘pure’:
usually a number of constituents are present to aid with various properties. Some of these
may be as simple as pigments, whilst others may be there as fillers or flexibilisers – small
molecules which do not form part of the long chain structure but allow the formed material
to be manipulated. The leaching of chemicals from the pipe material over long periods time

can have a significant impact on mechanical properties (leading to loss of strength and
fracture toughness) and may therefore result in increased risk of failure.
In summary, in terms of deterioration, leakage and failure, the main issues have been
identified as:
a) defects / imperfections caused during manufacture
b) incomplete or low quality processing during manufacture
c) damage during storage, either physical damage or due to exposure to UV
d) damage during installation
e) incorrect installation of joints
f) incorrect drilling / fixing of saddles and ferrules
g) leaching / migration of chemicals from the uPVC pipe walls over time
h) ageing and embrittlement over time
i) increased stress around holes or cracks from which leakage is occurring
Some explanations of these include:
 Even small defects [e.g. relating to: (a), (c), (d) and (f)] may have resulted in the
development of holes or cracks during service, under internal water pressure and
external loading.
 Incomplete or low quality processing (b) and exposure to UV (c) if pipes were stored
outside and unprotected for long periods before use, may have resulted in reduced
strength or fracture toughness, with increased likelihood that small defects may
ultimately result in failure.
 Damage during storage or installation (c) or (d), may have resulted in sharp notches,
ultimately leading to crack growth and failure.
 Incorrect drilling / fixing of saddles and ferrules (f) may have resulted in defects,
leading to leakage and ultimately to failure.
 Leaking of water under pressure from holes, cracks or defects may result in increased
stresses in the adjacent pipe walls (i), which may ultimately result in failure.
Many of these issues relate to the manufacture, handling, storage and installation of the
pipes, and this may be a significant ‘gap’ in information which might be useful in assessing
the levels of risk for different uPVC pipes.
Some of this information might be available from manufacturers’, contractors’ or

‘purchasers’ records (or particular manufacturers’ specifications relating to their processes

and/or their guidelines for subsequent storage and installation), while some information
may be available from epidemiological investigations – looking into patterns of failures
across the country and relating these back to particular methods of manufacture, storage
and installation. It may be possible through this type of approach to relate existing uPVC
pipelines to factors and parameters such as deterioration in tensile strength, and fracture
toughness and probability of defects etc.
3.7 Lead
3.7.1 Background
Lead pipes have been in use since the Romans introduced them into their drinking water
systems. Although lead is no longer seen as one of the prime culprits of Rome’s demise, its
status in the system of water distribution by lead pipes still stands as a major public health
issue (Delile et al., 2014). In recent times, many scientific papers have been written about
the high concentrations and damaging effects of lead in drinking water; although few papers
have been directed towards recognising that the loss of lead from the walls of pipes also
effectively weakens them over time.
Although new lead pipes have not been installed since the early 1970s, there are a
considerable number of lead communication and supply pipes still in use in the UK. In one of
the few in-depth investigations into the condition of lead pipes (Starling, et al., 2007), it was
estimated that in 2007 there were still in the order of 1.4 million lead communication pipes
in operation within the Thames Water network alone. It is likely that there are millions of
kilometres of lead pipes still in use in the older areas of most cities and towns in the UK.
The lead alloys that have been used for pipes are complex materials with mechanical
properties that depend strongly on composition and microstructure; moreover, they are
susceptible to damage under service conditions involving creep and fatigue loading (in pipes
perhaps arising from ground loading and thermal effects) and corrosion.
In recent years, corrosion has become a significant issue, especially in terms of the effects of
disinfection on water chemistry, as the chemicals used have been changing, in order to
minimise and control disinfection by-products. Serious lead problems were identified for
example in supplies to Washington DC (Edwards and Dudi, 2004) following changes from
chlorine to chloramine, although bench-scale experiments showed that compared with free
chlorine, chloramine had little effect on new, pure lead pipe.
Research and investigations (e.g. Karalekas et al., 1983) have indicated that this is a complex
issue, and the leaching of lead from pipes depends on a number of issues including the
hardness of the water, the chemicals used in treatment and disinfection and pH of the
treated water.
For the purposes of this report, it is enough to highlight that corrosion of lead pipes has been
occurring for many decades. Recent changes in disinfection processes are more likely to
affect previous corrosion products rather than the pipes themselves, but many pipes in
service have suffered from corrosion and long-term leaching of lead.

3.7.2 Manufacture and Microstructure
Lead pipes were typically manufactured by a process of extrusion. As with many materials
that have been in service for considerable time it was only in the early to mid-20th century
that the process became standardised (BS602, 1935 and BS1085, 1943, which were
subsequently amalgamated to form BS602:1085, 1956 – ‘Specifications for lead and lead
alloy pipes for other than chemical purposes’). During an extrusion operation, lead is formed
into a continuous length of uniform pipe by forcing the lead to flow under high pressure and
temperature through a die aperture. The process was commonly carried out in a vertical
hydraulic press, using a method of inverted extrusion, i.e. the die is attached to the head of
the press frame and the charge container moves over the die, pushing the charge through it.
After the 1950s, a method of horizontal continuous extrusion began to be used more widely
(Starling et al., 2007). Whether a pipe was manufactured by a method of vertical hydraulic
extrusion or continuous extrusion will affect the grain size and shape along with introducing
other microstructural characteristics/defects into the pipe.
Grain size has been found to vary significantly, ranging from ‘desirable medium grain size’
(~0.5 mm) to extremes of coarse or fine sizes. This affects the mechanical properties of lead
pipes. Garre and Muller (1931) found that the tensile strength of lead increases with
decreasing grain size, as for most metals, owing to the grain boundaries acting as a barrier to
plastic deformation. The rate of creep also varies depending on the grain size: Hanffstengal
and Hanemann (1937) showed that at low stresses (~0.5 MPa) and temperatures, fine-
grained lead (grain size, d, of 0.2 mm) creeps more quickly than coarse-grained lead (d of 7
mm).
In order to strike a balance between good creep resistance, good fatigue resistance and
tensile strength, the British Standard specified that under metallographic examination, lead
pipes should exhibit a uniform microstructure with a ‘desirable medium grain structure’.
This equates to a grain size of ~0.5 mm. Many of the samples examined in Starling et al.’s
(2007) work did not show such a mean grain size. Furthermore, many of the pipe sections
exhibited what is cited commonly as a ‘zoned’ grain structure. This is characterised by
circumferentially opposed areas of fine and coarse grains. This zoned structure is a product
of the material becoming “worked” because of bending and coiling of the lead pipes upon
leaving the extrusion press, which subsequently results in re-crystallisation and grain growth
within the pipe. Butler (1958) noted that the fatigue strength of a lead pipe with a zoned
structure is less than that of a pipe with uniform structure whether it is fine or coarse, and
also that in fatigue tests there was a tendency for cracks to propagate at the boundary
between the coarse grained and fine grained regions.
3.7.3 Defects
Many pipes exhibit defects because of the extrusion process, such as when the pipe has a
‘scarf’ joint running longitudinally when an oxide layer is introduced during the extrusion
process as the charge is replaced. There are weak metal/oxide interfaces associated with the
oxide layer and associated with the interface is the occurrence of cavities, which result in a
local reduction in cross-section. The lead pipe on either side of the oxide rings may show
different characteristic grain sizes with associated problems as highlighted earlier.

Another phenomenon in the microstructure is the formation of ‘metal tongues’, which
ultimately meet, to form weld seams at two circumferentially opposed areas of the pipe,
produced for example during extrusion, by the new charge protruding in to the lead from
the old charge inside the forming chamber. In extreme cases, this can cause blistering of the
surface owing to an insufficient weld between the charges.
Many of the defects seen in the extrusion process are often ascribed to the extrusion
temperature being too low. This prevents the oxide and “dross” in the melt from rising to
the surface of the charge and so promotes the formation of internal defects. It has been
noted that many of the microstructural defects associated with the extrusion process may
be avoided by using a method of continuous extrusion, but this was not available for the
production of the majority of early lead pipes.
3.7.4 Leakage and pipe failure

Lead pipes are known to fracture in service. However the causes of these failures do not
appear to be well understood and consequently there is no ‘off the shelf’ method of
condition assessment for lead based assets, of the sort that was developed for cast iron
pipes in the early 1980s.
Work in the field by Starling et al., (2007) indicated that a significant number of repairs are
carried out on leaking lead service pipes, but the mechanisms that cause these failures are
not fully understood. Certain types of failure may also be more detrimental than others and
their different contributions to leakage are unknown. Pipes tend to be replaced either as
part of water main renewal programmes or as leakage is detected.
Starling et al., (2007) analysed more than 60 lead pipes sourced from the Thames Water
region. The pipes were typically of 23 mm outside diameter, with a bore of 12.5 mm. The
samples were obtained through the Customer Side Leakage teams and were targeted as
contributing to leakage in one form or another. A number of different failure mechanisms
were noted and their proportional representation within the cohort investigated is detailed
in Figure 3.3. Descriptions of the failure modes are as follows:
 longitudinal splits and circumferential breaks, which are self-explanatory, and seen in
most pipe materials, particularly ferrous ones;
 corrosion pits, present on pipe that exhibits visible signs of corrosion;
 holes, may be present on an otherwise sound pipe and may indicate mechanical
damage;
 pinhole leak, may not be visible until a low-pressure test is carried out;
 ‘deformation’ failure, as the name suggests, where the pipe has been crushed or
deformed, either as a result of its installation or possibly owing to (changes in)
ground loading;
 ‘interface’ failure, where a leak is apparent at the interface between the pipe and
another asset such as polyethylene pipe or OSV.

Any one pipe may contain a number of different failures. It can be seen from Figure 3.3 that
the most frequently occurring failures were found to be longitudinal and circumferential
fractures.
Figure 3.3 Distribution of defect types in failed lead pipe samples.
3.8 Pre-stressed concrete
3.8.1 Background
When compared to other materials there are relatively few prestressed concrete (PC) pipes
in the UK. Those that are in service tend to be in the larger diameter size range (i.e. trunk
main) but relatively little information has been published on their behaviour under UK
conditions. In contrast, there are a considerable number of PC pipes installed in North
America, and most of the research and available publications relate to these. Mergelas and
Kong (2001) have reported that there are more than 18,000 miles of PC pipes serving nearly
every major city in North America. Many of these pipes are more than 50 years old and it has
been estimated that at least one half of existing PC pipes will need to be replaced in the next
20 years.
The use of PC pipes began during the 1940s, and they were still being routinely installed up
to the end of the 20th century. For example, one of the main water supply pipelines for
Puerto Rico consists of 70 km of large diameter PC pipes was constructed during the 1990’s.
The largest reported PC pipeline appears to be the “man-made river project” which was
constructed in Libya during the 1980s and 1990 has and includes almost 4,000 km of 4 m
diameter PC pipes that transmit around 6 million cubic metres of water daily. This system
has suffered significant degradation especially where the local ground is contaminated with
significant levels of salt. Indeed the corrosion of the prestressing wires is known to be a
major issue for PC pipes and depending on ground conditions, can result in significant
damage over relatively short periods. According to Travers (1997), widespread corrosion and

failure of the prestressing wire on over 6 miles of PC pipe used for the Central Arizona
Project was found after less than 15 years in service. If a sufficient number of wires break,
the concrete may no longer remain in compression, with a risk of catastrophic failure of the
pipes.
3.8.2 Manufacture
Most North American PC pipes consist of a thin steel cylinder lined with centrifugally cast
concrete. The concrete core is prestressed by steel wire helically wrapped around the
cylinder. A cement mortar coating is then applied along the length of the pipe to protect the
wire (Al Wardany, 2008). The concrete core is the load-bearing component with the steel
cylinder acting as a water barrier between inner and outer core concrete layers. The
presence of the prestressing wires produce a uniform circumferential compressive pressure
in the concrete core that balances tensile stresses developed in the pipe from internal fluid
pressure. The mortar coating protects the prestressing wires against physical damage during
handling, installation, and corrosion due to the external environment (Hajali et al., 2016).
In the UK two types of PC pipes have mainly been used, those described above and similar
pipes but without the internal steel cylinder. It should be noted that the prestress wires are
continuous throughout the length of each individual pipe and fixed onto steel rings at each
end. Most PC pipes have spigot and socket joints, with rubber (or other) gaskets, to provide
flexibility. Joints may also include additional steel reinforcement within the concrete,
together with the steel rings described above on the inside of bells and spigots, and the joint
itself is likely to be grouted after laying, to prevent the ingress of potentially corrosive
ground water. Joints of this type tend to have reduced flexibility when compared to other
types of pipeline.
3.8.3 Corrosion, Deterioration and Failure

The aim of the prestress wires is to maintain the inner concrete core of the pipe in
compression, even when the pipeline is operating at maximum internal water pressure.
However, the outer concrete, outside of the wires, either can tend to develop cracks, due to
internal or external loading (or related to cracking or microcracking during manufacture,
handling or construction). Such cracks provide a path for ground water to reach the
prestress wires and resulting corrosion. In some cases, the interaction of aggressive soils
with PC pipe can deteriorate the mortar coating; again allowing groundwater to reach the
steel cylinder and the steel wires inside the pipe and cause their corrosion.
Whilst corrosion of the steel prestressing wires is understood to be the main underlying
cause of the failure of PC pipes (Al Wardany, 2008;Hajali, et al, 2016), it is possible to identify
the following sequence of decay:
 Deterioration of the outer concrete / mortar coating: Aggressive agents such as

sulphate ions and acidic groundwater, that may exist in the soil surrounding PC pipes,
can attack the alkaline mortar coating causing expansion, cracking and subsequent
spalling of the mortar layer. This allows ground water (and dissolved oxygen) to have
direct contact with both the prestressing wires and the steel cylinder and so create
conditions leading to their corrosion. Chloride ions resulting from de-icing salt used

on roads during winter may infiltrate into the soil and penetrate through the mortar
coating causing further corrosion of the prestressing wires and the steel cylinder. The
corrosion products formed at the steel surface induce expansion forces between the
mortar coating and the wires and/or the steel cylinder, which also results in
delamination and spalling of the concrete coating.
 Wire break: Prestressing wires have the role of compressing the concrete core to
increase its strength and make it strong enough to resist the high internal water
pressure. An individual wire under corrosion progressively loses its cross sectional
area (‘loss of section’) and will break when the remaining effective section is unable
to resist the applied tensile force. A single wire break is not usually a significant
problem as the remaining wires can still compress the core. However, the more that
adjacent wires break, the less the core is compressed and the greater the risk of pipe
failure becomes.
 Deterioration of the steel cylinder: The internal steel cylinder is not designed to play
any structural role in a PC pipe; it is only used as a watertight membrane. However,
the steel cylinder can start to corrode when groundwater and chloride ions reach it.
This is typically associated with deterioration of the protective mortar coating and
corrosion of prestressing wires.
 Deterioration of the concrete core: when the number of broken wires becomes
significant, the compressive stress relaxation occurs in the concrete core and
longitudinal cracks appear at the inner surface of the pipe. This kind of crack
indicates that the pipe is at high risk to fail and is near rupture.
PC pipes may begin to leak during the various ‘stages’ described above, although this may
not always be the case. A key problem with PC pipes is that catastrophic failure can occur
without warning, as corroded prestressed wires begin to fail and shed load onto adjacent
(corroded) wires which themselves become overloaded and fail.
3.9 Summary
The length of time that the water industry has existed, together with its localised nature and
differences in a number of key variables, inevitably means that there is a wide spread of
materials in use, each with multiple ways in which they degrade. This chapter has explored
the key materials that are currently in use and the manner in which their deterioration leads
to leakage and bursts. The next chapter explores these issues in more detail, discussing the
key issues that can be identified, which in turn can inform further work to guide
rehabilitation and replacement strategies.
4 Discussion
4.1 Introduction
This review has considered the published research and investigations that have been carried
out over a number of years for most of the pipe materials that have been used in the UK.
Polyethylene has been excluded since it is the subject of a parallel work package and GRP

has not been considered since it is anticipated that no GRP pipes would be remain in service
by 2050.
The present chapter draws together a number of aspects of the literature findings together
with an account of the survey responses. In the next section, the differences between the
distribution and trunk main and its implication for leakage are considered. Following this, the
main issues arising for each material in terms of factors which relate to the basic
mechanisms of bursts and leakage are described in each section below. Subsequently the
key points raised by the information collected by the questionnaire are presented.
4.2 Trunk main and distribution main
4.2.1 Introduction
Distribution mains are physically smaller than trunk mains – lengths, diameters and wall
thickness are all smaller. Typically, trunk main carry water from a reservoir or treatment
plant to a given local area and distribution main are used to deliver water to street level
from which smaller connection pipes take water to individual houses/dwellings. Due to
physical differences in diameter, there will usually be more joints in a distribution main than
in an equivalent length of trunk main. These joints allow adjacent pipes to articulate with
respect to each other in response to changes in ground (and water) temperature or in
response to movement of the surrounding soil in response to loads and other factors. Some
pipe joints are formed from flanged units that are bolted together in some manner – these
are effectively “locked” from point of completion increasing the risk of tensile fracture in any
given length of the pipe system when changes in temperature of ground movement through
loads or changes in moisture content occur. It may be noted that the issue of leakage at
poorly constructed joints, and as a consequence of in-service movement, remains a common
feature of many pipe networks. Another important difference between the two types of
main relate to the spatial variation in the corrosion behaviour and to the way in which a
defect behaves in the two types of main.
4.2.2 Spatial Variation in Corrosion Behaviour

In the ground, the local environment at the pipe surface will vary. Amongst the parameters
that may change are the moisture, the availability of oxygen and the chemical composition
of the soil. Coupled with this there will be local variations in the surface microstructure of
the cast iron.
For the internal surfaces of the pipe, trunk main and distribution experience (more or less)
the same environment in terms of oxygen and other chemical species (e.g. Cl- Fl-, etc.) but
flow rates and degree of erosion may be different. Levels of tuberculation will vary with
water temperature and hardness – hence soft water regions (acidic waters) will generally
show greater internal corrosion extents and rates than in hard water (alkaline) areas, e.g.
London.
With regard to the external surfaces, these are subject to significant range of soil types and
levels of soil moisture deficit subject to water table and influence of water source and flow
etc. depending of physical location within region and depth if displacement, surface

exposure (e.g. road, filed, car park, building, etc.). Laying procedure will influence the
environment at the pipe / soil interface, e.g. CI in contact with local soil, imported soil or
granular back-fill. Pipe age and type will influence if pipe surface has been coated.
Due to the greater physical diameter of trunk main, variation in water table can lead to very
different exposure conditions (moisture content, levels of dissolved salts and conductivity) at
the top surface (crown) of the pipe to the bottom (invert) than occurs in distribution main.
For a given moisture profile within a soil, corrosion is likely to be more uniform in its extent
and type in distribution main than in trunk main.
Given the larger diameter of the trunk mains, it can be argued that spatial variability is more
of a concern in trunk mains than in distributions. Indeed in the context of cast iron it has
been found that when three plates are taken from different locations within a single 3 m
stick of trunk main there may be significant variation in the residual strength of samples
taken from these plates, both within an individual plate and from plate to plate. Associated
with this the morphology of graphitisation (uniform or localised corrosion) can vary from
location to location, Jesson et al (2013). In contrast, from work on small diameter
distribution mains it was found that the defect population induced by corrosion did not
show the same degree of variation around the circumference as seen in the trunk mains.
4.2.3 Behaviour of defects in distribution mains and trunk mains

The manner in which a defect of given size affects the residual strength of the pipe is also an
important consideration. Let us consider first the situation where the defect is localised and
so it tends to act like a sharp crack.
Fracture mechanics states that the size of such a critical defect to cause fast fracture of a
pipe depends upon the operating stress and the material property known as the fracture
toughness. If it is assumed that the nominal stress within a distribution main and a trunk
main are similar, then the critical defect sizes will be the same. Suppose for illustrative
purposes that the critical defect size is calculated to be 20 mm while the wall thicknesses of
the pipes will be around 12 mm for the distribution main and 35 mm for the trunk main. If
these numbers were correct, then the trunk main can potentially fail catastrophically when
such a large defect is present, while for the distribution main the maximum defect size in
practice is limited by the wall thickness and hence the same sort of catastrophic fracture is
not possible.
In the situation where the corrosion product does not cause such a localisation of stress, but
instead the load carrying capacity is reduced in accordance with a loss of section approach,
then the trunk main may be able to tolerate the presence of larger defects without
catastrophic failure. Nonetheless the general principle remains, namely that a distribution
main is more able to tolerate corrosion without catastrophic fracture such that full wall
corrosion could lead to leakage, a situation that is less likely in a trunk main.
Based on the discussion presented in this section, it is suggested that the degradation
of distribution mains proceeds in a way that is more likely to be damage tolerant than for a
trunk main.

4.3 Materials Issues
4.3.1 Ferrous metals (Cast Iron, Ductile Iron and Steel)

The fundamental behaviour of all ferrous pipes is similar in that they all degrade in service
due to aqueous corrosion. Corrosion may be caused either by soil/ground water, or from the
‘internal’ water being supplied, or both. The key differences with regards to degradation lie
in both the precise form that aqueous corrosion presents itself and the local rates of
corrosion observed under similar exposure conditions. In combination with microstructure,
this affects the morphology of the defects that are introduced over time. There are two
essentially separate forms:
 loss of section, which is essentially a more or less even ‘loss’ of metal over time, such
that the pipe wall becomes progressively thinner and may become too thin to be able
to support the internal pressure and/or external forces on the pipe structure
 localised pitting, which can develop into deep often conical shaped pits, which for
thinner pipes may ultimately result in through-wall holes
Loss of section can result in failure of the pipe wall either longitudinally or circumferentially
once the metal becomes too ‘thin’. A defect or a deep pit (which may act as a defect), can
result in brittle fracture, generally with the pipe failing due to a longitudinal crack, or a
‘section blow-out’ near to the socket or bell.
The different mechanical properties (strength and fracture toughness) of the metals will
affect the ability of a pipe to tolerate the presence of defects resulting from deterioration.
For example, a system with low fracture toughness, such as cast iron, will be more likely to
exhibit fracture before leakage, especially where the wall thickness is large.
Although cast iron is the oldest pipe material still in use in water supply and distribution
networks, for older towns and cities it remains one of the major pipe materials. Interestingly,
cast iron has been used for very small diameter service pipes, for distribution mains and for
larger diameter trunk mains: it is generally the last which have the better rate of ‘survival’.
Because cast iron pipes are already 50 to 100 years old and some may be up to 150, they
must be expected to contain significant amounts of graphitization. This has significant
implications for a zero leakage strategy.
Whilst similar points can be made for ductile iron as for cast iron in terms of corrosion, local
rates of corrosion can be higher leading to full-wall penetration and leakage. It may be noted
that early ductile iron pipes were thinner than cast iron, but without effective corrosion
protection and many are nearing the end of economic life, and may need to be replaced
before 2050.
Steel has higher fracture toughness than CI or DI and tends to corrode resulting in holes, but
with less likelihood of catastrophic break. Whilst it might be proposed to introduce cathodic
protection for ferrous pipes to prevent further corrosion this runs the risk of placing
different metals (cast iron, ductile iron, and steel) at risk of both preferential corrosion and
hydrogen embrittlement.

A question that has been raised with regard to cast iron is the effect of high-cycle fatigue on
pipe failure, particularly with regard to pre-existing defects in thick metal sections such as
found in the bell of large trunk main. It seems likely that in steel pipes, which are much
thinner, that low-cycle high strain fatigue may be more important but there appears little
published data and so some further investigation is merited.
4.3.2 Asbestos Cement

Asbestos cement (AC) pipes are particularly vulnerable to deterioration when exposed to
low pH treated waters and acidic soil/ground waters. AC pipes in ‘bad’ areas (low pH water /
acidic soil / ground water) are likely to be so badly corroded by 2050 that they will need to
be replaced, or will have already been replaced. Where the external environment is less
aggressive and where the protective coatings remain undamaged AC pipes may remain
operational long periods.
Due to the nature of the material, it is very likely that deteriorating AC pipes will leak before
failure – from porosity, cracks, holes etc. With improving leak detection technologies, it
should be possible to identify these and set up replacement programmes based on their
‘deteriorating’ condition – so that they can be replaced before excessive leakage or failure. It
may be noted that by 2050 some AC pipes will be 100 years old and even the youngest will
be 70+ and may need to be considered for replacement.
4.3.3 Polymers
There is evidence that uPVC pipes are able to undergo deterioration when exposed to
certain environments in which the material deteriorates over time with loss of chemicals due
to leaching resulting in embrittlement and loss of fracture toughness. This problem is
particularly evident in some of the early uPVC pipes which appear to have suffered
manufacturing issues, especially in terms of the type (and level) of “defects” introduced
during processing. Where the loss of fracture toughness is combined with defects even
relatively low service loads can results in crack growth and failure. This transition in
behaviour can be quite rapid so that the potential for leakage before pipe failure is limited.
This suggests that a useful piece of research could be to find out which particular uPVC
pipes, from which manufacturers and at what times relate particularly to the issues of
defects and processing. This could be used to “map” pipes in the ground and potentially
create indicators for when best to replace them.
4.4 Issues Arising from the Questionnaire
4.4.1 Introduction
The questionnaire was a key part of developing the background material for this report.
Whilst the literature review has sought the underpinning understanding of the behaviour of
the different materials used in the UK’s water networks, the questionnaire was completed
by asset managers from the industry. The questionnaire has been included as Appendix 5,
together with a summary of the answers to some of the questions. Of the community
polled, 11 respondents contributed to the survey. Not all questions were answered in their

entirety, but some interesting trends can be noted. The following sections address some of
the key issues arising and these have been summarised as follows:
 Q1 and Q2: The original intention was that this survey would be distributed quite
broadly, including to colleagues in other countries, to academics and to consultants
working in the area without direct control of a network. In the event, this did not
prove possible. The questionnaire became more oriented towards Asset
Managers/Owners, hence these two questions served more as an icebreaker, and
these questions do not contribute to the current analysis.
 Q3-5 dealt with the materials that are found in the UK’s networks.
 Q6 asked which materials give the greatest concern.
 Q7 Looked to see what correlation, if any, the industry had noted between Leakage
and other factors, whilst Q8 looked to see if companies had undertaken any research
in this area.
 Q9 considered leakage from different parts of the network.
 Finally, Q10 looked to see if there was any other relevant research that people would
be prepared to share.
The responses to questions 8 and 10 suggest that there is no significant work being done in
this area at this time.
4.4.2 Materials in the network

An interesting result of the survey was that it was reported that lead is used in some
distribution main: that there are examples of copper trunk and distribution main. In
essence, all materials present in the network are used for all pipe sizes with the exceptions
of GRP and asbestos cement (which are apparently not used in the supply network) and lead
(which is not used for trunk main).
As might be expected, the trend is for a few materials to form the core of the network and
other materials to be present in much smaller quantities, typically of the order of 1-10%.
This suggests materials being trialled or used for very specific purposes.
In terms of the current report, the extent to which lead and pre-stressed concrete is used
has prompted the inclusion of them in the analysis presented here, even though they were
not part of the original scope.
One of the critical issues, which is well understood within the industry, but is worth stating
here, is that the number of materials and the variation within class is extensive. The
problem is exacerbated by the length of time that these materials have been in use. There is
little in the way of standardisation of reporting, so that in some instances a great deal of
detail is given and in others significant information is lost because materials are treated as
belonging to the same group.

4.4.3 Materials Causing the Greatest Concern
Interestingly, whilst the same materials or groups of materials seem to recur as the source of
greatest concern, this concern is associated with one of three specific issues:
i. Degradation in aggressive soils: metallic and asbestos cement pipes are more likely to
corrode.
ii. Climatic issues i.e. periods of cold weather (winter events) or drought (soil
shrinkage/ground movement): again, metallic and asbestos cement more prone to
this than other materials.
iii. Ability to detect leakage: plastic pipes have been found to be difficult to work with in
this regard.
Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of pipe main materials is a significant issue. Leakage,

through hydrophone-based technologies is relatively independent of material type, although
experience suggests that leakage is easier to detect the more inconsequential it is – a high
pressure (but low volume) leak through a small hole is noisier than a more significant leak,
for example. Whilst there are a number of NDE offerings for condition assessment these
tend to struggle with the combination of materials used, location of the asset and non-
contamination requirements.
In general, though, as might be expected, the greatest concerns lie with the materials
forming the largest cohorts of pipes. Whilst the concern arises from another factor, e.g.
corrosion, attempting to deal with a problem associated with a large cohort of pipes is going
to be daunting. Whilst attempts to predict corrosion in metallic pipes has only had limited
success to date, this probably stems from two key issues. Firstly, there is a tendency to over-
simplify, that is to say, for example, that all ferrous materials are grouped together.
Predictions of the corrosion of Ductile Iron or Steel from Cast Iron data are doomed to
failure because the chemical composition and pipe geometry varies and so rates of corrosion
will vary. Secondly, models have a tendency to confuse dependent and independent
variables so that predicted rates can become very confused. Within specific locales, it is
likely to be useful to break large cohorts down into manageable groups. Such breakdowns
should be based on date of installation and specific local geology as a starting point.
4.4.4 Correlation between leakage and other factors

There was not a detailed response in terms of the question as asked. Three free-form
answers identified key features, which are worth noting here:
 “UKWIR set out a data philosophy in AMP4 (2005-2010) called the common
framework approach. This approach detailed recommendations on how companies
should / could integrate big data analysis and deterioration modelling etc. into the
decision making of future AMP periods. The use of a common framework style
approach is an expectation of each water company in all asset planning cycles.”
 “… [no] empirical studies although experience tells us that clearly relationships do

exist. For example, mains in our Chalk ground areas do not deteriorate anywhere

near as quickly as in clay soils. Age is obviously a factor. However the clearest
relationship for us is due to cold weather when failure rates increase dramatically.”
 “Applied Analytics (Trinity Horne) - used complex statistics to analyse temporal &
spatial factors causing leakage and bursts British Geological Society - analysed soil
factors and other factors influencing burst mains on CI mains Simplistic burst analysis
- categorised into pressure, corrosion, ground movement & fittings Leak flow rate -
RPS - statistical analysis of MNF categorising mains, comms, supply, ancillaries into
instantaneous, exponential, decaying or linear growth rates Tynemarch - annual
burst predictor based on air frost days & SMD.”
Clearly, there is a range of activity underway at a range of levels.
4.4.5 Leakage Data

Given a)the response rate and b) the significant local differences (age of network, geology,
water sources, materials composition and so on), it is not sensible to undertake a significant
statistical analysis of the leakage data provided. However, very roughly the responses
provided indicate a sum of ~1.16 billion litres a day of leakage, which is around a third of the
total estimated leakage in the UK. On this basis then there are a few interesting notes that
can be made:
1. According to the data, less than 1% of the leakage is attributable to Service

Reservoirs etc.
2. Very crudely, there is nearly 7 km of distribution main for every km of trunk main,
and a similar length of supply/communication pipe as for distribution main, but
distribution main accounts for 67.2% of leakage whilst trunk main accounts for less
than 5%. The remaining 22.6% leakage is accounted for by the supply and
communication pipes.
3. Trunk main leaks at a rate of ~2,510 litres per km, whilst distribution main leaks at a
rate of 5,800 l/km and supply/communication pipes at a rate of 2,700 l/km.
This is a very crude analysis, but one that seems to suggest that the distribution main
network should be the focus of any action on leakage. To develop this further, it would be
sensible to conduct a more extensive survey, one that considers materials cohorts in more
detail. In this way, it will be possible to target the most problematic cohorts in the network.
4.5 Summary
All of the materials used in the manufacture of water distribution networks are prone to
degradation over time. The mechanisms by which degradation occur are material specific
and are strongly influenced by the environment in which the pipe operates during its period
in service. Such degradation can lead to both leakage and burst events depending on the
material and type of loading. There is evidence that leakage and bursts can occur in
“clusters” resulting from find and repair strategies.

All pipe networks that rely on joints are inherently prone to leakage at some point during
their operational life. This suggests that moving to “joint-less” distribution networks will
have a positive impact on reducing leakage rates. However, this approach is predicated on
the assumption that the material(s) used in such pipe networks are free from long-term
degradation.
5 Concluding Remarks
5.1 Summary
Sustainable provision of water is one of the great challenges of the 21st Century. On the one
hand, water is regarded, quite rightly, as a fundamental human right and access to clean
water for the whole population is an on-going aspiration. On the other, major population
centres around the world are reliant on aging infrastructure: materials as diverse as asbestos
cement, polymers, glass reinforced polymers, cast iron and steel are intertwined in complex
networks that carry water from reservoirs and treatment works to the consumer. In the UK
alone, these networks run to several hundred thousand kilometres of main, not to mention
untold quantities of service and communication pipes.
It is recognised that water is becoming a scarce resource in the UK, especially in some areas
(e.g. the South East, and East Anglia). A considerable part of the total cost of treatment and
supply of water is in pumping, transmission and distribution, all of which is lost with any loss
of the final product. Continuing leakage will also therefore result in higher than necessary
consumption of power and carbon. Much of the infrastructure is ageing, also with issues
including:
 A significant percentage of the pipes were laid during the late 19 th and early 20th
centuries and are in locations and situations that are much harder to access and work
on now. For example, pipes may now be in streets with considerable thickness of
concrete / tarmac, and with many other services above them (e.g. telecoms) and
with public and local authorities now beginning to demand lane rentals and
reductions in street works, without necessarily appreciation of all the issues.
 In good conditions, it is possible that cast iron pipes may continue to perform well for
many years, but in poorer conditions, most of the materials used between 1850 and
1980 have limited lives and are prone to leakage and failure as they get older.
It was not until the 1980s, with the introduction of polyethylene, that properly installed
pipes can be considered to have very long life expectancies, although even these will be up
to 70 years old by 2050.
The overall legacy also includes customer-side assets that are likely to be responsible for a
significant percentage of leakage, and older properties are also likely to have pipes of some
of the ‘worst’ materials. We also need to find the best ways of resolving this potential issue,
in order to reduce overall water use, whether or not it is classed as leakage in relation to the
positioning of OSVs and water meters.

5.2 Recommendations
Based on the findings of the literature review and industry response to the associated
questionnaire the following actions are recommended:
 Conduct a national census of material types and quantities found in the UK’s trunk,
distribution and supply networks, that is based around an industry agreed group of
“cohorts” that reflect material type, age, size and known condition.
 Develop a standardized approach to the classification of degradation type (and

extent) that can be applied across the different material types and pipe geometries
found in water networks.
 Develop suitable “limit states” for the key materials found in water networks to
minimise leakage and also prevent burst events. Associated with this will be the
development of technologies to allow pipe condition to be determined, relative to
such “limit states”, non-destructively, in situ.
 Develop appropriate material degradation tools to predict the future development of

degradation based on current pipe condition and exposure information. This would
provide the asset manager with “what if?” capacity when comparing operational
repair/replacement options.
 Establish appropriate methods to repair, replace or rehabilitate deteriorated pipes

more effectively, with less disruption, and at reasonable cost to customers and the
community.
 The concept of ‘network’ and the model of water supply should be explored. The
way in which water is supplied is predicated on a model that was developed in a
relatively ad hoc way some three to four hundred years ago. Some consideration of
the usefulness of this model in a world that has undergone significant changes,
together with increasing population densities which could not have been envisaged
when the first elm trunk pipelines were laid would seem to be in order.
 Establish appropriate information forums to assist with the publication and

promulgation of relevant information and technology.

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Appendix 1 Proposals for further work
A1.1. Introduction
In reviewing the basic mechanisms responsible for leakage within the water distribution
network it is evident that much of the published research undertaken has focussed on:
1. The mechanisms by which the main materials used in typical water networks can
degrade over time and the influence of internal and external environmental factors
on the rate of deterioration. However;
a. Much of this research is material specific and focuses on assumed exposure

conditions that do not always reflect the variation in environment
experienced by pipes in service.
b. There remains little work that relates degradation processes, and their rate
sensitivity, to resulting through-wall leakage mechanisms, both in terms of
time to first leak (and its variability) and any subsequent change in leakage
over time.
c. There is a lack of information relating to the effectiveness of coatings (and

other protection systems) in controlling degradation processes within specific
material types and their effectiveness in controlling subsequent leakage.
2. Identification of the physical form that the deterioration takes, e.g. increased
porosity and permeability, generalised loss of section vs. localised attack or crack
initiation, and the consequences for pipe stability under service loads. However;
a. There remains a lack of definitive work regarding the ability of a pressurised

pipe (of known material type, size and age) to sustain a given leakage rate
(either slowly by permeation through degraded pipe material or more quickly
by flow through holes or cracks in the pipe wall) before the loss of capacity to
carry water makes intervention necessary.
b. There appear to be no published models of degradation and leakage that can

be scaled from the material level to component, cohort or network level.
3. Understanding the role of joints and other fittings and their potential to provide the
mechanical continuity to allow water to flow under pressure without leakage. Joints
must also enable the pipes themselves to resist variations in both the service and
environmental loadings over time. However;
a. There is evidence that the materials used in joint systems between pipes are
prone to degradation processes that can be independent of the pipe material
they are joining, e.g. the lead run joints used to connect cast iron pipes and
the natural rubber sealants used in asbestos cement pipe systems.
b. Any degradation of the joint compromises its ability to accommodate

movement. This creates the opportunity for leakage at the joint (through

ground movement and thermal effects) and increases the risk of pipe leakage
and failure.
4. The impact of operational decisions (such as pressure reduction initiatives) and repair
interventions on the initiation and subsequent rate of leakage. However,
a. Whilst decreasing operational pressures and minimising surge may reduce

leakage there is evidence that some pipe leakage repair strategies increase
the probability of subsequent leakage adjacent to the repair site or at a
nearby joint.
b. There is a particular problem in aged pipe networks where degradation

processes reduce the ductility of the pipe material or limit the capacity of the
joints to accommodate movement.
Taken overall, there is a lack of coherent knowledge of the lifecycle of pipe networks (of
given pipe material and jointing system) as they degrade over time in service within a given
environment. In particular, there is a lack of understanding of the impact that deterioration,
and other events, can have on leakage initiation and its subsequent develop over time. This
situation is complicated in distribution networks by the competition that exists between
processes that degrade the pipe material, leading to through-wall leakage, and those that
lead to leaks at the joints or other connections between pipes. A further complication arises
from the differences in scale and material types that exist between the larger diameter
water distribution network and the communication pipes that deliver water over its final
stage to the consumer. Any, attempt to systematically reduce, and then eliminate, leakage
from existing water distribution systems must address these issues and will need to be
under-pinned by the ability to understand, and proactively manage, condition-led leakage.
A1.2. Moving to Zero Leakage
Regulators require Water Companies to fix leaks, as long as the cost of doing so is less than
the cost of not fixing the leak. The cost of not fixing a leak includes environmental damage
and the cost of developing new water resources to compensate for the water lost through
leaks. This approach is called the Sustainable Economic Level of Leakage (SELL) and is
intended to provide consumers with the “best value for money”. Although it is not clear that
this delivers a suitable base against which on-going degradation induced leakage of the
network can be best managed to minimise future impacts on consumers.
The ‘Zero Leakage by 2050’ objective defined by UKWIR implies a different situation from
that currently proscribed via the Sustainable Economic Level of Leakage approach. To
achieve ‘Zero Leakage’ it will first be necessary to reduce leakage from current levels down
to an acceptable, very low, level that is “Close to Zero Leakage” (CTZL). This reflects the
observation that no water distribution system (currently available or predicted for the
future) has been proven to support zero leakage operation. Once CTZL has been achieved, it
must be maintained at that level whilst the technological and management tools are
developed to support the desired Zero Leakage Level (ZLL).
The amount of leakage that occurs depends upon the condition of a network (including
pipes, joints, fittings, etc.) and it is known that the condition is closely related to the 3 D’s of

Defects, Damage and Deterioration. The proposals below seek to find ways to enable the
condition of any network to be understood in order to meet the needs of achieving CTZL and
approaching ZLL. This will require:
 a much greater level of information, knowledge and understanding than is currently

available when operating a network against the SELL criteria which, given the
available constraints on resources, typically relies on a “find and fix” approach.
 improved leakage detection and repair techniques to help identify and mitigate high
leakage rate areas.
 addressing the wider problem of degradation led leakage across networks of aging
assets.
 appropriate techniques, condition data and modelling capacity to identify problems,

and deliver solutions before leakage occurs or can escalate.
Operating a network at CTZL will require information on both pipe and joint condition and
associated leakage rates. This can be gained both from direct measurements taken in the
field (together with any supporting laboratory testing, etc.), and also from information
assessed or calculated using appropriate assessment tools and underlying models developed
for this purpose. This is important given that the cost of in-situ field-based testing, and any
subsequent necessary lab-based testing and analysis, will always be expensive. As a
consequence, it is likely to be limited by the availability of specialist equipment and properly
trained users, by the operational difficulties of carrying tests on live networks, and by both
absolute cost and proven cost-benefit.
The use of desk-based assessment tools and associated models – specifically designed to ‘sit’
alongside field-based testing - will be required to provide a cost-effective means of achieving
the necessary levels of information, in addition to ensuring proper understanding of the data
collected in the field. It is important that developments in physical leakage detection and
pipe condition assessment are developed in parallel with the capacity to make effective use
of the data obtained. Indeed, the co-development of inspection techniques and tools will be
needed to facilitate any wide-scale leakage management seeking to deliver CTZL or ZLL.
A1.3. Gaps Analysis
Water networks contain a wide range of different material types, joint systems and
compounds and consist of multiple cohorts of different ages and conditions. Whilst research
has been carried to investigate the symptomatic evidence of the impact of various factors on
the initiation and development of leakage within jointed pipe distribution networks the
materials science of the various degradation processes that can occur, and the physical
mechanisms that lead to leakage, remain poorly understood.
In reviewing the published information, it is possible to identify some areas where further
focussed research would help to answer some key questions for the industry as it seeks to
move towards the target of Zero Leakage by 2050, see Table A1.

Table A1 Gaps analysis for achieving Zero Leakage
Current extent of knowledge and needs for further research
1. What are the The main causes of deterioration remain chemical and physical
main causes degradation of the materials within both the pipe wall and at the
of joints. Whilst the main causes of the degradation of ferrous metals
deterioration (cast iron, ductile iron and steel), asbestos cement, reinforced
that lead to concrete and PVC are understood in some detail, the link between
leakage? defects, deterioration and leakage remains ambiguous. In particular,
the role of material type, environment and age on the initiation of
leakage and its subsequent development remains poorly understood.
There is a significant gap in knowledge in relation to both the precise
mechanism that under-pin joint degradation and its contribution to
total network leakage over time.
2. What are the The main criteria for the failure of small diameter pipes and the joints
main failure between them are fairly well understood, in that bursts are the result
mechanisms? of the local loading exceeding the capacity of the section[1]. In such
cases, operational decisions or other events, e.g. seasonal thermal
variations, that increase the load on a pipe and its connections
coupled with the presence of defects or degradation increase the
probability of failure. However, the situation is not so clear where the
failure process is localised leading to leakage[2]. There remains a need
to better understand the processes responsible for partial failure of
joints and the factors that control the reversibility of such events.
3. How do leaks The physical mechanisms for leakage as a result of through-wall

form and degradation are reasonably well understood for most pipe materials.
grow over The remains a need for more research into development of leaks in
time? joints as a result of both degradation processes and the thermo-
mechanical effects during their time in service.
4. How do pipes, Whilst the coupling of different metals is known to cause potential;
joints & issue, the interactions that can occur between the various materials
fittings of within joints and other fittings is only poorly understood. This remains
different a poorly researched area within the context of leakage development.
materials
deteriorate in
service?
5. What factors In the ‘macro’ sense the main factors that influence the degradation
influence of the main pipe materials encountered is well understood and
deterioration includes soil and ground water type, and water quality and
rates? temperature. The impact of the internal and external environments of
pipe distribution systems has been extensively researched. However,
in some materials low levels of contaminants can strongly influence
deterioration rates and so there is scope for further research into

detailed corrosion mechanisms. It has been observed that the
physical process of pipe installation can affect long-term
deterioration.
6. How does The link between leakage rate and the extent of material degradation
leakage relate is not clear. There appear to be no models available that can
to accurately predict either the time to leakage or subsequent leakage
deterioration? rate in a given jointed pipe for a known exposure.
7. What impact The role of pressure as one of the loadings on a pipe is generally well
does pressure understood although its interaction with incipient and degradation
have on induced defects is complex. The role of pressure on the underlying
deterioration deterioration processes across most pipe materials is poorly
and burst researched. However, for polymer materials increasing pressure can
frequencies? accelerate crack initiation and increase the rate of degradation
resulting in leakage and bursts.
8. Are pressure Pressure transients represent an increase in loading and their effect
transients on pipe structure is well understood. However, although accurate
significant? models of pipe behaviour in response to such transients are available
they rely critically on the assumed failure mode. The role of
transients on joint leakage and failure is less well developed.
9. Is fatigue due For most pipe materials fatigue is a minor contributor to the initiation
to diurnal and growth of cracks that might support leakage rather than failure.
pressure For well manufactured ferrous pipes fatigue loading effects are
variations generally considered insignificant. However, there is a need for
significant? further research in terms of potential effects on joints and the
subsequent development of leakage. The long-term combination of
transients and fatigue may be more significant for some materials.
10. What is the Variations in temperature are considered to influence pipe failure
influence of (e.g. cold weather events) although the precise mechanism
weather, and responsible for increased leakage and burst rates remains under
climatic discussion. In particular, the relative contribution to increased winter
extremes? leakage of the pipe and joints not fully understood.
11. Is traffic Traffic is just another form of loading, together with others which are
loading generally more significant unless the pipes are close to the surface.
significant?
12. Recurrence - For most materials, pipes that are in reasonable condition and are
does fixing repaired properly using well founded methods should not be more
one leak often prone to leakage than adjacent pipes. However, of leaks “clustering”
cause another around repair sites have been reported in asbestos cement pipes
to break out? there are known problems of leaks “clustering” around repairs. This
may reflect the significant loss of strength and embrittlement that
such pipes can exhibit when they degrade. In particular the possibility

that a repair to one pipe can subsequently allow smaller leaks in
adjacent areas to become dominant. Alternatively, it may reflect
leakage from joints resulting from changes in alignment, etc. created
by the installation of the repair.
[1]
Bursts occur when loading (external plus internal) exceeds the strength capacity of the pipe. Any loss of
section thickness from deterioration results in reduced strength reserves. Whilst pipe loading is normally
relatively constant, it can increase due to surge and temperature effects. In addition where crack-like defects,
e.g. pits, are formed through degradation then the stress at the tip of the defect can exceed the materials
fracture toughness, resulting in fast fracture events even when the load remains constant.
[2]
Leakage occurs primarily occur due to either i). the development of through-wall holes, defects and cracks as
a result of degradation processes, or ii). failure of the joint between pipes and other connections.
A1.4. Research Proposals
A1.4.1 Understanding Degradation-induced Leakage
Background The relationship between the degradation processes (and their rate
sensitivity) that can affect an individual pipe under given service conditions
and its ability to remain impermeable is both complex and poorly
understood (see also proposal 3 on Joints). Whilst it is known that all pipe
materials will degrade over time the precise consequences of such
degradation remains to be systematically characterised in relation to
potential leakage mechanisms, both in terms of time to first leak (and its
variability) and subsequent leakage rates. In addition, there is a lack of
information relating to the effectiveness of coatings (and other protection
systems) in controlling degradation processes within specific material types
and their effectiveness in controlling subsequent leakage.
Aims To establish a systematic understanding of the key deterioration

mechanisms (and associated rate dependencies) that occur in the main
materials found in existing water distribution systems, i.e. cast iron, ductile
iron, steel, asbestos cement, reinforced concrete and PVC. In support of this
aim it will be necessary to:
Identify the role of material type, and inherent defects, on the initiation and
growth of degradation process that can lead to through-wall leakage
without resulting in pipe failure, i.e. the processes that are important in
creating and sustaining leak before break within a given pipe network.
Examine available evidence in relation to the ability of coatings and other

protection systems to control known degradation processes within specific
material types and their effectiveness in controlling subsequent leakage.
Impacts Improved understanding of the causes and consequences of degradation

processes within the key materials used in existing water distribution
networks, coupled with advances in pipe condition tools and leakage
measurement can be used to support decisions about where interventions
need to be made in a given time period in order to be able to achieve and

maintain the network at CTZL or at ZLL.
Work This project will require a series of sub-projects each focussed on one of the
Package main materials of interest; i). Cast iron, ii). Ductile iron, iii). Steel, iv).
Asbestos cement, v). Reinforced concrete, and vi). PVC. For each material
the structure of the project would be:
WP#1 – Review the established degradation processes that are known to

occur for a given pipe material and the forms of deterioration that result
which have the potential to support through-wall leakage.
WP#2 – Develop appropriate understanding of the key material,

manufacture and environmental parameters that control the initiation and
subsequent rate of degradation for a pipe material under given operational
conditions.
WP#3 – Establish the mechanism by which pipe leakage can occur as a

consequence of degradation and identify the key factors controlling (the
variability in) time to first leak and the subsequent leakage rates that can be
supported without catastrophic failure.
Funding This project would be suitable for a series of integrated PhD projects, see
section 4.5.
A1.4.2 Predicting Leakage and Failure
Background The move from a SELL approach to either CTZL or ZLL will require the
industry to move from reactive “find and fix” approaches and move to
management approaches that addresses incipient or low-leakage events
before they become critical. The collection of large data sets from both
current monitoring methodologies and novel sensor arrays represents an
opportunity to support more proactive asset management approaches
through the creation of Leakage Prediction Tools. These have the potential
to convert the data collected in the field at a particular location or locations,
and what it means, in terms of time to leakage for aged assets or the “risk”
that the leakage rate will exceed defined standards in the future.
Aims The collection of field data is expensive and often difficult to achieve, and
there are likely to be limitations on the resources for collecting data, which
will affect how often sites in the field can be re-visited. This project seeks to:
Develop appropriate Leakage Prediction Tools (and underlying models of

materials degradation process that lead to leakage).
Allow condition and deterioration relating to leakage, to be accurately

predicted between field investigations.

Enable better targeting/timing of field investigations.
Impacts The Leakage Prediction Tools and models of materials degradation process
(Proposal 1) that lead to leakage will utilise the data from field and
laboratory investigations in three ways:
(i) To provide information on the locations from where data has been
collected, and to predict the on-going condition and likely leakage rates at
those locations over time.
(ii) To indicate the likely condition for similar pipes, cohorts and areas of
network at other locations, with the same / similar histories and factors
which are likely to affect their condition and propensity for leakage, e.g. age,
soil conditions, pressure, etc.
(iii), To produce and deliver assessments of condition and leakage across

whole networks.
Through appropriate calibration over time, the Leakage Prediction Tools

(and material degradation models) will be able to provide increasing levels
of information about condition for whole networks, and enable greatly
improved targeting for the field investigations and interventions to achieve
CTZL and approach ZLL.
Work WP#1 – Review available materials degradation models for the range of pipe
Package materials of interest and link them to the physical impacts of such
degradation in relation to supporting leakage prior to pipe failure.
WP#2 – Development of Leakage Prediction Tool for small diameter (sub 12”
diameter) water distribution pipes using physical models of water loss and
water accounting approaches.
WP#3 – Integration of available materials degradation models into Leakage

Prediction Tools.
Funding This project would be suitable for an EngD project with the research
engineer being placed with a suitable network operator over the period of
their research. Alternatively a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and/or Research
Associate would be able to cover aspects of the project but probably at
greater overall cost.

A1.4. 3 Impact of Joints on Network Leakage
Background Joints and other fittings provide the mechanical continuity to allow water to
flow under pressure without leakage. Joints and connections must also be
capable of enabling the pipes to resist variations in both the service and
environmental loadings over time. There is clear evidence that the materials
used in joint systems between pipes are prone to degradation processes that
are independent of the pipe material they are joining. This can compromise
the joints ability to accommodate movement both creating the opportunity
for leakage at the joint (through ground movement and thermal effects) and
increasing the risk of leakage through defects in adjacent pipes.
Aims This project seeks to understand better the key characteristics of “leak-free”
and “leak-resistant” joints and connections in relation the existing systems
and materials that exist within water distribution networks.
The project will leverage information from Water Company records,

manufacturers and contractors experience and other sources, such as the
UKWIR Mains Failure Database.
The likely combinations of material type / defects / and deterioration

mechanism likely to lead to early or excessive leakage of joint systems will
be identified.
The output will be used to analyse existing networks to identify those parts
at greatest risk of developing leakage.
Impacts The output from this package will improve understanding of the existing
condition of pipe networks, and how this relates to leakage, effective life-
span and failure. This will be achieved without having to wait for
considerable field testing to be carried out. By carrying out this work
nationally, i.e. through all water companies, it will be possible to gain as
much possible information about as many material / environment
combinations as possible.
It is probable that the output of this package could be used to support

network-based Leakage Prediction Tools. However, they are best developed
separately. This is because this proposal is likely to deliver results more
quickly and has the potential to improve the management of winter leakage
(and burst) events.
Work This project will require a series of sub-projects each focussed on one of the
Package main joint types of interest, e.g. the lead run joints used to connect cast iron
pipes and the natural rubber sealants used in asbestos cement pipe systems.
For each joint type the structure of the project should follow would be:
WP#1 – Review available literature (and other evidence) of historic failure of

joints and connections in small diameter pipes across the range of different
exposure conditions. The work will seek to determine the primary causes

that initiate defects in different joints systems and how any degradation
induced changes go on to create leakage under normal service exposures.
WP#2 – Compare the likely performance of oldest and newest examples of a

given joint type to gather evidence that defects causing leakage to establish
if leakage is the result of fundamental material issues or stem from
manufacturing or installation problems. This will require both on site and
laboratory-based approaches.
Funding This project would be suitable for a series of integrated PhD projects, see
section 4.5. Alternatively it could be completed by employing a Post-
Doctoral Fellow and/or a Research Assistant. An alternative funding stream
might be developing this as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP). Whilst
the host organisation is expected to put some money into the project,
significant costs can be recouped.
A1.4.4 Network Operation and Leakage
Background Operational decisions such as pressure reduction initiatives and repair

interventions have the potential to impact on the initiation and subsequent
rate of leakage. This is a particular problem in aged pipe networks where
degradation processes reduce the ductility of the pipe material or limit the
capacity of the joints to accommodate movement.
Aims This project seeks to improve understanding of the impact of leak repair
methods and intervention strategies on subsequent leakage performance.
The aim will be to identify the key parameters that influence post-repair
leakage for the range of pipe materials and joint systems encountered in
existing pipe networks. This will be used to identify common approaches to
leakage management that reduce the need for subsequent interventions. It
will also highlight those systems that are at particular risk of post-repair
leakage and provide early indications of when such strategies will become
ineffective, and pipelines may need to be replaced.
Impacts An improved understanding of the impacts of repair interventions on post-

repair leakage characteristics would help better target resources and
associated costs and actions across complex water network. By identifying,
and eliminating, high-risk approaches it will be possible to reduce the
number of interventions and restrict leakage losses. Information from this
project will also inform and support the development of techniques to lay
and operate leak-free networks in the future.
Work This project will consider the main intervention techniques currently used in
Package the current “find and fix” management of leakage and bursts.
WP#1 – Review, and compare, the main intervention methods used to

address leakage as applied to the range of pipe materials, and joint systems,

encountered in existing networks.
WP#2 – Identify common features of intervention and repair activities that

lead to an increased risk of subsequent leakage at the same point or in
adjacent areas.
WP#3 – Develop standard approaches to monitor repairs for subsequent

performance, e.g. the initiation of new leakage events, so that the
effectiveness of current approaches can be validated.
WP#4 – Compare the success rate of interventions applied to the larger

diameter water distribution network and the communication pipes that
deliver water over its final stage to the consumer.
Funding This project would be suitable for an EngD project with the research
engineer being placed with a suitable network operator over the period of
their research. Alternatively, a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and/or Research
Associate would be able to cover aspects of the project but probably at
greater overall cost. Alternatively it would be possible to develop this project
as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) - whilst the host organisation is
expected to put some money into the project, significant costs can be
recouped.
A1.4.5. Options for undertaking research
There are a number of options for undertaking research, and the final approach will depend
on the exact level of resource (time, finance, material, access to companies etc.) UKWIR is
prepared to commit to each proposal. Each proposal can be tailored, and hence the
following options should be considered when reviewing the proposals below:
 PhD: Duration = 3.5 years; four start times per year; researcher based at university.
 EngD: Duration = 4 years; researcher based at sponsor* but with full access to
university facilities. The University of Surrey’s Centre for Doctoral Training in
Materials would be an obvious EngD candidate centre. One start time per year (next
intake Oct 2017); EPSRC support in funding the project. This has a cost of £15k
/annum but enables the sponsor to access £100k of EPSRC funding over the period of
research and have access to University based test facilities and analytical services. *In
this context it would probably make most sense for one company to act as sponsor,
but with the researcher accessing other UKWIR members via the group
representatives.
 Post-Doctoral Fellow: The duration is flexible but is more expensive than a doctoral
researcher, but comes with more experience and so will be able to start straight
away. Researcher based at a university.
 Research Associate: Would be a graduate, not on a studentship, nor a post-doctoral

fellow). The duration is flexible but the researcher would be based at a university.

Appendix 2 Cast Iron – Further information
Introduction
In terms of water distribution, the oldest system of horizontal pit-cast, iron pipes known to
be in active use was installed at the Palace of Versailles in France during the 17th Century. Of
the original 35 km network some 80% remains in service today carrying water around the
grounds. However, no information is available relating to the amount of leakage that is
experienced or burst rate associated with the operation of this historic asset. Horizontal pit
cast iron pipes were used successfully for a wide range of water distribution systems
operating at low pressures. For such systems leakage at joints was a known issue reflecting
both material inadequacies and poor construction practice. Leakage also occurred due to
relative axial movement of adjacent pipes in-service whilst excessive joint rotation was
capable of initiating pipe failure at the bell with associated longitudinal splitting along the
length of the pipe. The relatively poor control of the wall thickness and presence of casting
defects inherent in the horizontal casting process made such pipes prone to circumferential
failure, especially where ground movement or loss of pipe support at leaking joints occurred.
Evidence also suggests that where significant graphitisation of the wall thickness has
occurred cast iron pipes can support through-wall leakage without failure of the pipe
occurring.
Vertical pit-casting was introduced around the middle of the 19th Century, possibly in
reaction to empirical evidence of the problems with horizontal pit-casting arising from
greater pressures being applied to these pipes. The vertical pit-casting process allowed
greater control of the wall thickness, reducing variability along the length of the pipe. At the
same time any slag or other impurities in the molten iron tended to rise to the top of the
casting, which could simply be cut off, to produce a more consistent product. Such pipes are
subject to the same leakage and failure mechanisms as horizontally cast pipes but generally
exhibit higher strengths for a given wall thickness.
In the early part of the 20th Century, spun-cast iron pipes began to be produced enabling
even closer control of wall thickness and its variability along the length. Spun, grey cast iron
pipes exhibit improved hoop strength compared to pit-cast equivalents but exhibit limited
ductility prior to failure. The subsequent development of ductile iron enabled the
manufacture of pipes with reduced wall thickness capable of exhibiting significant plastic
deformation prior to failure when first installed. This increases the likelihood of both
through-wall and joint leakage prior to pipe failure. However, there is concern that long-
term deterioration impacts ductile iron pipes more severely than traditional grey cast iron
and so may lead to greater leakage and burst rates over equivalent periods in service. It may
be noted that the issue of leakage at poorly constructed joints, and as a consequence of in-
service movement, remains a common feature of all ferrous pipes.
This section will focus on pit and spun grey cast irons, with the following section dealing with
ductile iron. The key issues with cast irons are casting and installation defects, corrosion and
the competition between the two. Much of the story of cast iron, both in terms of its success
as an engineering material and its mechanisms of deterioration, are as a result of its
composition and microstructure.

Composition
Cast irons are an alloy of iron with between 2-4 wt. % carbon, although the strictest
definition of this class of materials states anything above 1.7 wt. % (Ashby and Jones 2005),
Figure 3.1. Increasing carbon content leads to a reduction in the melting temperature of the
metal, thus whilst pure iron melts at 1535 C, a medium carbon steel will melt at 1500 C,
whilst a cast iron containing 4.2 wt.% carbon will be molten at around 1145 C. This allows
cast irons to be produced in basic furnaces, and then cast into sand moulds to produce a
wide variety of intricate shapes (Ashby and Jones 2005). At room temperature, the solubility
of carbon in iron is relatively low – about 0.02 wt. % - and so any excess carbon not
associated with iron carbide is ejected from the matrix to form graphite flakes. In addition to
carbon, cast irons also contain between 0.5-3 wt. % silicon and 1-2.5 % wt. % phosphorous
(Askeland and Wright 2006). Other elements, such as vanadium, titanium and nickel are also
usually present at levels below 0.1 wt. %. In older castings, these elements, together with
other inclusions such as magnesium sulphide, are the result of contamination, or impurities
in the original ore, rather than as a deliberate addition (Angus 1976). At higher
concentrations these elements can be used to modify the graphite flake structure to the
extent that spheroidal graphite is formed instead of the more usual flake, which is the basis
for the production of ductile iron (Millis et al., 1949).
Figure 1.1 Simplified Iron-Carbon phase diagram indicating the range of compositions for
cast irons

Microstructure
The microstructure of a metal pipe (or other component) is an important parameter

affecting the leakage performance of a water distribution system as it is related to both
mechanical properties, such as strength, hardness and strain capacity, and long-term
performance in service, such as fatigue resistance and corrosion rate. The microstructure of
grey cast iron is primarily dependent on the cooling rate and balance of alloying elements.
The final microstructure typically consists of graphite flakes embedded in a matrix that is
either predominantly pearlitic, predominantly ferritic or a mixture of the two. The amount of
Manganese present controls the balance of ferrite and pearlite: pearlitic matrix grey cast
irons will contain Mn additions as high as 1.2 wt. % while ferritic matrix grey irons will
contain as little as 0.1 wt. % Mn. Three other phases may also be present to greater or
lesser extent: a phosphide eutectic phase, ledeburite and cementite.
Graphite Flakes are a defining feature of the microstructure of cast irons. The shape, size,
volume fraction and distribution of these flakes throughout the section of a pipe exert a
strong influence on the mechanical and physical properties of these materials. It should be
noted that ‘flake’ is something of a misnomer as these graphitic features have structure in
three dimensions and so are often described as a petal or rosette structures. Large flake
sizes are typically associated with high carbon content and slow cooling rates. Cast irons with
a low carbon content subject to rapid cooling will typically form smaller, shorter flakes.
Smaller flake sizes generally tend to give the alloy improved mechanical properties. The size
and morphology of the graphite flakes is also influenced by the presence of other elemental
additions. There are five flake morphologies as given in ASTM A 247, classified as A through
E, Figure 3.2.
Figure 1.2: Graphite flake types A-E (ASTM A-247). Type A – Uniform distribution, random
orientation. Type B – Rosette groupings. Type C – Superimposed flake sizes, random
orientation. Type D – Interdendritic segregation, random orientation. Type E -
Interdendritic segregation, preferred orientation.
Common defects
Defects associated with cast iron pipes and other components within a water network can
be grouped into three categories: manufacturing; installation; and service-induced. The
presence of such defects impacts on both the mechanical performance and potential failure
mechanisms of pipe structures and so can influence leakage mechanisms and rates.

Manufacturing Defects
Whilst cast iron enables the manufacture of components such as water distribution pipes
and trunk main the nature of the casting process affords several opportunities for defects to
be created in the final product. Such defects include: variable wall thickness and geometry,
porosity, slag and other inclusions, and ‘cold shuts’. These problems are linked to the
expertise of the foundry, and quality of the available raw materials. The development of
improved casting methods, coupled with better control of input materials resulted in
improved product quality and consistency, reducing the disparity between available
products. These developments also led to a greater uniformity of wall thickness and more
refined microstructure with smaller graphite flakes, and hence improved mechanical
properties (The Stanton Ironworks Company 1936). Modern cast iron pipes are spun cast,
which virtually eliminates the possibility of variation in wall thickness. This is compared to
even the very best vertically cast pipes where variations of the order of ± 10 % around a
nominal average wall thickness are common.
Installation Defects
Following manufacture, cast iron water pipes of all sizes were normally transported to site
on trucks and trailers, and would either be rolled down planks of wood from the edge of the
truck or be lifted with a crane. The use of chains for pipe handling, rather than canvas slings,
is known to have damaged the protective outer coal tar or bitumen coating leaving areas of
bare metal exposed. In the context of larger trunk main it has been suggested that poorly
controlled rolling of the pipes into the trench could make them susceptible to damage from
impacts both between pipes and with other bodies (Rajani and Kleiner 2010). Where such
impacts produced a visible crack the problem could be addressed in situ. However, the
creation of an internal crack within the bell or spigot would not necessarily have been
detected by any testing employed at the time.
Once the pipes were in situ, the joint between adjacent pipes would be packed with hemp to
form a seal, filled with molten lead and finally caulked by hammering the solidified lead into
the joint (The Stanton Ironworks Company 1936; Rajani and Abdel-Akher 2013). If the
caulking was carried out incorrectly, the lead would be hammered too far into the joint,
leading to an increase in stress around the joint, potentially causing a crack to initiate. A
worst case scenario would see poor caulking practice growing a crack created during the
handling and siting of the pipe. This could potentially, result in a pipe that is structurally
flawed and with a reduced service life.
Service Induced Defects
Once in service, water pipes are subject to further mechanisms that can cause defects to
form and grow reducing a pipe’s capacity to sustain Andy imposed service loads. In places
where the protective coating has been damaged corrosion can be initiated which can further
undercut the coating, causing it to spall and expose a greater area of metal to corrosion
processes. Of particular concern is the so-called ‘graphitisation’ process, which is more
properly the graphitic corrosion of cast iron (Logan et al. 2014a), in which the iron matrix is
removed leaving a complex, dark grey, degradation product that remains adhered to the
uncorroded metal (Logan et al. 2014b). It is not possible to identify the depth of graphitic

corrosion by visual inspection of the surface of exposed pipes. This is because the corroded
region exhibits almost no change in volume (although the density of the metal decreases
significantly) and so the pipe can appear almost completely unaffected to the naked eye
despite considerable local loss of metal section.
Cast iron is also known to undergo mechanical fatigue when subject to an appropriate cyclic
stress (Angus 1976; Belmonte et al. 2009; Mohebbi et al. 2010). Fatigue has been cited as a
problem, which can be induced by operational pressure variations and traffic loading,
particularly in connection with the growth of installation defects (Rajani and Kleiner 2010)
and has been postulated as a source of leakage and eventual pipe failure. This assertion is
predicated on the presence of a substantial initial crack (of order 20 mm) which grows by a
small amount (1-2 mm) prior to catastrophic failure. Whilst this remains a theoretical
possibility it seems more likely that fatigue may be a contributory factor when taken in
conjunction with corrosion (Belmonte et al. 2009). However, a specific mechanism which
combines both fatigue and corrosion, i.e. corrosion fatigue, in grey cast iron water pipes has
not been established.
Of these three ‘families’ of defects, casting defects will generally cause problems early on in
the life of the component, if severe enough, or will interact with installation and service
induced defects as these grow. Casting defects, in general will act to concentrate stress to a
greater of lesser degree, such that if initial service loading is survived, it requires a significant
change in circumstances for these to lead to failure subsequently. By contrast, installation
and service induced defects are prone to growth over time.
Corrosion of Cast Iron Water Main
The corrosion of cast iron is driven by the thermodynamic instability of iron with respect to
its oxide (Uhliq, 1966). As a consequence, when cast iron pipes are exposed to water and
oxygen they can be expected to undergo aqueous corrosion. In this process the ferrous
metal first converts to the ferrous (Fe2+) and then the ferric (Fe3+) state in the form of
complex hydrated oxides. This can occur through a number of physical routes which
determine the likely rate of corrosion and its variability. It is important to note that all such
routes require the presence of liquid water. Thus, where cast iron structures operate in dry
conditions, e.g. it is buried in well-drained back-fill above the local water table, then the
effective rate of external corrosion will approach zero.
In the presence of a conducting electrolyte, such as impure water, degradation is often

through micro-cell corrosion in which part of the metal surface becomes the site of anodic
dissolution whilst adjacent regions of the surface become the site of cathodic reduction of
oxygen and water to form hydroxyl ions. Where the movement of the water is restricted or
the oxygen supply is limited, this can lead to the formation of macro-cell corrosion in which
the bulk of metal loss occurs at stable anode sites. As a consequence the resulting loss of
metal section can vary significantly from point to point. This has significant implications for
the resulting variation in residual properties of a given component (or structure) over time.
It also means that measured corrosion rates obtained using standardised methods that yield
area or time averaged values will fail to capture the variability that exists, i.e. they fail to
adequately represent the worst case condition. The situation is complicated by the fact that
the rate and extent of corrosion of cast iron can be affected dramatically by the local

conditions that exist at the surface of the metal, e.g. pH, oxygen supply and rate of water
flow. Thus, where the surface is shielded by self-forming surface deposits, e.g. passive film
formation and tuberculation, or by deliberately applied protective coatings, e.g. Dr A Smith’s
composition (Sharp, 1914), then the corrosion process can be slowed or stopped.
In considering the deterioration of cast iron water main it is important to note that the
generic processes of aqueous corrosion described above are modified by the environment to
which the surface of the cast iron is exposed. For water pipes, this means that the
mechanism (and associated rate of corrosion) that occurs on the internal surface of a cast
iron pipe may be quite different to that which occurs on the external surface. In addition, the
factors which control such internal (Yamini and Lence, 2006) and external (Cole and Marney,
2012) corrosion will be different despite sharing a common underlying cause. Taken
together, variations of the external condition (e.g. soil type, groundwater level, temperature
and so on) and the internal conditions (e.g. oxygen content and pH) in both time and space
can create situations where adjacent sections of pipe within a water distribution network
can experience vastly different rates and extents of corrosion. This makes the derivation and
application of average maximum corrosion rates problematic. It also means that the
observed rate of external deterioration of a given cast iron pipe is strongly influenced by the
type of soil (or back-fill) in which it is buried and its position relative to the local water table.
This has implications for the likely type and rate of leakage expected after long periods in
service.
Graphitic Corrosion of Cast Iron
Of all the defects and degradation processes that are observed in cast iron pipes graphitic
corrosion is perhaps the most pernicious and potentially damaging as it is a potential cause
of both leakage and pipe bursts. This process can occur with little or no change in the wall
thickness of the pipe and can be difficult to detect by visual inspection of the surface. As a
consequence, graphitised cast iron can retain the appearance of sound material, misleading
investigators into believing that it is in good condition, but subsequently fail in service due to
its reduced strength (Bernats et al., 2012). Graphitic corrosion is a form of corrosion that is
essentially unique to grey cast irons. It is commonly considered as a form of selective
leaching, whereby the ferrite and pearlite in the material is de-alloyed, leaving behind a
porous matrix of the original graphite flake phase of the material. The graphitic residue that
is left behind maintains the same dimensions and appearance of the original cast iron
component. However, the mechanical properties of the graphitic residue are drastically
lower than that of the original cast iron it replaces. A pipe that has undergone severe
graphitic corrosion can be easily abraded with a chisel or other hard object. Figure 1.3 shows
an example of uniform graphitic corrosion on the external surface of a cast iron pipe section
that had been buried in moist clay for more than 80 years. This form of corrosion only occurs
when corrosion rates are relatively slow; typically below 0.1-0.2 mm/year. In small diameter
water distribution pipe, graphitic corrosion has been shown to have a significant impact on
the residual strength and to be in competition with defects that have originated during
manufacture and installation (Jesson et al, 2013).
Whilst the fundamental drivers for corrosion are the same for all ferrous metals there is a
significant difference between the behaviour of cast irons, which exhibit graphitic corrosion,
and other ferrous metals such steels and ductile iron which tend to corrode more or less

uniformly and often more readily. This difference lies in the characteristic microstructure of
grey cast irons which contains several corrosion resistant constituents, namely graphite
flakes, regions of phosphide eutectic and, to a lesser extent, iron carbide. The graphitic
residue shown in Figure 1.3 consists of a 3-dimensional skeleton of graphite flakes that are
stiffened by phosphide eutectic cells and the carbonaceous product resulting from the
decomposition of the ferrite and pearlite in the original cast matrix, silicilic acid derived from
the oxidation of silicon dissolved in the iron oxide products that have been precipitated,
Figure 1.4. The pearlite and ferrite in the matrix have been replaced with an iron oxide
corrosion product. The graphite flakes in the residue are plugged with the iron oxide, and to
some extent have deteriorated. The phosphide eutectic in the matrix appears unaltered by
the corrosion process (Logan et al. 2014a).
Figure 1.3 Section of corroded cast iron main. Pipe wall thickness is approx. 40 mm.
Features to note are (1) Graphitic corrosion on external surface of pipe. (2) Transition
zone. (3) Uncorroded bulk metal (4) Tubercle on the inner surface of the pipe
It should be noted that the uniform appearance of the graphitic corrosion shown in Figure
1.3 is not always observed and the depth of the corrosion front can be more variable.
Where the external environment is particularly aggressive, e.g. where chloride ions are
present, the depth of penetration of the graphitic corrosion can exhibit significant local
variation with the appearance of “pit-like” structures surrounded by regions with little or no
sign of active corrosion. These regions of relatively high section loss are associated with the
formation of stable anodes within which the local rate of corrosion is much higher than that
predicted from inspection techniques that rely on area averaging methods. This has
implications for the assessment of buried pipe structures.
Experience suggests that it is not inevitable that graphitic corrosion will continue throughout
the thickness of a pipe wall, even after many decades underneath the ground. Although a
graphitic corrosion layer does form on the surface of cast iron components, the subsequent
corrosion rate can be minimal, with the graphitic corrosion layer apparently acting as a
protective coating. However there are many cases where the corrosion has continued
throughout the entire pipe wall thickness. The reasons for this are not fully understood, but
one possible explanation could be the presence of chloride ions in the soil environment,
(Selwyn, 2004). The presence of chloride ions not only increases the local rate of corrosion
but can establish the presence of a stable pit which becomes the locally dominant site for

anodic dissolution. This can result in the presence of multiple pits, typically separated by a
distance of 5 – 20 cm, across the corroding surface and significant variation will be observed,
at the sub-metre scale, in both the apparent rate of corrosion and the effective depth of
penetration.
Figure 1.4 Scanning Electron Microscope image of fully graphitized phase. BSE, 20KeV
Role of biological systems
The corrosion of ferrous objects is typically associated with the presence of free oxygen.
However, in the case of cast iron pipe that is buried in clayey soil, there is little free oxygen
available, and yet corrosion is still found to occur. Kuhr and Vlugt (1934) proposed that
corrosion of cast iron pipe in anoxic soil was caused by the presence of sulphate reducing
bacteria (SRB). SRB are found universally in neutral pH, anaerobic soil conditions and derive
their energy by utilizing molecular hydrogen to reduce sulphur in sulphates present in the
soil, to form hydrogen sulphide which gives rise to a characteristic “rotten egg” smell
(Iverson, 1981). The hydrogen sulphide can then react with ferrous ions in the soil to form
insoluble ferrous sulphide (e.g. FeS) that appears as a soft, black, deposit on the pipe. Indeed
an accumulation of ferrous sulphide in the graphitic corrosion layer of cast iron has been
associated with the presence of SRB (Enning et al., 2012).
The precise mechanism by which SRB might cause the graphitic corrosion of cast iron is the
subject of some debate. Whilst hydrogen sulphide is known to be corrosive to iron in the
presence of free oxygen, as it can be oxidised to form sulphuric acid this process is unlikely
to occur under anaerobic conditions. To overcome this Kuhr and Vlugt suggested a theory of
cathodic depolarization, whereby SRB scavenge hydrogen from a cathodic area of the iron
pipe surface, resulting in iron oxidation to form Fe2+ ions that go into solution (Iverson,

1981). However, there are numerous kinetic studies that put this mechanism in doubt, for
example, Spruit and Wanklyn (1951), Dinh (2004) and Mori et al. (2010) have all found that
hydrogen scavenging does not accelerate iron corrosion. This has led some to suggest that
SRB simply exploit the products of the graphitisation process (which are a source of sulphur
and carbon) and so their presence is opportunistic and not causal. Indeed there is no
definitive list of SRB that are universally present in cast iron that has undergone graphitic
corrosion. Against this, chloride ions are found (at low levels) in most aqueous environments
and there are established mechanisms by which they can accumulate at the active interface
that is created in corroding cast iron (Logan et al., 2014b). This seems particularly pertinent
within the context of graphitic corrosion in which the active (transition) zone has been
shown to be internal, Figure 1.3, rather than at the surface of the structure where any SRB
are likely to be present.

Appendix 3 Ductile Iron – Further Information
Introduction
Ductile iron pipes, manufactured using centrifugal casting techniques, have been used in the
construction of potable water networks since the 1950s (Moser & Folkman, 2008) replacing
the traditional cast iron pipes used previously. As noted in Section 3.2 ductile iron is
characterized by the spheroidal nature of the graphite within the iron matrix leading to a
characteristic rosette arrangement, Figure 3.2 - Type B, as opposed to the flake structure in
grey cast iron, Figure 3.2 - Type A. This change in morphology of the graphite significantly
improves both the ductility and fracture toughness of the metal when compared to grey cast
iron, although the ultimate strengths of both materials remain comparable in the as-cast
condition. These improved mechanical properties allow ductile iron pipes, of a given
notional external diameter, to be manufactured with smaller wall thickness than would be
possible using a grey cast iron with resultant savings in both weight and material. This
benefit is enhanced by the spun-cast process employed which ensures only limited variation
in wall thickness along the length of the pipe.
Whilst the ability of an individual ductile iron pipe to undergo significant deformation
without fracture reduces the probability of catastrophic pipe burst events it increases the
probability of joint leakage. This is because individual lengths of ductile iron pipe are usually
joined by flanges, couplings, or some form of spigot and socket arrangement and these must
be capable of accommodating significant movement between adjacent pipes whilst
remaining watertight under the operating internal water pressure. Whilst a flanged joint can
be used to create a rigid, demountable, connection capable of carrying tension and
compression as well as shear they are generally unsuitable for buried pipework due to the
risk of excessive bending moments. As a consequence, spigot and socket joints are preferred
for connecting buried ductile iron pipes. Modern spigot and socket joints are designed to
prevent direct metal to metal contact with all forces being transmitted through the
elastomeric seal. This arrangement allows some degree of rotation, enabling the pipes to
reduce any imposed stresses. Because such joints cannot carry any tensile or compression
forces the relative movement between pipes can be large raising the possibility of leakage
occurring. It may be noted that the issue of leakage at poorly constructed joints, and as a
consequence of in-service movement, remains a common feature of all ferrous pipes.
Corrosion of Ductile Iron Pipes

Like all metals the aqueous corrosion of ductile iron is driven by the thermodynamic
instability of metallic iron with respect to its oxides, the corrosion products formed reflecting
the availability of water and oxygen and other ion species. As a result the life expectancy of
an unprotected ductile iron pipe will depend on both the internal environment, influenced
by the quality (pH, hardness etc.) and temperature of the water it carries, and the
aggressiveness of the external environment, influenced by the type of backfill material and
local water table, (Bonds, et al., 2005).
The corrosion of ductile iron pipes typically occurs in one of two ways (Rajani & Kleiner,
2003). The first process is graphitisation in which the iron matrix preferentially corrodes with
respect to other phases present in the microstructure leading to loss of section and hence

load capacity. The process and appearance of graphitisation in ductile iron pipes is modified
from that seen in grey cast iron pipes, see section 3.2.6, due to the different morphology of
the graphite. The second process is corrosion pitting which is a localized effect resulting from
the formation of a stable anode which penetrates into the pipe wall at much higher rates
than graphitisation, (Frankel, 1997). Pitting typically results from the presence of chloride
ions in the environment and can result in full-wall penetration, leading to both leakage and
loss of load capacity. Rates of corrosion for unprotected ductile iron can range from 1 –
1,000 micron/year depending on the exposure and corrosion type with higher rates being
observed in the case of pitting corrosion. This equates to full penetration wall of a typical
ductile iron distribution pipe within 10 – 20 years in the most severe cases. American
experience suggests that the lifespan of poorly protected ductile iron pipe is somewhat
longer with values of 20 – 40 years being reported for pipes exposed to an aggressive
external environment, (Folkman, 2012).
Protection of Ductile Iron Pipes

As a consequence of the limited service lives of unprotected pipes encountered commercial
ductile iron pipes are usually protected from corrosion by the application of protective
barrier coatings that are applied to both the internal and external surfaces. Standard internal
coatings include polymer films and cement mortar, whilst external coatings include bonded
zinc, and bitumen or water-based paint. In highly corrosive environments loose polyethylene
sleeving (LPS) has been used to encase the pipe isolating it from the surrounding back-fill. A
lifespan in excess of 100 years has been estimated for properly manufactured and installed
ductile iron pipeline systems incorporating LPS to help isolate the external surface of the
pipe from the surrounding back-fill, (Kroon, et al., 2004).
a). Internal Corrosion protection
Ductile iron pipe has only limited resistance to corrosion to the potable water that it carries
with typical corrosion rates being in the range 10 – 100 micron/year depending on the pH,
temperature, and degree of oxygenation of the water along with the flow rate and presence
of suspended solids. The process of corrosion on the internal wall surface is typically
accompanied by the deposition of corrosion products, which act to shield the underlying
metal from direct contact with the water. This has the beneficial effect of reducing the
subsequent corrosion rate but at the cost of increasing drag at the pipe/water interface and
reducing the effective internal diameter of the pipe. To prevent or reduce these effects a
number of lining systems have been employed:
Cement mortar – The use of centrifugally applied cement mortar linings has been found to
be effective at both preventing internal corrosion of the pipe (due to the high pH of the
hydrated cement past) and ensuring that flow rates and effective diameters show little
decrease over time. A typical mortar with 1 part Portland cement and 2-3 parts sand can be
expected to show good long-term stability in areas where the water is relatively hard.
Increased rates of deterioration have been observed where the water carried is particularly
soft or acidic as this leads to leaching of calcium hydroxide from the hardened cement paste,
which destabilises the main calcium silicate binder. Mortar linings show reasonable
resistance to erosion effects where flow rates are uniform and levels of suspended solids are
low.

Polyurethane - The use of polyurethane coatings as an internal lining for ductile iron pipes is
controlled by BS EN 15655:2009 and they possess excellent chemical resistance to both
potable and wastewater. Unlike cement mortar a polyurethane layer acts purely as a barrier
between the surface of the pipe and the water carried within it. As a consequence it is
critical to ensure that the coating remains undamaged during installation and subsequent
operation. Experience suggests that when properly applied and cured, polyurethane linings
develop good adhesion to the metal surface and can remain unbroken under even large
deformation of the parent pipe.
b). External Corrosion
The use of external coatings to help protect ferrous water pipes from external corrosion in
aggressive soils dates back to the early cast iron pipes which were often dip-coated with a
layer of bitumen or tar. In a similar manner, ductile iron pipes are coated with one, or more
layers to protect them from aggressive soil environments and extend their working life. In
Europe ductile iron is manufactured with a zinc coating (with a minimum thickness of 50
microns) with a bituminous or polymeric top coat to extend the period over which the zinc
layer can provide cathodic protection to any exposed parts of the ductile iron.
In contrast, American experience with bonded coatings has been poor and they are only
used in conjunction with cathodic protection systems (Burstall, 1997), although thin (25 μm)
bituminous layers are used to provide temporary protection for ductile iron pipes up to
installation. Instead significant use is made of LPS or polyethylene encasement as it is
sometimes referred to, (Bond et al., 2005). The American Water Works Association have
standardized the use of polyethylene sleeving to protect ductile iron pipe from the effects of
corrosion, ANSI/AWWA, (2010) except for the most severe exposures.
LPS typically comprises a loose sleeve of either a 200 micron linear low-density polyethylene
film or 100 micron thick high-density cross-laminated polyethylene film that completely
wraps the pipe, including the any joints, and so prevents physical contact with the
surrounding soil or back-fill. Over time the environment at the surface of the pipe becomes
depleted of both oxygen and other electrolytes that support corrosion and also becomes
more uniform decreasing the possibility of a single anode site becoming dominant. If the
sleeve fails to prevent the flow of water and availability of dissolved ion species then the
rate of corrosion will remain high. For that reason European practice discourages the use of
LSP in the absence of additional zinc and polymer protective coatings where the ground
resistivity or level of aggressive ions in the soil exceed limit values.

Appendix 4 Asbestos Cement – Further Information
Introduction
Asbestos Cement (AC) pipes were used extensively for water supply and wastewater works
throughout the world from the 1920s to the 1980s, around which time most production was
stopped [Hu, Y.,2007]. Thus, most AC pipes worldwide, approximately 2.4 million kilometres
[NAS, 1982], are at least 30 years old and some may even be up to 100 years old. In 1992, AC
pipes accounted for an estimated 15% of all pipes installed in North American water supply
networks [Kleiner et al., 2001]. In Australia, a significant fraction of water and sewer
networks comprises of AC pipes, which were installed between the 1930s and the late
1970s. It has been observed that these pipes exhibit relatively high failure rates compared
with other pipe materials (Davis et al., 2008). In 2004, there were nearly 40,000 km of AC
pipes in the Netherlands and it has been reported that the numbers of fractures here have
also been increasing. These are generally attributed to “corrosion” of the AC, affecting the
condition of the pipes which in turn also affects the water quality [Slaats, P. G. G. et al.,
2004].
Production of AC pipes in Japan was suspended in 1985. The average age of pipes being
repaired in Japan was only 14.2 years. It is also of note that repairs resulted in an average
release of fibres into the local atmosphere (around the workers) of 0.92 fibres/ml (Kumagai,
et al., 1993) and this has associated health and safety issues for repair operatives. Damaged
pipes have also been found to release fibres into the water supply, with implications for
water quality. In addition, direct costs associated with trenching, pipe replacement and
surface reinstatement and indirect costs associated with customer service interruption,
insurance claims, negative publicity, environmental damage and traffic disruption can be
significant.
AC pipes carrying potable water have been in service in the UK since the 1930s when
production first started. They were used widely in the 1950s and 60s, particularly for small
distribution main, until the introduction of uPVC in the 60s when this became the more
economic option. However, an increasing proportion of the AC pipe laid towards the 80s was
large diameter mains where its materials and laying costs compared favourably with
alternative pipe materials.
Following concerns over asbestos in the environment in the 80s and the potential for fibres
to be released from degraded pipes, the DoE commissioned a study (Conway and Lacey,
1984) which showed that AC pipes did contribute to asbestos levels in the water and that
the aggressiveness of the water and the age and length of pipe probably contributed to the
concentration of asbestos found in the water. The parameters controlling the degradation
and hence, pipe performance were not clearly understood.
The Water Research Centre carried out a survey of the Water Industry’s records and
compiled data on the use of AC pipe with respect to age and water quality, the population
served, the structural performance and the parameters that affect deterioration and failure
rates (for comparison with cast iron and uPVC [WRC Report, 1985]. This data helped to
highlight those areas where deterioration and hence the potential for release of fibres was
likely to be most critical. Data on the engineering performance of AC in different

environments helped to identify whether asbestos cement pipe represented an acceptable
option for mains laying or renewal and enable comparison of its performance with
alternative materials.
Data were obtained from the water utilities containing 98% of UK mains. It indicated that
out of the 347,669 km of main in the ground, over 37,500 km or about 11% of the system
was AC and that approximately 12.1 million or 22% of the population received water
conveyed by AC pipe. Approximately 18,500 km (almost half) of AC pipe had been laid in
areas where a significant proportion of the conveyed water was potentially aggressive (soft
water areas). AC usage in the UK varied widely between different authorities ranging from
3% in the Thames water area to 22% in the Anglian region. Within the Scottish regional
councils there was an even wider variation ranging from 3% in the Central and Lothian
regions to 70% in the Western Isles regions (see Table 3.1).
Four areas which maintained good records and had substantial quantities of AC pipe were
identified for a detailed examination of failure rates. Of these, three had predominantly soft
water while the fourth, with hard water and clay soil, was chosen as a control, as this
environment was considered generally not aggressive to asbestos cement.
The overall failure rate for the four areas was 0.10 failures/km yr which broadly compared
with previously reported rates of 0.14 fails/km yr for cast iron, and 0.139 fails/km yr for
uPVC pipes laid in London.
Interestingly, the failure rate in the non-aggressive (hard water/clay) environment was found
to increase linearly with age. The cause of this trend was not identified but it was assumed
that the external environment and changes in the materials properties probably affected the
failure rates. It was also observed that most of the failures occurred in the dry summer
months in this area and that ring fractures, commonly caused by bending stresses, were the
predominant failure mode.
In the more aggressive (soft water and sandy/gravel) environments, the distribution of
failures was random throughout the year. Corrosion related failures were reported after 20
years’ service and increased with age in two of the areas. One of the areas showed a high
increase in longitudinal failures due to corrosion which affects the ability of the pipe to
withstand internal pressure. However, one of the areas with similar internal environment
reported very few corrosion related failures. Thus, whether corrosion was due to internal or
external or some other factors could not be discerned. Examination of pipes exhumed from
a wide variety of environments showed that attack was localised around defects in the
bitumen coating. No simple model could be proposed to explain the deterioration, although
reasonably good correlation could be made for low pH and low alkalinity waters. The
maximum internal degradation observed was 8mm in a period of 40 years.
The study investigated whether cement mortar and epoxy resin protective linings could be
successfully applied to asbestos cement pipes in various conditions of degradation through
accelerated tests. The tests provided an acceleration factor of approximately 10 years
compared to the most severe degradation observed from exhumed pipe samples (12 months
exposure to the accelerated tests approximated to a 10 year service exposure). These
concluded that both epoxy resin and cement mortar could be successfully applied to the

inside of new and degraded pipes to provide enhanced protection, or to renovate the pipes.
Cement mortar lining was considered as only a temporary solution to internal degradation as
the mortar itself deteriorates by the same mechanisms as asbestos cement. Epoxy resin
lining prevented any further degradation of the inside of the pipe.
Rates of deterioration of asbestos cement could be reduced by chemically treating the

conveyed water to increase its buffering capacity. It was noted that chemical treatment
cannot prevent release of fibres from pipes which are already degraded. However, the
World Health Organisation considered asbestos in drinking water arising from asbestos
cement pipe in their 1993 edition of the Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality and
concluded that there was no consistent evidence that ingested asbestos is hazardous to
health and thus it was concluded that there was no need to establish a health-based
guideline value for asbestos in drinking water.
Mechanisms of deterioration
The research literature shows that deterioration is related to both chemical and biological
‘attack’, from both the soil / groundwater and from the water being transported [Smolders,
S., 2009]. The timescale over which AC pipes deteriorate seriously enough to depends on the
levels of chemical and biological exposure.
Leaching due to acidic or low alkalinity environments
Studies have shown that the main cause of deterioration of the pipes over time is due to
chemical attack of the cement matrix. This can lead directly to corrosion of the pipes
through leaching of hydroxides, free lime and dissolution of calcium components, which in
turn can result in pH changes and scaling in water mains and domestic installations [Slaats, P.
G. G. et al., 2004]. The loss of free lime in AC pipe leads to pipe softening, increases in the
permeability or porosity of the pipe [Al-Adeeb and Matti, 1984] and a reduction in the
effective thickness of the pipe wall, and therefore, a loss of mechanical strength and when
external stresses exceed the reduced strength, the pipe fails.
In a study of AC pipes that were 30 to 40 years old, some pipes were found to break under
common service pressure. A set of mechanical tests performed including bending,
compression, pressure and crushing tests showed clear loss of strength and a safety factor
less than established thresholds in most specimens. Microscopic examination of specimens
showed morphological damage to the pipes, with loss of strength attributed to the leaching
effect which damages the cement matrix and reduces frictional interfacial shear stress [Gil,
L., 2011].
Asbestos cement (AC) pipes are made of a mixture of asbestos fibres (11% by weight) and
Portland cement, later with the addition of silica. The chemical stability and durability of
cementitious products is related to the free lime content, Ca(OH)2, present in the hydrated
products and the aggressiveness of the surrounding media. Free lime is a by-product of the
cement hydration process and its presence is necessary for the stability of dicalcium silicate
and tricalcium silicate. For pipes in an aggressive environment, ASTM C-500-79a specifies
autoclaved asbestos cement where the free lime content does not exceed 1% (type II). Type
I is an ordinarily cured asbestos cement pipe with no limit set on the amount of free lime it

contains. Australian standard 1711-1976 specifies the use of type II only for water
distribution networks. Manson and Blair, 1962 and Mai, 1979 reported the amount of free
lime in asbestos cement-silica pipes made from three different types of Portland cement. In
the normally cured asbestos cement it was found to be between 13.7 and 15.5% while for
autoclaved material it was between 0.4 to 0.6%.
AI-Adeeb and Matti (1984) conducted a study on AC pipes used for water distribution in
Kuwait. Pipe bursts had been regularly experienced, reducing their life expectancy from 30
years to an average of 9 years. Out of a total of 141 samples of pipe failures, 108 were fresh
water pipe failures (fresh potable water encountered in Kuwait is very soft, its temporary
hardness is equal to or less than 10 mg/I and could be regarded as aggressive water), while
only 33 were brackish water pipe failures, suggesting that most failures were related to the
internal environment. 108 pipes suffered longitudinal failures and only 33 pipes showed
beam failures. 45% of the total beam failures were in the 50 mm diameter pipes whereas
only 12% were in the 150 mm diameter pipes. Conversely, 41% of the total longitudinal
failures were in the 150 mm pipe compared to only 5.5% in the 50 mm pipes. Out of a total
28 beam failures, 19 of them were from areas where heavy construction work was being
carried out on the ground above, suggesting that the smaller diameter pipes were less able
to resist bending stresses and deformation, exacerbated by inadequate bedding support.
The free lime content of unused pipes was measured to be between 13.1% and 23.3%, with
an average of 16.8% while that of failed pipes was found to be around between 13.3% and
3.5% respectively, with an average of 8.7%. The reduction in the free lime content was
attributed to leaching of Ca(OH)2. (The effects of carbonation from air tested on old unused
pipes were negligible).
During field pressure testing, AI-Adeeb and Matti (1984) were also able to demonstrate that
water could percolate through the pipe thickness and reach the outer surface whenever
there was a defect in the pipe. 35 specimens were tested for permeability. Thirteen of the
samples burst after being pressurized for periods ranging from two hours to thirty-five days.
Two specimens (6% of the total) “sweated” after five days to a degree that they could no
longer hold the pressure. One specimen showed excessive leaching of free lime after one
month, as evinced by white efflorescence, deposits of calcium carbonate compounds. These
deposits spread gradually at the outer surface of the pipe wherever water seepage took
place. The efflorescence always started at a point and spread longitudinally, but not
circumferentially. Similar whitish deposits were observed and easily detected on the surface
and on the inside of the longitudinal cracks in 80% of the field burst pipes that had
longitudinal failure.
Once Ca(OH)2 is leached out, the hydrated silicate products decompose, with the liberation
of calcium hydroxide so the reactions continue until most of the hydrated silicates are
decomposed. Thus, the material gets weaker and unstable and ultimately leads to pipe
failure. Leaching of Ca(OH)2 depends on the aggressiveness of the flowing water and the
porosity of the material. In addition, the presence of CO2 in the soil surrounding the pipe
leads to the formation of calcium carbonate deposits. Flowing, pressurized water percolates
very slowly through the entire thickness of asbestos cement pipes with time, and, in the
relatively porous or permeable pipes, ultimately causes “sweating”. Sweating water leaches
the free lime to the outer surface of the pipe. The leaching of hydroxides, free lime and

dissolution of calcium compounds results in loss of strength of AC pipes, and increased
likelihood of failure. Deteriorated and failed pipes have been found to have cracks (both
circumferential and longitudinal), which may lead to both leakage and subsequent failure.
Thus, when in contact with soft water, the loss of strength in cement-based materials was
mainly attributed to the increase in cement matrix porosity as material is leached out to the
surrounding environment (Saito and Deguchi, 2000).
Sulphate attack
For a buried AC pipe in service, external surface degradation can occur through contact with
high sulphate content soil environments. In contact with acid sulphate soil environments,
expansive degradation products such as gypsum and ettringite can also be produced. These
degradation products offer no structural support and occupy considerably more volume
than the original cement matrix. They can cause swelling and, ultimately, pipe fracture
[Davis, J. L. et al., 1998]
The chemical processes occurring during sulphate attack on cementitious products involve a
reaction of the sulphate and free calcium hydroxide liberated during the hydration of
cement to form calcium sulphate (gypsum) and a further reaction of gypsum and hydrated
calcium aluminate to form calcium sulfoaluminate, known as ettringite. These crystalline
products have considerably greater volume (123% to 224%) than the compounds they
replace. The crystallisation process is accompanied by swelling, which induces the pores of in
the material to burst, particularly in the surface layers, and ultimately leads to expansion and
destruction of the cementitious product. The extent of these reactions depends on the type
of sulphate salts encountered (sodium, magnesium or calcium).
Matti et al. (1985) studied the behaviour and the formation of surface microcracks on AC
pipe sections in solutions containing different concentrations of sulphates. Shrinkage cracks
and cracks due to direct overloads, mishandling, improper stacking, thermal and humidity
gradients, and chemical reactions become wide, deep and continuous with time and provide
channels for undesirable ions such as sulphates and other aggressive solutions to enter the
asbestos cement matrix. Short-term exposure to sulphate caused an initial weight increase
because of salt deposition into the pores of the asbestos cement matrix. While this may lead
to a stronger matrix, further deposition of crystals and the formation of ettringite induce
microcracks and ultimately reduce the strength of the material. A maximum expansion of
2400 x 10 -6 m/m, equivalent to 0.24% was recorded in their accelerated tests with 5%
sodium sulphate solution.
An expansion of 2400 x 10 -6 m/m was also reported in another study after 2.5 years of
exposure to sodium sulphate solution containing 5% SO3 and more than six years in a
solution containing 2.5% SO3 concentration with microcracking usually commencing at 0.1%
expansion [Helms, S. B. and McCoy, 1975]. These microcracks have the potential, and indeed
became continuous and even wider particularly under the influence of excessive stresses
built up due to sulphate attack of cement paste. Prolonged exposure of the samples of
asbestos cement pipes to sulphate solutions resulted in a pattern of longitudinal cracking
similar to those in the field. Matti et al. (1985) also reported that uncoated samples exposed
to sulphate solution showed up to 17% reduction in flexural strength compared with
samples continuously kept in water.

Thus, the internal environment such as the water being transported by the pipe having an
acidic pH or low alkalinity and the external environment such as the pH of soil (sulphates
etc.) water in the ground around the pipes are important factors affecting the pipe
properties.
Microbial Attack
Recently, Wang and Cullimore (2010) have reported that AC pipes can be degraded by the
action of various bacteria in drinking water distribution systems. The microorganisms cause
“corrosion” through the excretion of metabolic organic acids and enzymes resulting in an
accumulation of selected inorganic and organic chemicals in an aqueous phase over the
biofilms formed (Costerton and Lappin-Smith, 1989). They observed a 3mm to 5 mm thick
patina layer on the inner wall of a broken AC pipe that had been in service for 35 years. The
patina was a porous layer, mainly composed of microbial biomass along with interwoven
asbestos fibres. The bacteria identified in the patina, included slime-forming bacteria (SLYM),
heterotrophic bacteria (HAB), iron-related bacteria (IRB) and acid-producing bacteria (APB).
They also observed various degrees of weight loss in AC pipe samples soaked for 28 days in a
bacterial culture of HAB, SLYM and APB, under anaerobic conditions, indicating that the
bacteria were very aggressive to the cement matrix of the AC pipes. (Wang and Cullimore,
2010).
Wang and Cullimore (2011) examined samples from two AC pipes that were installed in the
1950s which failed about 52 years later as a result of ground shifts caused by expansive clay.
The AC pipes were Type II, which contained about 15-20% of asbestos, 45-51% Portland
cement and 32-34% of silica. After hydration, about 1% of free lime is produced resulting in
an initial pH of the pipe of > 12.4. Both pipes were found to have similar accumulations of
biofilms on the internal pipe surfaces, and phenolphthalein staining tests indicated that the
leaching of free lime extended to a depth of 3.1-4.6 mm, which was considered to be a
significant patina layer.
The treated drinking water in the region where the pipes had been installed (Regina in
Canada) had a pH value ranging from 7.2 to 7.5, and an alkalinity between 105 and 160
mg/L. Total hardness varied from 165 to 260 mg/L, with calcium concentrations ranging from
35 to 60 mg/L. Conductivity varied from 470 to 650 mg/L and the total dissolved solids
ranged from 320 to 500 mg/L. In general, the lower concentrations are observed in the
summer while the higher concentrations occurred during winter due to the precipitation
patterns in the region. The treated drinking water had a total organic carbon concentration
in a range from 0.3 to 4.5 mg/L, a nitrate concentration <0.1 mg/L and total phosphorus
<0.05 mg/L. The sulphate content ranged from 100 to 200 mg/L, which is not considered to
be aggressive to AC pipes.
The analysis of the soils collected from pipe sample locations indicated that while both pipes
were buried in a clay soil, the soil surrounding one of the pipes had a pH value of 7.8 and a
sulphate content of 2030 mg/kg while the other had a slightly higher pH of 8.2 and a slightly
lower sulphate content of 1616 mg/kg. Internally, both pipes had a similar environment and
so the internal lime leaching depths (3.6 -4.6mm and 3.1 to 4.4mm) and average
deterioration rates (0.083 mm/yr and 0.072 mm/yr) were similar. A pH value higher than 7

and elevated levels of total alkalinity and hardness of the treated drinking water appeared to
have resulted in reasonably low deterioration rates.
For the outer surfaces of the pipes, differences in soil and groundwater conditions resulted
in more variability in the free lime leaching depths and deterioration rates. For the pipe with
the lower alkalinity and higher sulphate content soil, a leaching depth of 2.0 – 5.0mm and a
deterioration rate of in a range of 0.038-0.097 mm/yr was observed whereas for the pipe
with a slightly more alkaline soil and lower sulphate concentration in the soil, leaching
depths ranged from 1.5 to 4.8 mm, with the calculated deterioration rates varying from
0.029 to 0.092 mm/yr.
Although the initial alkalinity (> 12.4) prevents microorganism growth on the surface of AC
pipes, reactions with the water being transported (normally in a pH range from 6.5 to 8.5)
and its dissolved components, such as chlorides, sulphates and carbonates consume the
alkalinity and decrease the pH value of the cement surface. Once the cement surface pH is
reduced to about 9, microorganisms start to inhabit the surface. Dissolved organic carbon
and nutrients from the treated drinking water enhance microbial activity and biofilm
formation on the pipe surface. The activity makes the cement-patina interface more
reductive. In an anaerobic environment, bacterial fermentation produces short-chain fatty
acids, which accelerate the rate of free lime leaching and dissolution of Ca-bearing minerals
in the hydrated cement matrix. Gu et al. (1998) observed that certain bacteria (i.e.,
Acidithiobacillus) grown in the biofilms excreted sulphuric acid. Organic compounds and
sulphuric acid could act simultaneously to release calcium by chelation and dissolution with
their exopolymeric substances. A recent study indicated that Escherichia coli and synthetic
organic acid can cause serious damage to structure of hardened cement paste (Magniont et
al., 2011). Bacteria, such as sulphate reducers, ammonia and nitrite oxidizers, denitrifiyers
and cyanobacteria, could also cause the deterioration of cementitious materials
(Zherebyateva et al., 1991;Wang and Cullimore, 2010).
The patina could be divided into 4 sublayers (A,B,C and D) based on the physical appearance
of the porous layer. Of the total active microbial population recovered from the four
sublayers of the patina, SLYM bacteria accounted for 95.5%, HAB 2.4%, IRB 1.6%, APB 0.4%
and no SRB were detected. 68.7% of the total active bacteria in the patina occurred in
sublayer A - directly interacting with the hydrated cement matrix near the intact portion of
AC pipe wall. Among those active bacteria, the SLYM group comprised 99.5%, with the rest
0.5% comprising IRB. In comparison, the D sublayer (closest to the conveyed drinking water)
accounted for only 1.7% of the total active population in the patina, with a big portion of the
biomass in this sublayer being inactive bacteria and organic materials from microbial
metabolisms. Sublayer B, within the void developing zone where loss of free lime and other
hydrated calcium silicates were observed, comprised 28.4% of the total active population;
the majority of bacteria was SLYM (93.5%) with the increased numbers of IRB (1.5%) and
HAB (5%). In sublayer C, approximately 1.2% of the active population consisted of mainly
aggressive bacteria, such as APB (30.8%), IRB (42.0%) and HAB (8.9%), and the large voids
developed in this sublayer were clearly visible.
SEM analysis showed that the dissolution of the cementitious material left a considerable
amount of porosity and some large voids. The biodeterioration primarily occurred as radial
pitting and soon became circumferential along the structural weakness of the original

cement layers created during the manufacturing process. Elemental compositions in this
deteriorated layer showed a complete removal of Fe (originally containing about 1% Fe in
the forms Ca4AlnFe2-nO7) by the action of the IRB. A loss of over 70% of Ca (mainly due to the
loss of the Ca-bearing free lime, C2S and C3S as these minerals become unstable in acidic
conditions) was also seen. There was an apparent 10% increase in Mg which is present in the
white asbestos (Mg3Si2O5(OH)4), and small increases in Si and Al were also observed.
Asbestos fibres and quartz particles are extremely resistant to attack and the relative
proportion of these two elements became elevated in the deteriorated pipe.
In summary, microbial activities caused a patina to form on the inner pipe surface which
played a major role in the deterioration of AC pipes in drinking water distribution systems.
The SLYM bacteria which were in direct contact with the hydrated cement materials, created
an environment for other types of bacteria to establish inside the patina. The activities of
HAB, IRB and APB make a local environment anaerobic and acidic, which greatly accelerated
the leaching of free lime and the dissolution of Ca-bearing minerals in the hydrated cement
matrix. Losses of free lime and Ca-bearing silicates left significant voids and porosity, which
in turn reduced the effective wall thickness of the cement pipe with a subsequent loss of
pipe strength.
The deterioration of AC pipe occurred in four major stages:
1. conveyed water reduced the pipe surface pH, allowing bacteria to grow on the pipe
wall.
2. active development of the biofilms caused formation of a patina and the dissolution
of Ca-bearing hydrated cement in the surface layer.
3. the patina further extended to deep layers along cracks and continued the corrosion
processes.
4. extensive dissolution of Ca-bearing minerals within the patina caused by more

aggressive bacterial groups including HAB, IRB and APB significantly increased
porosity such that the cement matrix become a network of asbestos fibres and
quartz particles.
The AC pipe lost its structural strength and became fragile, increasing the potential for
failure through any small pressure changes or loads. In addition, any small vibrations such as
that from a water hammer can result in a release of biofilms and asbestos fibres into the
drinking water, causing a health concern. Thus, stabilising the patina or preventing its further
development would be desirable. Wang et al. (2011) note that traditional biofilm removal by
physical scratching is not recommended for AC pipe systems.
Joints
For most of the time that AC pipes were installed, the joints were based on rubber gaskets.
It has been found that joints deteriorate over time, e.g. due to biological activities, either
within the soil or the biofilms described above as rubber degrading microbes, bacteria and
fungi, are ubiquitous in the environment especially soil. This has two implications:

 that the joints become much more likely to leak, when the ability of the gasket to
provide a ‘barrier’ to the escape of water deteriorates
 that the function of the joints is affected, with potential structural consequences for
the pipes.
Deteriorated rubber gaskets are likely to leak and also to reduce the overall strength of the
pipes. In 2007, AC pipes in the water network in Krakow, Poland (which originally included
approximately 40 km of AC pipes) were being replaced due to intensive failure of joints.
[Zeilina, M. 2007].
Fibre fracture
Residual strength is also influenced by the behaviour of reinforcing asbestos fibres, which
are dispersed throughout the cement matrix on pipe manufacture. These fibres are typically
short, randomly dispersed and oriented at an angle to any cracks that may develop in the
cement matrix due to strength loss. As a result, the asbestos fibres are subjected to bending
stress as these cracks open, which in turn can lead to flexural fibre rupture before the fibre
attains its full capacity in direct tension. Hence, the reinforcing efficiency of these fibres may
be reduced as degradation proceeds (Katz, A. 1996).
Densification of the matrix

Densification of the cement matrix can also occur through carbonation and can decrease
cement matrix porosity (MacVicar, R. et al., 1999) This can also increase fibre bending
stresses, reducing reinforcing efficiency (Katz 1996).
Pipe failure is influenced by the physical characteristics of the pipe such as strength,
modulus, by the surrounding environment (such as climate, soil type, groundwater
properties) and operational characteristics (such water characteristics, procedures for
operation, maintenance, repair and replacement) and the mode of failure and its mechanism
will depend on these (Rajani and Kleiner 2001).
Corrosion is caused by chemical attack from agents such as acids, sulphates, magnesium
salts, alkaline hydroxides, ammonia and soft water internally as well as externally by similar
factors (pH, alkalinity, sulphates) in the soil environment. Soft and acidic waters leach out
lime and calcium silicate hydrates from the walls into the soil and sulphates react with the
calcium silicate hydrate (which gives the cement its strength) to form a weaker product.
Sulphates also react with other minerals to form expansive products that cause damage.
Pinholes in the pipe wall are often indicators of chemical attack.
There is a liner relationship between pipe age and breakage rate (Guan, 1995; Mordak and
Wheeler (1988)). The breakage rate is also lower in large diameter pipes attributed to
thicker walls and higher bending inertia. The temporal distribution of failures observed
(Mordak and Wheeler, 1988) occurred randomly throughout the year in coarse gravel/sandy
soils whereas most failures in areas with cohesive clay soils occurred during dry summer
months. Clay soils were also associated with more ring fractures commonly related to
bending stresses. Construction and repair methods such as uneven bedding support due to
poor compaction) is also known to contribute to bending failure (Guan 1995). In addition,

once the structural integrity of the pipe has been compromised by chemical attack,
inadequate installation or manufacturing defects, failure is more likely to occur under any
additional stress.
Historical failure data

Hu and Hubble (2007) looked at historical failure data for AC pipes from the city of Regina in
Canada. The Regina water distribution network consists of 531km of AC pipe (65% of the
network) with cast iron at 29% and PVC at 4%. The remaining 2% are made up of reinforced
concrete, HDPE and steel. The age of the AC pipe ranged from 25-50 years and they were
buried at depths of 2-3m. The diameter of the pipes ranged from 150-200mm for 87% of the
network with some at 250mm and a few at 100mm and 400mm.
Failure modes
The failure modes identified were divided into five types;
1. Longitudinal caused by internal pressure or external loads (soil cover, live loads from
traffic, frost loads from frozen soil)
2. circumferential (ring) typically the result of bending stresses due to inadequate

bedding support or differential soil movements
3. Hole such as pinhole leaks or blow outs both a result of chemical attack although the
latter requires internal pressure loading
4. joint failure includes joint leaking, collar splitting and joint disconnection
5. Other - subsequent leakage resulting from construction damage or clamped repair

location etc.
Of the 2288 breaks examined (from 1980 – 2004), 91.4% were ring fractures and only 0.8%
were longitudinal. Holes represented 0.7% of the failures while joints included 5.4% with
about 1.7% being categorised as other.
The breakage rate varied from year to year with the highest breaks being experienced more
recently, indicating increasing deterioration with age as might be expected from damage
accumulation.
The majority of the breaks occurred in the 150mm pipes (81%) with a breakage rate of 0.219
breaks/km/yr and 13% of the breakages occurred in the 200mm pipe resulting in a breakage
rate of 0.097 breaks/km/yr. The 250mm pipes had the lowest breakage rate of 0.037
breaks/km/yr.
When assessing the aggressiveness of an environment the four main factors taken into
account (ASTM and AWWA standards) include internal water conditions, external water
conditions, external soil conditions and soluble sulphate content of water and soils. An
Aggressiveness Index (AI - which is related to the pH of the water, its alkalinity and hardness)
of <10 is considered very aggressive whereas an AI of >12 is considered non-aggressive. The

water conveyed by the pipes in Regina had an AI of 11-12 and a low sulphate content of 140-
160ppm and so was considered non-aggressive and expected to have only a small effect on
the pipe material.
The external environment had a pH of 7.2-7.8 (non-acidic) and an average sulphate content
of 1500-2000ppm with about 4000 – 10,000ppm in some areas. This is considered to be only
mildly aggressive and the small number of hole- type failures associated with corrosion
would appear to confirm this. The decreasing rate of breakage with increasing pipe diameter
may also have been associated with the longer time taken for the soil water to penetrate the
thicker pipe walls of the larger diameter pipes.
The soil in Regina is clay-based soil consisting of at least 53% montmorillonite mineral. With
the addition of water montmorillonite can experience a 25 to 50% expansion in soils with
other minerals and organic matter. It has been reported that an expansion of just 3% can
potentially damage light structures with shallow foundations (Brown, 1984). The soil water
content is usually close to the plastic limit of 25% for the soil but that it can fluctuate from
less than 10% in the dry months to over 50% in extremely wet conditions. The changes in
volume and associated soil movement can induce bending and shear stresses in the buried
pipes exacerbated by uneven bedding support, differential soil movements and other
climatic conditions such as large changes in moisture content. The high incidence of ring
fractures is consistent with this type of loading. The decreasing failure rate with increasing
pipe diameter may also be related to the lower bending stresses on the large pipes.
The Regina data showed that almost every annual pipe breakage peak corresponded to a
rainfall deficit peak. In 2001, for e.g. the rainfall deficit went from a negative (-16mm, very
dry with all water in soil taken up by evaporation and transpiration) in July to 320mm in
August. The annual breakage pattern was found to correspond exactly with the RD peak. A
second peak in pipe breaks corresponded to the coldest part of the years. This phenomenon,
also observed for metallic pipes by others (Rajani and Zhan, 1996, and Selvadurai and
Shinde, 1993) has been attributed to loading due to freezing and the resulting expansion of
the water in the ground. Again, pipe break data was corroborated with the freezing index
peaks and found to coincide over the years. Interestingly, they propose that an extremely
dry summer season resulted in a high breakage rate in the winter season of the same year as
a result of deeper frost penetration (related to lower latent heat capacity of the dry soil?)
and higher frost loading on the pipes.
The historical data therefore showed that pipe age, water quality, soil properties and
associated climatic conditions influenced the breakage rate.
Break Clustering
Goulter and Kazemi (1988) made the observation that a break may induce other breaks in
space and time (spatial and temporal clustering). The first break is considered and
independent break and adjacent subsequent break is a dependant break. The Regina data
taken over the 25 year period (1980 – 2004) was analysed for the number of breaks within a
specified distance of an earlier break such that when d = 0 was a re-break at the same
location. This was found to be a significant problem. The data showed 283 cluster with 2
breaks (283 re-breaks), 70 clusters with 3 breaks (140 re-breaks), 21 with 4 or more breaks

(21 with 4 and 2 with 5 breaks - 71 re-breaks). The total number of re-breaks amount to
21.6% of the total breaks indicating that there is a high probability of a second break at the
location of the first. This may be a result of a disturbance of the surrounding soil as a result
of the failure itself or the repair process. Leakage from the first break may cause erosion of
bedding material or changes in the moisture content resulting in differential expansion
relative to the undisturbed soil, differential movement and stresses. Adjacent pipes may also
be affected by these factors and so more breaks can be seen in the vicinity of an initial
break.
A strong temporal clustering was also found in this data such that the occurrence of a break
greatly increases the chances of other breaks within a relatively short time of the first break.
Again, the pipe is weakened by the failure and the surrounding soil is disturbed by the
leakage and the repair process (physical disturbance, heavy machinery etc.)
Development of models
Increasing failure rates and costs of repair/replacement have prompted the development of
asset management tools to predict failures and schedule replacements at the most cost-
effective time during service. The majority of models that predict the decrease in residual
strength with cement leaching have been based on accelerated cement leaching tests
conducted under controlled laboratory conditions (Carde, C. & Francois, R. 1997). Failure
prediction is further complicated by the variability of water quality and soil environment
along a buried AC water pipe. Alkalinity and calcium hardness may vary along a pipeline
resulting in variable cement leaching rates at the pipe inner surface. Variations in soil pH and
sulphate content can also influence the rate of degradation at the pipe outer surface (Dorn,
R et al., 2008). In addition to uncertainties at the pipe-environment interface, the
microstructure of the pipe wall (characterised by cement porosity and asbestos fibre
distribution) may also vary along a pipeline due to variations in the manufacturing process
itself as well as differences in manufacturing methods.
Davis et al. (2008) developed a physical probabilistic failure model for AC pipes under
combined internal pressure and external loading, using the Weibull probability distribution
function. Monte Carlo simulation was then used to estimate the probability of pipe failure as
ageing proceeds. In the final stage of the model, a cost/benefit analysis was conducted to
optimise scheduling of inspection and replacement activities.
As water quality and soil environment could not be completely specified along the pipeline,
residual tensile strength were measured at various locations along a 40 year old pipe (600m
long and a 100mm diameter), which had been buried in a clay-sandy soil. The residual tensile
strength values were converted to a linear rate of strength loss (or the ‘degradation rate’ SR)
given by;
SR = (S0 –Sf)/Age
where S0 is the original, un-degraded tensile strength ( Davis et al., 2008). An S0 value of
27.0MPa was assumed for the as-produced AC pipe (Katz, A., 1996). A graph representing a
Weibull distribution for measured degradation rate (SR) showed a linear fit to the data with
an r2 coefficient of 0.96. The Weibull scale and shape parameters were calculated as 0.43

and 3.26 respectively. The expected strength loss rate was estimated to be 0.39MPa/year
and the standard deviation was 0.13MPa/year. Interestingly some earlier work on PVC pipe
of similar pipe size and operating conditions had shown that Weibull scale and shape
parameters of 395 and 1.3 adequately predicted the variation in service lifetime. (Davis, P. et
al., 2006). It should be noted that the values of Weibull shape parameters reported for both
AC and PVC pipes suggest that there is a wide distribution of strengths around the “mean”
value. That is to say although the average strength of the degraded pipes may be adequate
to carry the service loads there is likely to be a significant number of pipes with inadequate
strength capacity. For comparison shape parameters of 2-4 are observed in degraded cast
iron pipes which compares unfavourably with the values 15 – 20 obtained for as cast
material.
The study identified (Davis et al. (2008)) that further work was required to evaluate the
strength of as produced pipes since new manufacturing methods, such as the use of
autoclave curing and the addition of fine silica powder in 1954, produced pipes with
increased mechanical strength compared with those manufactured by earlier methods. The
pipe failure model also assumed that the as-produced strength of a pipe in service decreases
linearly over time. In tests on cement-based samples submerged in water, Saito & Deguchi
(2000) reported a linear relationship between the amount of leaching and the reduction in
compressive strength. However, their results also indicated that the amount of leaching was
proportional to the square root of exposure time suggesting that the liner relationship of
rate of strength loss over time may not be applicable. They also concluded that further work
was required to quantify the actual time dependence of strength reduction for AC pipes in
service and to identify an appropriate costing structure and discount rate to model the cost
consequences of pipe failures over time.
Georadar techniques can be used to measure wall thickness and determine thicknesses of
healthy and deteriorated cement-containing materials. The technique was applied on four
wastewater rising mains in Flanders. The two deterioration methods considered were
calcium leaching, applicable to drinking water mains and biogenic sulphuric acid attack
[Smolders, S., 2009].

Table 3.1 Usage of AC Mains in the UK
Water Authority Total (km) AC (km) AC (%) Pop AC (%)
Anglian 38,498 8372 22 50
Northumbrian 16,240 772 5 28
NW Water 36,200 3213 8 26
Severn Trent 43,825 4353 10 14
Southern 23,089 1107 5 14
SW Water 13,800 982 7 32
Thames 46,700 1300 3 9
Welsh 24,136 4475 19 33
Wessex 17,533 2349 13 47
Yorkshire 27,400 2004 7 14
N Ireland (DoE) 17,981 1991 11 7
Scotland (all RCs) 42,267 6624 16 24

Appendix 5 uPVC – Further Information
Background
uPVC pipes came into popular use for water supply throughout Europe, North America and
Australia during the 1970s, particularly in areas where soil conditions were corrosive to cast
or ductile iron, and also as manufacturing and production costs reduced compared to more
traditional materials. By the late 1980s and into the 1990s, MDPE (and subsequently HDPE)
began to take over from uPVC, as the ‘plastic’ pipe material of choice for water mains.
Therefore, most uPVC pipes throughout the UK and worldwide are at least 30 years old and
many are 40 years old or more.
There are still likely to be a significant number of uPVC pipes in service throughout the UK,
probably in the order of thousands ok kilometres.
Static Loading
The UK, US and Australian PE and PVC pipe design practices all give consideration to design
for peak surge events. A surge is a sudden change in the velocity of the flowing water
(produced by valve operations such as rapid valve closure, pump start-up, shut-down and
tripping, air venting, fluid column separation, and other such operations) resulting in either
an initial rapid increase or decrease in pressure above or below the steady state pressure,
for a short term. The sudden increase in kinetic energy results in a pressure wave. This wave
travels down the pipeline at the speed of sound until it hits a boundary and is reflected back,
interfering with the incident wave, resulting in constructive or destructive interference
creating reinforced peaks and troughs. This results in waves that may have greater or lower
amplitude than the incident wave. The potential short-term impact of surge pressures,
therefore, are Upsurges (pressure increase) leading to over pressurization of the pipeline
resulting in pipe damage or rupture and damage to system components (gasket blowout,
pump damage, etc.) and downsurges (pressure decreases) resulting in pipe collapse or
groundwater infiltration (at leakage points such as joints).
Characterising the resulting pressure changes, commonly referred to as transients, hydraulic

surges, hydraulic transients, and water hammer, requires specialist transient pressure
analysis. This is an important consideration in the design of water transmission and
distribution systems, so that failures related to surges can be avoided by appropriate
material selection and component sizing. The pressure surge events can be occasional (peak
event outside normal operations) or repetitive (peak event due to normal operations such as
valve opening and closing).
The Joukowsky Equation (JE) describes the relationship between the key characteristics of a
pressure surge event and allows the pressure surge to be calculated. Three key parameters
in the equation are the wave velocity, critical time and the change in water velocity. The
wave velocity can be estimated from the known properties of the fluid and the modulus of
the piping material. According to the JE, for a DR17 pipe made from a typical PE material of
Modulus 1GPa, the pressure surge will have a wave that travels at 255 m/s. Stiffer materials
will have higher surge velocities (higher for PVC, even higher for metals). The critical time is
the time taken for the incident wave to be reflected back (thus, inversely proportional to the

wave velocity). For a 150m PE pipe, this is about 1.2s and any event occurring faster than
this would result in a full pressure surge as given by the Joukowsky Equation. If the critical
time is shorter than the incident event, then some reduction in the full pressure surge will
occur as a result of destructive interference.
Although a full transient analysis should be considered for a pipeline, a full flow stoppage at
the maximum flow velocity (change in velocity equals max flow velocity) in the pipeline
usually provides a good basis for considering surge events. Utilities provide maximum design
velocities for the normal operation of their systems and for fire flow based on their specific
system requirements (although it is the true maximum system velocity change anticipated
during the pipe lifetime that should be used for system specific design (including the
potential impact of reinforcement wave patterns which could exceed the pressures
predicted by the Joukowsky equation)(Oliphant et al., 2012).
PE and PVC are thermoplastics that respond to fast loading rates by exhibiting greater
strength and stiffness. Pressure surge events on thermoplastic piping usually occur at rates
of 0.1 to 1 MPa/s (Bowman, J.A. 1988). At these fast loading rates, these viscoelastic
materials exhibit greater stiffness and strength compared to static loading. The strain
displayed from an occasional pressure surge of short duration is reversible on removal of the
load and does not affect the long-term strength of the pipe.
Surge design involves estimating the peak surge event that will occur over the pipe lifetime
to ensure that the piping material is resistant to that level of stress. The UK surge allowances
for PE and PVC are based on test data and application of a 0.67 effective design factor
ensures that the allowable peak pressure stress is safely below the short-term strength of
the materials (Bowman, J.A., 1988). The allowable peak surges do not consider the impact of
surge on the joints within the piping network. For PE materials butt fusion is the most
common joining method. Studies have shown that properly prepared butt fusion joints have
pressure strengths equal to or greater than those of the pipe material and, therefore, they
can be used at the peak surge pressures for the pipe. For PVC pipe materials, bell and spigot
joints are the most common. The potential for gasket dislodgment may need to be
considered at high surge pressures (Fleming, K.K., 2006). Specific studies on the impact of
peak surge on this joint type or butt welded pipes for PVC were not found through the open
literature search conducted by Oliphant et al., 2012, although pressure testing of joints is
required in PVC standards.
Cyclic loading or fatigue

Fatigue resistance, as opposed to resistance to peak surge events, involves different
mechanisms and occurs on different time scales. Cyclic loading or fatigue from repetitive
pressure surges (or the total number of pressure surges over the lifetime of a piping system)
can result in a significantly lower failure strength and performance lifetime compared to the
static pressure long-term material strength and lifetime. In general, PE materials are highly
fatigue resistant while PVC materials are seen to be susceptible to fatigue (Marshall, 1998
and Bowman 1990) such that the current PVC pipe pressure surge design tool is very
specific. While under certain service conditions PVC can perform adequately, there are many
applications where PVC piping will fail by fatigue. On the other hand PE design practices for
preventing pressure surge fatigue failures in water pipe have had more success and not been

of concern. The fatigue resistance of PE materials is acknowledged to be vastly superior to
that of PVC.
Fatigue damage mechanisms in thermoplastics

The four primary models for fatigue damage in thermoplastics include;
i. Self-heating with induced localised melting
ii. Cumulative damage
iii. Crack propagation with acceleration by cyclic loading (pure fatigue)
iv. Crack propagation with acceleration by cyclic loading ( combined creep and fatigue)
The high thermal heat sink provided by the water and soil and the relatively low surge
frequencies means that mechanism (i) is not applicable in water pipelines.
The cumulative damage (ii) model is applicable when the failure mode is macroscopically
ductile. In monotonic tensile tests conducted at a slow rate and high temperature,
thermoplastics will fail in a ductile manner by undergoing necking and thinning and other
post-yielding behaviours. When loaded to less than this yield stress, the time to failure will
be longer. For cyclic loading that produces macroscopically ductile failures, the time to
failure is dependent on the cumulative time at peak stress, not on the number of cycles. This
defines the cumulative damage model in that ductile failures occurs when the cumulative
time at peak stress is equal to the time that would cause failure in a constant load creep test.
In other words, a ductile failure (under static or dynamic loading) cannot be speeded up by
cycling the stress unless one increases the peak stress. (There are no macroscopically ductile
failures that are true fatigue failures: they are stress-rupture failures caused by multiple
intermittent overstress events.)
The total time to failure at peak stress in cyclic loading will be equal to the total time to
failure for static loading at the same stress. In this model the number of events to failure can
be calculated by:
Nf = (tsr/tmax)T,σ
where:
Nf = number of cycles to failure
tsr= time to stress rupture
tmax= time of each cycle at stress
T = temperature
σ = stress

The model has been shown to be applicable to PVC and to PE for failures that are
macroscopically ductile in accelerated cycling loading (Bowman, J.A.,1990). Under these
conditions the materials do not experience fatigue weakness. This mechanism is different
from that in many piping applications where the pressure surges are of short duration with
time for material relaxation between surges. Under these conditions, the surges have been
projected not to affect the long-term strength and the mean pressure determines design
(Szpak, 1977).
However, as the peak load is decreased and the number of cycles to failure increase, a
transition to a macroscopically brittle failure mode can occur through crack initiation and
propagation. The total time at peak stress at failure is usually lower under cyclic loading than
under static loading as crack propagation is accelerated by cyclic loading. Such failures
depend on the number of cycles, the loading rate, the peak stress, and the stress amplitude.
Brittle failures that occur under cyclic loading conditions are fatigue failures. Material
response can be variable so that for some materials, failures can occur in a few weeks to
months even when the peak cyclic stress is less than half of the extrapolated long-term
creep-rupture stress while other materials can survive an almost unlimited number of cycles
to a much higher fraction of their long-term creep-rupture stress.
Ductile failures are uncommon in plastic pipes in water applications under normal loads
(unless the design limits are exceeded). Depending on the crack-initiation and crack-
propagation resistance of the material, brittle failures in pipe can be induced by point loads
(such as from rock impingement), at an average stress applied over long periods of time, in
materials with inadequate slow crack growth (SCG) resistance, or by fatigue from the cyclic
stress in materials with low fatigue resistance.
Limited studies (Bowman, J. 1990) suggest that there may be an impact of both creep and
fatigue on the long term strength of older generation PE materials under cyclic load.
Crack initiation and propagation studies on PE and uPVC have revealed two main
mechanisms. PE shows one characteristic slow crack growth (SCG) morphology regardless of
temperature or load cycle, Figure 4.1. The crack tip progresses in a stepwise advance-arrest
sequence, behind a progressing single linear craze (Lu and Brown, 1986). Under certain
conditions (faster stress cycles, lower temperature, and higher amplitudes) PVC also exhibits
this morphology, Figure 4.2 (Bernel-Lara et al., 2006).
However, in PVC, slower cycles, higher temperature, and lower amplitudes result in a second
mechanism which involves multiple initiation points with numerous crazes eventually
coalescing to the point of final fracture. Craze density measurements in the vicinity of the
advancing crack tip show that craze density increases with temperature and decreases with
increasing cycle frequency (Bernel-Lara et al., 2006).
Field failures in older generation PE that have occurred by slow crack growth always show
fracture morphology consistent with the stepwise progression of a single linear craze-crack
process regardless of the initiating flaw, i.e. stress concentration from localized external
impingement, from distributed external stress, from excessive localized bending, or from an
internal flaw.

Figure 4.1 Slow crack growth mechanism in PE pipe. (Oliphant et al., 2012)
SCG mechanism in PE Pipe
The microfibrils spanning the crack face in the process zone restrain the advancement of the
crack until they are drawn down, elongate and rupture. In cyclic loading the fibrils creep at
peak stress and are ‘bent’ when the stress is relaxed due to the contractive stresses created
in the bulk material around the advancing crack. It is this bending mechanism which causes
fatigue acceleration beyond pure static creep loading. An important aspect of fatigue for PE
materials is that this mechanism only occurs under conditions where a crack can form, it is
not operable in the ductile mode. This is why an increase in the slow crack growth resistance
of PE materials results in a corresponding increase in fatigue resistance such that the current
generation high slow crack growth materials appear to exhibit almost unlimited fatigue
resistance under the loading conditions found in potable water applications.
Figure 4.2 Fatigue, slow crack growth mechanism in PVC pipe. (Oliphant et al., 2012)
Fatigue SCG in PVC
Field failures in PVC sometimes show similar fracture morphology to PE as shown above.
These are typically associated with concentrated point loads such as impingement by a
single rock point. The more common PVC pipe field fracture morphology originates from the
simultaneous incubation and initiation of multiple crazes that grow into a coalescing
dominant crack. These fracture surfaces are significantly rougher and more irregular than
the single-craze type, often with macroscopic shear steps or jumps where small cracks join.

This morphology is generally found when the external stress is significant but spatially
distributed, such as a pipe bedded on hardpan. It is also found when failures occur by fatigue
in the absence of concentrated external stress.
This fatigue mechanism appears to be the limiting mechanism for PVC in applications with
high cyclic stress (frequent pressure surges of significant amplitude). In such a loading
regime, the long-term static strength of the PVC pipe is irrelevant and design must consider
fatigue failure. This is incorporated into international design practices for PVC.
In a review of fatigue literature by Oliphant et al., 2012, studies suggested that PE materials
are highly fatigue resistant and that the fatigue resistance increases with increased slow
crack growth resistance (SCG). The UK water industry (UKWI, 1999) examined the fatigue
resistance of modern PE materials (PE80 and PE100 materials) with high slow crack growth
resistance. The testing was conducted at stress ranges (peak stress minus minimum stress)
of roughly 10MPa and higher for over 10,000,000 cycles and found that the PE materials
were apparently not affected by repeated cyclic loading.
The current generation PE4710/PE100 materials were found to have the potential for
essentially unlimited fatigue cycling at end-use conditions in water systems. One of the key
findings of the literature search was a complete lack of reported PE pipe fatigue failures in
service. Only limited studies have been conducted on the fatigue resistance of actual pipe.
Bowman projected a service life of > 670 years for early 1980s MDPE under fatigue (while for
uPVC pipe service life of 14 to 66 years was projected).The studies also demonstrated that
fatigue failure in accelerated testing occurred in the pipe and not the fusion joints, indicating
the joints are not a point of weakness.
The current UK approach, as detailed in UKWIR IGN 4-37-02, does not require fatigue de-
rating for PE100 materials meeting the UK performance standards and, therefore, allows for
an unlimited number of fatigue events. The allowable maximum stress for surge amplitude is
effectively the design stress (which for PE materials approximates to 8 MPa) which translates
into a maximum total peak surge of 2 x Pressure Class.
For uPVC, it is clear from the literature that fatigue failures can be predicted in PVC pipe,
with the number of cycles to failure dependent primarily on the stress amplitude and the
mean stress to a lesser extent.

Figure 4.3.W (From Marshall, G.P. et al., 1998)
Figure 4.3.W shows the decrease in long-term strength under fatigue relative to the constant
load long-term strength.
A compilation of data from studies on uPVC pipe seems generally consistent in the
projection of fatigue performance as shown in Figure 4.4.
Figure 4.4 (From A.J. Whittle and A. Teo, Resistance of PVC-U and PVC-M to Cyclic Fatigue,
Iplex Pipelines Australia Pty Ltd., Australia. p. 7.)
Oliphant et al., 2012, have stated that the fatigue becomes a significant issue for PVC as flow
velocities approach 5 fps (lower at higher surge frequencies) and with increasing surge
frequency (> 3 surges per hour). After considering various repetitive surge scenarios,

Oliphant et al., 2012, concluded that PVC materials require a higher pressure class pipe
under all the scenarios examined. As the design approaches for both materials (uPVC and PE)
appeared appropriate, this would again suggest significantly better fatigue resistance for
PE4710 materials in potable water systems and the ability to operate with lower PC piping.
The available fatigue data for PE4710 and PVC materials concluded that PE4710 pipe is not
projected to demonstrate fatigue weakness under the operating conditions of water
transmission and distribution systems. PVC materials are known to be susceptible to fatigue
weakness under these conditions when the number of cycles in service is high and/or the
stress amplitude of the cycles is large.
A fusion joined pipeline may be thought of as a continuous pipeline without joints. On the
other hand, gasket joints are a potential source of leakage and lost water in many water
systems. Leaks may occur if the gasket is improperly installed, if dirt or grit sticks to the
gasket, if the gasket is not properly lubricated, if negative pressure (vacuum) occurs in the
pipeline, if ground movement or sub-trench consolidation occurs, if significant thermal
change occurs and if gaskets are blown out due to surge pressures. Fused joints are far
superior to gasket joints for leak prevention.
Surge pressures in HDPE pipe are significantly lower than in DI pipe and lower than PVC pipe
due to the lower value of dynamic modulus for HDPE. For example, a velocity change of 5 fps
would cause a 51 psig surge in HDPE DR 17 pipe, a 87 psig surge in PVC DR 18 pipe, and a 262
psig surge in DI Class 350 lined pipe. Lower surge pressures often means longer life for
pumps and valves in an HDPE pipeline, as well as lower pressure class pipes. DR stands for
Dimension Ratio which is the average outside diameter (note: DR is also used for PVC pipe)
divided by the minimum wall thickness. (A Standard Dimension Ratio (SDR) is a specific DR
based on ANSI preferred number series. The use of SDR’s enables manufacturers to produce
pipe to a set of standardized DR’s. SDR’s include 9, 11, 13.5, 17, 21,26, and 32.5. All SDR’s are
DR’s, but not all DR’s are SDR’s.)
Marshall and Brogden report on the cyclical fatigue strength of PVC and HDPE and their
report shows, at a cyclical stress range of 10 MPa (1450 psi) some PVC pipes failed at
approximately 400,000 cycles whereas HDPE pipe reaches 10,000,000 million cycles before
failure.
Joints
Several authors have demonstrated that joints play a major role in PVC network failures.
Data analysed by Reed, Robinson, and Smart (2006) obtained from a questionnaire to seven
utilities from the UK (one), USA (four) and Canada (two) showed that from the total mains of
33,247 km, being cast iron dominant (40% of length) and PVC the fourth most used material
(11%), the PVC joint failures were dominated by gasket/seal failure (55%).
In a Japanese water companies survey on leakages related to water distribution pipelines ,

Arai, Koizumi, Inakazu, Watanabe, and Fujiwara (2010) obtained information for 2004 and
2005. The Japanese network is composed of approximately 600,000 km of water pipelines.
More than 40 % of the total number of failures were detected at joints. In PVC pipes, more
than 60% of the failures were detected at joints. The Netherlands has 32,071 km of pipe,

95% of which (30,394 km) consists of the materials PVC, PE, asbestos cement, ductile iron
and cast iron. Of all failures, around 2 9% are detected at joints (irrespective of the pipe’s
material), and over 9 % of all failures are detected at PVC joints (Arsenio, Pieterse-Quirijns,
Vreeburg, de Bont, & Rietveld, 2013).
Arsenio et al. (2013) discussed eight failure mechanisms for push-fit joints and presented
joint rotation and axial pull-out as the two most important failure mechanisms. For joint
rotation, it is expected that after a certain rotation angle the joint starts leaking. Leakage is
either followed by complete pull-out of the pipe from the joint or by the destruction of
either of the pipes in the joint or the joint itself. For axial pull-out it is expected that leakage
starts after a certain distance, followed by the complete pull-out of the pipe from the joint.
Establishing the threshold conditions which are both a limit in rotation angle and limit in
pull-out distance before leakage, before complete pull-out and/or before complete burst
would then allow the condition at the time of inspection to be assessed. Rotation angles are
defined (system will not be stressed if during installation the rotation angle is kept below
this limit) as a function of diameter and length of pipe barrels using an equation developed
initially for bell and spigot system (but doubled to apply to a double socket joint). However,
the installation limit gives no information about allowable rotation angles throughout a
pipe’s life. During bending, due to changes in inner geometry, the stiffness of the joint varies.
These changes include contact between the pipes, the inner joint, and the joint ring and also
between both pipes. Buco et al. (2008) ascertained that stiffness is greatly influenced by the
beginning of these contact points and that these are important in defining a joint’s
condition. An increase in stiffness is considered undesirable as the joint can become
overstressed potentially resulting in failure. As long as no leakage or fracture occurs, the
joint stiffness (force required to achieve a given bending angle) can be used to characterize
its condition. PVC push-fit joints (double sockets) and pipes were tested in the laboratory by
Arsenio et al. (2015) to obtain parameters that can be used to assess the condition of a joint
in the field. For pull-out and bending tests, two threshold conditions were investigated. The
first is start of leakage and the second is material fracture. During bending tests, force was
monitored to characterize the joint’s stiffness.
They found that leakage and intrusion were only detected in a few tests at extreme rotation
angles and in the case of pull-out tests, after the complete pull out of the pipe from the
joint. Thus, leakage and intrusion do not occur for typical operational situations (angles
below 10 degrees) if the rubber ring is in perfect condition. For PVC joints leakage through
the rubber-gasket is mostly dependent on the condition of the rubber. For a rubber ring in
good condition, leakage can only be expected at rotation angles above 10 degrees and in
cases of complete pull-out of the pipe from the joint. Joint stiffness was found to increase
with the level of insertion of pipe inside the joint, diameter and inner pipe pressure. A pipe
inserted further in the joint leads to a decrease in the angle values at which the contact
points start and the start of contact will stiffen the joint. Increase in diameter was an
important factor for increase of joint stiffness (pipe stiffness was found to increase more
than 64 times from a 100mm to a 315mm pipe).
HDPE pipes can safely be bent to a tighter radius than PVC; for the same size pipe, the HDPE
pipe radius is about 1/10th the radius of PVC pipe. HDPE can also be cold bent.

Deterioration, leakage and failure
The main issues seem to be:
a. defects / imperfections caused during manufacture
b. incomplete or low quality processing during manufacture
c. damage during storage, either physical damage or due to UV
d. damage during installation
e. incorrect installation of joints
f. incorrect drilling / fixing of saddles and ferrules
g. leaching / migration of chemicals from the uPVC pipe walls over time
h. ageing and embrittlement over time
i. increased stress around holes or cracks from which leakage is occurring
Some explanations of these include:
Even small defects [egg relating to: (a), (c), (d) and (f)] may have resulted in the development
of holes or cracks during service, under internal water pressure and external loading.
Incomplete or low quality processing (b) and exposure to UV (c) if pipes were stored outside
and unprotected for long periods before use, may have resulted in reduced strength or
fracture toughness, with increased likelihood that small defects may ultimately result in
failure.
Damage during storage or installation (c) or (d), may have resulted in sharp notches,
ultimately leading to crack growth and failure.
Incorrect drilling / fixing of saddles and ferrules (f) may have resulted in defects, leading to
leakage and ultimately to failure.
uPVC pipes lose strength and fracture toughness over long periods of time (h), and may
therefore result increased risk of failure. Potential contributors to this are the leaching or
migration of chemicals from the pipe wall (g) the migration of vinyl chloride monomer
and/or leaching of lead; this may possibly relate to the pH of the water and chlorine content.
Leaking of water under pressure from holes, cracks or defects may result in increased
stresses in the adjacent pipe walls (i), which may ultimately result in failure.
Many of these issues relate to the manufacture, handling, storage and installation of the
pipes, and this may be a significant ‘Gap’ in information which might be useful in assessing
the levels of risk for different uPVC pipes.

Some of this information might be available from manufacturers’, contractors’ or
‘purchasers’ records (or particular manufacturers’ specifications relating to their processes
and/or their guidelines for subsequent storage and installation), while some information
may be available from epidemiological investigations – looking into patterns of failures
across the country and relating these back to particular methods of manufacture, storage
and installation etc.
It may be possible through this type of approach to relate existing uPVC pipelines to factors
and parameters such as deterioration in tensile strength, and fracture toughness and
probability of defects etc.
Description Very Good Some Little or

None
Good
Pipes (general, background, Y

physical characteristics etc.)
Deterioration / Causes y
Failure mechanisms y
Leakage / development of leaks y
Joints y
Other issues – egg manufacture, y

storage, installation,
epidemiology etc.
Rehabilitation of CI, DI, Steel, clay etc. pipes
Pipe bursting has proven to be a very valuable means of pipeline rehabilitation. The pipeline
rehabilitation industry has adopted “pipe bursting” as the name of the process of rupturing
brittle pipes (e.g., cast iron, clay, etc.). A variation employed for ductile materials (i.e., ductile
iron, steel, etc.), is called “pipe splitting”, which uses cutters to achieve enlargement of the
host pipe. Preparation of the host pipe to receive the HDPE pipe is accomplished with a cone
shaped head in both bursting and splitting processes. (PPI Handbook of Polyethylene Pipe,
2nd ed., Ch16.)
Hydrocarbons do not degrade polyethylene but can diffuse through the wall of HDPE pipe in
areas of gross contamination. The exterior contact may affect saddle fusion connections,
thus, after HDPE pipes have been exposed to grossly contaminated soils, mechanical
connections may be preferred (PPI Handbook of Polyethylene Pipe, 2nd ed., Ch 9). . In
addition, while measures need to be taken to limit the impact of hydrocarbon permeation,
the vast majority of HDPE water pipe installations will never be impacted by this problem
(http://plasticpipe.org/pdf/ppi-comment-permeation-hydrocarbons.pdf)

Appendix 6 Questionnaire
Zero Leakage by 2050
Welcome to Our Survey
Thank you for participating in our survey. Your feedback is important.
UK WATER INDUSTRY RESEARCH
ACHIEVING ZERO LEAKAGE BY 2050
The Basic Mechanisms of Bursts and Leakage
UKWIR have awarded the first stage of this project to the University of Surrey (UoS) to carry
out an assessment of what research and development will be required to facilitate the path
to zero leakage.
The objectives include that the research will be able to bring benefits to the whole of the
industry and part of this project includes the collection of information from across the
industry, in the UK and also other countries where there are similar networks. One part of
the investigation involves asking for information using the questionnaire below.
We expect this may take up to approximately one hour to complete, and the information
you can provide will be of great value to the industry and in aiming to attain the objective of
how we can achieve zero leakage.
We are aiming to collect information from the owners and operators of water networks, and
also from academia, consultants and other technical specialists in the UK and around the
world. Some of the questions may not therefore be appropriate for your particular
organisation, in which case please leave these blank.
For UK organisations, we understand that some of the information might be available,

possibly in other formats, in other databases but we would greatly appreciate if you can
provide it here, to avoid any risk of misunderstandings or of retrieval of inappropriate data.
We understand that some of the data relating to leakage within your Organisation may be
confidential, but it would be very useful to the project if we can collect as much information
you are able to provide, and the questions have been structured with the aim of avoiding
any potentially difficult ‘areas’ where data confidentiality might be an issue.

Introduction
The current research and this questionnaire specifically are grouped into three key themes:
A: Areas for investigation for the overall project include:
What are the causes of bursts and leakage in pipe networks?
What are the failure mechanisms?
How do leaks form and grow over time?
How do pipes, joints and fittings of different materials deteriorate in service?
B: What factors influence deterioration rates? For example:
Soil types and soil properties, and the mechanisms of soil-pipe interaction?
Water quality and water temperature?
Pipeline installation methods?
C: How does leakage relate to deterioration, as pipes will usually deteriorate to some extent
before they begin to leak?
What impact does pressure have on deterioration and burst frequencies?
Are pressure transients significant?
Is fatigue due to diurnal pressure variations significant?
What is the influence of weather, and climatic extremes?
Is traffic loading significant?
Recurrence - does fixing one leak often cause another to break out?
These themes will be referred to throughout the questionnaire.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for completing the
questionnaire. If you prefer, a word version is available from d.jesson@surrey.ac.uk. Please
also use this email address if you have any questions.

INFORMATION ON THE NETWORKS OWNED / OPERATED BY YOUR ORGANISATION OR

ABOUT WHICH YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE
1. Please provide details of the main function of your Organisation (please tick the
appropriate box in columns 1,2 or 3) and the country in which you are based in column 4
Country in which based

Overall lengths of pipes and networks owned / operated by your Organisation
For the purposes of this questionnaire, please use your own organisation's definitions for
trunk mains, distribution mains, and service pipes (including, as appropriate,
communication and supply pipes).
2. Please provide details of overall lengths of pipes and networks owned / operated by your
Organisation (in km)
Total lengths of trunk
mains
Total lengths of
distribution mains
Estimated total length of

Communication Pipes
Estimated total length of

Supply Pipes
(It is recognised that accurate figures for communication and supply pipes may not be
available, in which case, please provide estimated lengths)

Materials Used in Your Network
Across the UK, a number of different materials have been used by the water industry at
different times. This has left a legacy of networks comprised of complex cohorts which can
be described by material, age, size, location, amongst other factors.
3. Please list all the materials found in your trunk main network, in decreasing order of total
length. If you have total lengths availble, please incude these.
4. Please list all the materials found in your distribution main network, in decreasing order of
total length. If you have total lengths availble, please incude these.
5. Please list all the materials found in service pipes, in decreasing order of total length. If
you have total lengths availble, please incude these.
6. Considering the information provided to answer Q3-5, which of these materials cause you
concern in terms of leakage? Please give a brief explanation for each material, e.g. "it is the
majority of the network", or "it is most prone to degradation" or...

Other Issues
In addition to the complex mix of materials used in the networks across the UK, a number
of other factors affect leakage. These can be climatic/seasonal e.g. the increase in burst
rates associated with "Winter Events", operational e.g. pressure surges, a function of the
pipeline e.g. joints, or due to a number of other 'internal' and 'external' factors.
7. In terms of the three themes listed in the Introduction (A, B and C), have you analysed or
assessed any relationships between leakage and factors such as deterioration, age, ground
conditions, or any other factors, for different types / sizes of pipes?
8. Again, in terms of the three themes listed in the Introduction (A, B and C), if you have
conducted any research, which you are able to share, into any of the factors listed in Q7,
please provide brief details of the results of the analyses/assessments here, including
references from any publications arising from the work. If more convenient, please email a
copy of the report to d.jesson@surrey.ac.uk.

INFORMATION ON CURRENT LEVELS OF LEAKAGE
9. Please provide a breakdown of your pre-MLE leakage levels for 2015/16 as follows:
Trunk main leakage
(Ml/d)
Service reservoir leakage

(Ml/d)
Distribution leakage
(Ml/d)
Supply pipe leakage

(Ml/d)
Total leakage (Ml/d)

And Finally
Have you carried out any research or investigations into pipes and leakage, not covered by
the subjects above?
10. Returning to the three themes listed in the Introduction (A, B and C), please provide brief
details of any research you are able to share. Again, if more convenient, please email a copy
to d.jesson@surrey.ac.uk.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Your input is
greatly appreciated.

The Basic Mechanisms of Bursts and Leakage

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ACHIEVING ZERO LEAKAGE BY

2050: THE BASIC MECHANISMS OF

Report Ref. No. 17/WM/08/60

Report Title Achieving Zero Leakage By 2050: The Basic

Project Management Amanda Fletton, on behalf of UKWIR

Contractor University of Surrey

Author of Report Farrow, J

Period Covered 2016

Published by UK Water Industry Research Limited

First published 2017

ISBN 1 84057 835 1

 UK Water Industry Research Limited 2017

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

Printed by Webree.com Ltd.

UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

 Develop a standardized approach to the classification of degradation type (and

 Develop appropriate material degradation tools to predict the future development of

 Establish appropriate methods to repair, replace or rehabilitate deteriorated pipes

 Establish appropriate information forums to assist with the publication and

UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

 What research and development is currently in progress?

From this, five key areas have been identified:

1. The basic mechanisms of bursts and leakage;

1 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

3. Leak repair methods;

4. Leak free new networks; and

This report addresses the first of these items.

a) What are the causes of bursts and leakage in pipe networks?

2) What factors influence deterioration rates? For example:

a) What impact does pressure have on deterioration and burst frequencies?

2 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

2.2 A brief history of the water utilities of the UK

3 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

2.3 Extent of the problem

4 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

300 - Southeast area

5 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

Mains Bursts per 1000km

Figure 2.3 Leakage as a percentage of distribution input

6 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

 Quantifying water losses

 Leak detection, location, and repair

 Pressure and asset management.

2.4.2 Quantifying Water losses

2.4.3 Leakage monitoring

7 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

2.4.4 Leakage Detection, Location and Repair

8 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

 Mains replacement (targeted at street level),

2.4.5 Pressure management and leakage estimation

where c and N1 are the leakage coefficient and exponent respectively.

An accurate determination of the leakage exponent is essential in order to be able to control

9 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

10 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

1. Areas for investigation

11 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

2. What factors influence deterioration rates?

12 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60

3. How does leakage relate to deterioration?

13 UKWIR Report Ref No 17/WM/08/60