Chemosphere 119 (2015) 1141–1147

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Chemosphere
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere

Identification and characterization of steady and occluded water in

drinking water distribution systems
Huiyan Tong a, Peng Zhao a,⇑, Hongwei Zhang a, Yimei Tian a, Xi Chen a, Weigao Zhao a, Mei Li b,⇑
a
Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

h i g h l i g h t s

 Characterization of water from the interior of tubercles to the bulk was analyzed.
 Occluded water is acid and rich in iron, chloride, sulfate, nitrate, and manganese.
 Steady water acts as a transition layer.
 Results further understandings of corrosion and secondary pollution in water quality.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Deterioration and leakage of drinking water in distribution systems have been a major issue in the water
Received 27 June 2014 industry for years, which are associated with corrosion. This paper discovers that occluded water in the
Received in revised form 28 August 2014 scales of the pipes has an acidic environment and high concentration of iron, manganese, chloride, sulfate
Accepted 4 October 2014
and nitrate, which aggravates many pipeline leakage accidents. Six types of water samples have been
Available online 25 October 2014
analyzed under the flowing and stagnant periods. Both the water in the exterior of the tubercles and stag-
Handling Editor: Shane Snyder nant water carry suspended iron particles, which explains the occurrence of ‘‘red water’’ when the system
hydraulic conditions change. Nitrate is more concentrated in occluded water under flowing condition in
Keywords: comparison with that in flowing water. However, the concentration of nitrate in occluded water under
Drinking water quality stagnant condition is found to be less than that in stagnant water. A high concentration of manganese
Secondary pollution control is found to exist in steady water, occluded water and stagnant water. These findings impact secondary
Corrosion mechanism pollution and the corrosion of pipes and containers used in drinking water distribution systems. The
Steady water unique method that taking occluded water from tiny holes which were drilled from the pipes’ exteriors
Occluded water carefully according to the positions of corrosion scales has an important contribution to research on cor-
rosion in distribution systems. And this paper furthers our understanding and contributes to the growing
body of knowledge regarding occluded environments in corrosion scales.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction for chemical and microbiological quality. However, drinking water

Access to safe drinking water is a basic concern for human
health. Therefore, the quality of drinking water has been a major
issue in the water industry for the last few decades. Meanwhile,
with the improvement of people’s living standards, the require-
ments of drinking water quality are getting higher and higher.
The drinking water treatment effluent usually meets the standards
⇑ Corresponding authors at: Department of Environmental Engineering, School of
Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
Tel./fax: +86 22 27408298 (P. Zhao). School of the Environment, Nanjing University,
163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, China. Tel./fax: +86 25
89680365 (M. Li).
E-mail addresses: zhpeng@tju.edu.cn (P. Zhao), meili@nju.edu.cn (M. Li).
deteriorates in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS), and
results in an increase in turbidity, iron concentration, the total bac-
terial count, quickly decay of disinfectant residual, and even aes-
thetic water quality problems (Franzmann et al., 2001; McNeill
and Edwards, 2001; Cheng et al., 2005). According to a water qual-
ity survey in 36 cities in China, the quality of water in the pipe net-
works was worse than that of drinking water treatment effluent
with turbidity increasing 0.3 NTU, chroma increasing 1.5 degrees,
iron concentration increasing 0.02 mg L 1 and the bacteria number
increasing 22.6 cfu mL 1 (Wang, 2007). Water quality changes
with time and space in the DWDS due to unwanted physical,
chemical and biochemical reactions occurring with long residence
time (Edwards, 2004; Huck and Gagnon, 2004). Deterioration of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.10.005
0045-6535/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1142 H. Tong et al. / Chemosphere 119 (2015) 1141–1147
water quality in DWDS would lead to consumer complaints and
increase health risks.
Metallic pipes have been used as the prime choice in the field of
urban water supply for decades. The percentage of cast iron and
steel pipes used in DWDS are estimated 90% in China, 56.6% in
USA, and 67.2% in Italy (Li et al., 2010; Świetlik et al., 2012). After
years of use in DWDS, metallic pipes usually are covered with
deposits of corrosion products. Internal corrosion of metallic pipes
is common in DWDS, and is more aggravated with the pipe aging.
The corrosion scale is one of the main factors causing the deterio-
ration of drinking water quality in DWDS, such as ‘‘discolored
water’’ issues (Sarin et al., 2004; Yang et al., 2012). Furthermore,
corrosion scales could accumulate many trace inorganic contami-
nants (e.g., lead, arsenic, nickel, vanadium, and uranium) (Peng
and Korshin, 2011; Peng et al., 2012), serve as the breeding ground
for microbes, increase the energy required to deliver water, and
lead to the pipe damage (Sarin et al., 2004). According to the statis-
tics in China in 2011, the total leakage of water supply pipe net-
work of China reached 60  108 m3 d 1 (Zhuang, 2013). The
formation process and physicochemical characteristics of corrosion
scales in drinking water pipes are affected by the pipe material, the
hydraulic conditions and the contacted water quality that include
pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), alkalinity, temperature, concentrations
of sulfate, chloride and natural organic matter (NOM), disinfectant
type and level, microorganisms, inhibitor applied, hydraulic pat-
terns (Camper, 2004; Gerke et al., 2008; Ray et al., 2010). The pro-
cess is a complex process. Despite numerous research papers
dedicated to understand the corrosion problems, it needs more
research to further our understanding of mechanisms and factors
affecting corrosion and water quality in the distribution system.
Typical iron corrosion scales are porous and have a layered
structure: a surface layer, a hard shell-like layer, and a porous core
layer (Sarin et al., 2001, 2004). The calculated porosity of the tuber-
cle interiors is 40–54% (Sarin et al., 2001). The porous core contains
solid and fluid, which has totally different composition with the
drinking water. These facts have not been well analyzed. It was
firstly discovered by Baylis (1926) in 1926. He found that the inte-
rior of the tubercle was filled with water, and the water had much
lower pH and very high concentration of chloride and sulfate com-
pared to flowing water. This was confirmed by Tuovinen et al.
(1980) and Nawrocki et al. (2010). According to Nawrocki et al.
(2010), the water surrounding the tubercles in the pipe and in
the interior of the tubercles is rich in ions and has reductive prop-
erties and relatively high concentrations of simple carboxylic acids.
In fact, corrosion develops on inner surfaces of the pipes. The water
has an acid environment and has high concentration of iron, man-
ganese, chloride and sulfate. It is different with the bulk water. It
may open a door for new mechanism of corrosion. This is one pos-
sible factor in relation to many pipeline leakage accidents. And
contaminants possibly migrate and transform between bulk water
and the water inside the tubercles. It may cause the secondary pol-
lution of drinking water quality. However, it is very difficult to
sample the water in the interior of the tubercles. And the sample
is very little and is easily diluted by stagnant or flowing water.
Therefore, the study has been stalled for so many years.
The purpose of this paper is to characterize the water in the
interior of the tubercles and to compare the water quality amongst
the following water, the stagnant water, the water in the exterior
of the tubercles, and the water in the interior of the tubercles. With
considerations of the two kinds of hydraulic conditions, six types of
water samples were collected for the analysis. The pH, inorganic
ions (Cl , SO24 , NO3 ), metal ions (Fe, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Zn, Sr) were
measured. The comparison of chemical composition of the six
types of water was also analyzed. The findings of this work have
an important contribution to the growing body of knowledge of
corrosion in the pipe network, better control of secondary pollu-
tion of water pipe network and pipeline leakage problems. And
the method of taking occluded water is unique and has an impor-
tant contribution to research on corrosion in distribution systems.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Preparation of corrosion pipes
Four fragments of corroded pipes obtained from replaced pipes
of the working distribution system were used for test, marked as A,
B, C and D. Two of the pipes are 100 mm diameter cast iron pipes
used about 30 years and the other two pipes are 200 mm diameter
steel pipes used about 26 years. Each fragment is about one meter
long. The four pipes have different extent of internal corrosion.
Four test devices were constructed carefully using the four pipes
and the fragments were fixed in the holding racks and placed ver-
tically. Tap water flowed into the system from the top and flowed
out from the bottom, and flowed through the specimens as single-
pass. The flow rate was 0.2 L s 1.
2.2. Water samples collection
Six different types of waters were sampled from the four test
pipes: (1) flowing water (FW) – that is the water delivered in
DWDS, (2) steady water under flowing condition (SWFC) – the
water that remains in tubercles’ exteriors when the water in the
pipe is flowing, (3) occluded water under flowing condition
(OWFC) – the water that remains in tubercles’ interiors when the
water in the pipe is flowing, (4) stagnant water (SW) – it is the
flowing water that prolonged retention in the pipe, (5) steady
water under stagnant condition (SWSC) – the water that remains
in tubercles’ exteriors when the water in the pipe is stagnating,
(6) occluded water under stagnant condition (OWSC) – the water
that remains in tubercles’ interiors when the water in the pipe is
stagnating. The six different types of waters are illustrated in
Fig. 1. The flowing water was taken by capillary pipettes in the
middle of the pipes. The stagnate water was collected by capillary
pipettes in the middle of the pipes after one day under stagnant
condition. Because corrosion scales were mostly tough and fragile,
tiny holes were drilled from the pipes’ exteriors carefully according
to the positions of corrosion scales in the pipes, and 1 mL of
occluded water from each hole was taken with syringes under
flowing and stagnant periods respectively. And 1 mL of steady
water was taken by capillary pipettes near the internal pipe wall
corresponding to the position of each hole under flowing and stag-
nant periods respectively. 15 mL of each type of waters were sam-
pled from one pipe fragments and stored at 4 °C prior to analysis.
2.3. Analytical methods
The water collected was split into filtered (0.45 lm membrane)
and unfiltered samples. Filtered samples were analyzed for dis-
solved iron, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Zn, Sr, Cl , SO24 , NO3 . Unfiltered
samples were acidified with 1% nitric acid and analyzed for total
iron concentration. The filtered and unfiltered water samples were
both diluted to analyze the inorganic ions and metal ions. The pH
of water samples was measured with the HACH HQ30d flexi porta-
ble meter. The inorganic anions (Cl , SO24 , NO3 ) were determined
by ion chromatography on DIONEX DX-600 system. The metal ions
(Fe, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Zn, Sr) are determined by Inductively Cou-
pled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (Agilent 7700x) which operated
in both the standard and dynamic reaction cell (DRC) modes. All
experiments were conducted in triplicate.
 H. Tong et al. / Chemosphere 119 (2015) 1141–1147
Fig. 1. The idea of six types of waters in the corroded distribution pipe. (a) Flowing
water (FW), steady water under flowing condition (SWFC), occluded water under
flowing condition (OWFC), (b) stagnant water (SW), steady water under stagnant
condition (SWSC), occluded water under stagnant condition (OWSC).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. General
Six different types of waters were sampled from corroded pipes
of drinking water distribution systems. All stagnant waters look
yellow and contain suspension of iron products of corrosion.
Steady waters are all the mixtures of water and particles. All
occluded waters look black or brown, and contain suspended prod-
ucts of corrosion. Some of these particles are black and some of
them are reddish brown. The results of water quality of the six dif-
ferent kinds of water from four corroded pipes of DWDS are shown
in Table 1. Occluded water may be diluted by steady water, despite
efforts were made to avoid the unwanted impacts. Steady water
may be also diluted by flowing water or stagnant water. But the
overall tendency remains the same: occluded water has astonish-
ing different properties from that of flowing water. The property
differences are discussed below.
3.2. pH analysis
The pH of steady water under flowing condition is close to that
of flowing water in all four pipe samples. But the pH of occluded
water under flowing condition is much lower than that of flowing
water. There are two major processes that affect hydrogen ion con-
centration in occluded water under flowing condition. The hydro-
lysis process of metal ions increases the acidification of occluded
1143
water under flowing condition and the diffusion process reduces
the component differences of water in the interiors and exteriors
of corrosion scales. The migration of hydrogen ions to the flowing
water is restricted by the corrosion scales. In addition, the pH is
affected by the anions that diffuse into the scale. The anions such
as chloride and sulfate are enriched in the occluded water under
flowing condition, the pH is expected to be low (Sarin et al.,
2004). The pH of stagnant water seems not to be substantially
affected by occluded water. But the pH of occluded water under
stagnant condition is a little lower than that of occluded water
under flowing condition except the samples in Pipe C, and is about
2.5 units lower than that of flowing water. Therefore it indicated
that the velocity has a great influence on the degree of acidification
of occluded water.
3.3. Fe analysis
The occluded water has very high total iron concentrations, up
to 394 mg L 1 in occluded water under flowing condition and
1561 mg L 1 in occluded water under stagnant condition (Fig. 2).
This indicates the high corrosion rate in the occluded spaces from
one perspective. The high concentration of dissolved iron is also
found in occluded water (Fig. 2). The anode reaction of iron corro-
sion is mainly the formation of ferrous iron from metal. The migra-
tion of ferrous irons to the flowing water is restricted due to
corrosion scales (Zhu and Guo, 2008). Although high dissolved iron
concentration exists in occluded water under flowing condition,
flowing water has low concentration of dissolved iron and the total
iron concentration meets the national standard of water quality
(Fig. 2). These phenomena also indicate that iron release decreased,
but the corrosion rate might increase (McNeill and Edwards, 2001).
The stagnant water looks yellow and contains suspended particles.
High levels of total iron can cause unpleasant smell, taste and ‘‘red
water’’ phenomena (Lehtola et al., 2004). The steady water con-
tains low concentrations of dissolved iron but high total iron con-
centrations (Fig. 2). This is because particles can be attached to the
pipe walls of the system by the steady state shear stress. These par-
ticles display cohesive-like properties and build up in layers on the
pipe wall, conditioned by the usual daily flow patterns within the
system. Once changes in the system hydraulics and specific
changes in shear stress at the pipe wall happen, particles can be
detached from the pipe walls and discoloration material would
be mobilized (Husband and Boxall, 2011; Furnass et al., 2013). This
also explains why stagnant water carries many suspended iron
particles from one perspective.
3.4. Chloride and sulfate analysis
The concentrations of chloride and sulfate in occluded water
under flowing condition are both much higher than that in flowing
water (Fig. 3). The concentrations of chloride and sulfate in
occluded water under stagnant condition are even much greater
when compared to that in stagnant water (Fig. 3), and both largely
increased in comparison with their concentrations in occluded
water under flowing condition except the samples in Pipe C
(Fig. 3). The mechanism of the enrichment of chloride and sulfate
in occluded water is assumed from the following hypotheses. The
first hypothesis is maintaining electroneutrality within the
occluded water. The second hypothesis takes into account the
products of corrosion. Corrosion scale, metal oxides and hydrox-
ides deposition, is a deposited film with anionic selectivity. Anions
such as chloride and sulfate are effectively adsorbed on the surface
of corrosion scale and diffuse into the scale (Zhu and Guo, 2008).
The third hypothesis is the destruction (upon oxygen from air) of
green rust. They can be stabilized with chloride and sulfate, but
they are labile and sensitive to oxygen. The destruction of green
1144 H. Tong et al. / Chemosphere 119 (2015) 1141–1147

Table 1
The results of waters’ quality from Pipe A, B, C and D.

Pipes ID Samples pH Total irona Dissolved irona Naa Mga Ka Caa Mna Zna Sra Cl a
SO24 a
NO3 a
Pipe A FW 7.12 0.248 0.051 22.420 20.451 5.705 4.262 0.011 0.046 0.317 65.041 133.572 6.877
SWFC 7.25 13.599 0.044 25.522 20.677 5.895 3.523 0.015 0.097 0.339 62.592 117.460 6.270
OWFC 5.12 394.409 276.810 19.997 15.575 4.944 2.854 2.742 0.117 0.262 325.387 517.198 18.292
SW 6.93 5.393 0.039 27.163 21.271 5.710 3.815 0.184 0.034 0.375 49.630 115.359 9.101
SWSC 7.06 10.067 0.044 27.732 21.803 5.904 3.927 0.172 0.027 0.379 47.861 111.573 8.049
OWSC 4.72 1151.985 1014.386 20.724 15.823 4.292 2.767 8.155 0.208 0.254 537.826 1481.130 5.035
Pipe B FW 7.20 0.256 0.033 33.023 18.475 3.509 3.357 0.007 0.021 0.320 31.823 83.425 9.097
SWFC 7.36 13.162 0.031 34.325 18.357 3.515 3.469 0.008 0.035 0.347 43.014 117.410 11.489
OWFC 5.46 165.400 111.864 34.096 16.171 2.968 3.177 1.303 2.819 0.304 150.106 409.426 10.061
SW 7.06 0.927 0.095 32.780 19.106 3.478 2.690 0.164 0.411 0.293 66.083 110.154 10.786
SWSC 6.91 7.300 0.009 32.168 19.732 3.190 2.798 0.127 0.247 0.293 72.047 133.439 10.283
OWSC 4.75 1560.935 822.459 33.234 17.105 3.941 2.822 6.987 0.743 0.303 571.558 1554.076 9.495
Pipe C FW 7.03 0.270 0.050 21.165 18.867 5.780 2.997 0.009 0.041 0.315 71.157 135.936 6.893
SWFC 7.21 12.088 0.055 26.935 20.450 6.422 3.553 0.008 0.054 0.340 69.228 128.046 14.850
OWFC 5.10 126.022 94.772 20.773 16.424 4.868 3.050 1.212 0.175 0.287 171.415 269.518 16.521
SW 6.91 2.374 0.039 27.646 22.278 5.958 3.882 0.145 0.028 0.379 49.597 127.626 8.497
SWSC 7.02 8.837 0.038 27.371 21.872 6.518 4.061 0.122 0.015 0.375 46.843 109.673 8.068
OWSC 5.34 165.444 97.327 22.072 17.694 4.758 3.066 3.260 0.055 0.281 144.197 234.650 7.808
Pipe D FW 7.18 0.205 0.011 32.631 19.319 3.768 3.090 0.004 0.018 0.285 22.907 62.766 7.793
SWFC 7.23 48.948 0.031 29.908 15.970 3.265 3.415 0.007 0.028 0.351 44.666 117.657 12.025
OWFC 5.61 270.471 82.434 26.619 19.476 2.700 2.990 0.747 6.812 0.279 142.684 294.515 9.333
SW 6.97 2.245 0.034 32.160 18.882 3.213 2.480 0.160 0.323 0.280 63.103 112.161 9.323
SWSC 6.47 32.685 0.016 34.323 19.492 3.843 2.997 0.114 0.352 0.307 69.797 142.067 8.232
OWSC 4.48 1176.266 506.343 22.779 9.339 2.522 2.166 2.495 1.197 0.170 404.146 823.490 7.793
a 1
Concentration unit: mg L .

Fig. 2. Concentrations of total iron (a) and dissolved iron (b) in flowing water (FW),
steady water under flowing condition (SWFC), occluded water under flowing Fig. 3. Concentrations of chloride (a) and sulfate (b) in flowing water (FW),
condition (OWFC), (b) stagnant water (SW), steady water under stagnant condition occluded water under flowing condition (OWFC), stagnant water (SW) and occluded
(SWSC), occluded water under stagnant condition (OWSC). water under stagnant condition (OWSC).
 H. Tong et al. / Chemosphere 119 (2015) 1141–1147
rust can cause the increase of chloride and sulfate concentrations
(Nawrocki et al., 2010). The migration of chloride and sulfate
between occluded water and flowing water needs further exten-
sive research.
3.5. Nitrate analysis
Nitrate results are a bit complicated. The concentration of
nitrate in occluded water under flowing condition is higher than
that in flowing water (Fig. 4). But the concentration of nitrate in
occluded water under stagnant condition is less than that in stag-
nant water, and even fewer than that in occluded water under
flowing condition (Fig. 4). However, the concentration of nitrate
in stagnant water is greater than that in flowing water (Fig. 4).
Occluded water located in the interior of corrosion scales can be
in contact with Fe0. Nitrates can be reduced by Fe0 and/or ‘‘green
rust’’ (Rodríguez-Maroto et al., 2009; Choi et al., 2012). This may
be responsible for the decrease of nitrate concentration in occluded
water under stagnant condition relative to that in stagnant water
(Fig. 4). The mechanisms of the enrichment, reduction and migra-
tion of nitrate in drinking water especially in occluded water are
not clear and need further study.
3.6. Mn analysis
Mn is difficult to remove by the conventional process (Sun,
2006). The presence of Mn can cause aesthetic problems, com-
plaints by consumers, and human health risk (Zeng et al., 2009;
Barbeau et al., 2011). Thus, the World Health Organization and
People’s Republic of China have issued health-based drinking-
water guidelines of 400 lg L 1 and 100 lg L 1 respectively
(WHO, 2004; PRC, 2006).
The concentrations of Mn in flowing water and steady water
under flowing condition are very low – much lower than the
national water quality standard (Fig. 5). However, occluded water
under flowing condition contains high concentration of Mn which
is even 260 times higher than that in flowing water (Fig. 5). We
suppose there are two main possible reasons. One may be that
inadequate removal of Mn at the water treatment plant can be
introduced into the DWDS as dissolved Mn2+ and change into Mn
deposition. Mn deposition can attach to the scale of the pipe under
pressurized flow conditions. Deposited MnO2 can be reduced back
to Mn2+ under anaerobic conditions, and in acid medium, Mn2+ is
the most stable form and other various forms of Mn can be spon-
Fig. 4. Nitrate concentration in flowing water (FW), occluded water under flowing
condition (OWFC), stagnant water (SW) and occluded water under stagnant
condition (OWSC).
1145
Fig. 5. Mn concentration in flowing water (FW), steady water under flowing
condition (SWFC), occluded water under flowing condition (OWFC), stagnant water
(SW), steady water under stagnant condition (SWSC), occluded water under
stagnant condition (OWSC).
taneously reverted to Mn2+ (Xiao et al., 2007). In addition, high
salinity in occluded water can produce the salt effect, causing the
exchange of iron and Mn ion by the same charged ions, such as
Na+ and Ca2+. The other reason may be that ductile iron pipes con-
tain no more than 1.5% of Mn except iron, carbon and silicon.
When flowing water is prolonged in the pipe, the contents of
Mn in stagnant water, steady water under stagnant condition
and occluded water under stagnant condition increase obviously
(Fig. 5). The highest concentration increase of Mn is about 42 times
in stagnant water, and about 16 times in steady water under stag-
nant condition. Occluded water under stagnant condition contains
Mn as many as 8.155 mg L 1. They all largely exceed the national
water quality standard. One of the possible reasons may be that
the anaerobic environment accelerates the reduction of Mn2+ from
deposited MnO2. In addition, the content increase of Mn in stag-
nant water and steady water under stagnant condition may be
derived from occluded water under stagnant condition. Therefore,
the high concentration of Mn in occluded water must be noted. The
mechanism of the enrichment of Mn needs further researches.
3.7. Sr analysis
From our results, we can see Sr exists not only in flowing water
but also in occluded water. Ingestion of nonradioactive Sr has been
considered a potential threat to human health in recent years
(Eikenberg et al., 2001; Langley et al., 2009). And Sr has been listed
on the Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 3 by the US EPA
(CCL3, 2009). Potential concentrations of Sr and mechanisms of
release and migration are currently unknown. In a word, Sr in
the occluded water should not be neglected.
3.8. New insights on corrosion mechanism and secondary pollution
In fact, there are three types of waters in corroded drinking
water pipes: bulk water, steady water and occluded water. Ions
migrate and transform among the three kinds of water (Fig. 6).
Occluded water has an acid environment, contains very high con-
centration of dissolved iron and also suspended Fe oxides (hydrox-
ides), and is enriched of chloride, sulfate, nitrate, and manganese.
Previously, numerous research papers have been dedicated to
understand the corrosion processes considering bulk water as the
solution medium. However, corrosion develops on inner surfaces
of the pipes. The solution medium that the corroded floor contacts
1146 H. Tong et al. / Chemosphere 119 (2015) 1141–1147
Fig. 6. Schematic representation of migration and transformation of main ions among bulk water, steady water and occluded water in corroded drinking water pipes.
directly is occluded water. The property of occluded water is much
different to that of bulk water. And green rust is mostly observed in
alkaline conditions while it is formed in occluded water which is
characterized by a low pH.
From the above we can see that the mechanism of corrosion and
the formation of corrosion scales should be studied taking the
occluded environment into account in the future. And migration
and transformation of chloride, sulfate, nitrate, manganese among
bulk water, steady water and occluded water should research
clearly. Also, strontium in the occluded water should not be
neglected during the water quality standard formulation stage.
4. Conclusions
An astonishing occluded environment is found inside the corro-
sion scales of the pipes. Occluded water under flowing condition
has an acid environment, contains very high concentration of dis-
solved iron and also suspended Fe oxides (hydroxides), and is
enriched of chloride, sulfate, nitrate and manganese. Occluded
water under stagnant condition becomes more acid and the con-
centrations of iron, chloride, sulfate, manganese are all higher than
those in occluded water under flowing condition. But fewer con-
centration of nitrate in occluded water under stagnant condition
is found. Steady water acts as transition layers. They both carry
low concentrations of dissolved iron but high total iron
concentrations.
The property of occluded water is much different to that of bulk
water. The results contribute to the growing body of knowledge
regarding occluded environments in corrosion. Once the effect of
occluded water on the pipeline leakage is known and the control
methods are provided, it would reduce the waste of water
resources, greatly increase the utility income, and improve the
quality of water services. In addition, contaminants migrate among
bulk water, steady water and occluded water. This causes the sec-
ondary pollution of water quality. And when hydraulic conditions
change, not only the property of the water in the bulk but also that
of the occluded water change greatly. The role of the hydraulic con-
ditions should be taken into consideration during the study of the
mechanism of corrosion and the migration of ions.
To sum up, all these results provide a better understanding of
the mechanism of corrosion, and confirm necessity of further
research on the role of occluded water in corrosion and secondary
pollution of water quality. Therefore, the occluded environment
simulation device should be designed to study the corrosion mech-
anism in occluded water and the migration of the main cations and
anions between bulk water and occluded water in the future.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (No. 51208353). We also thank Rushi Yao for his
kind help.
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