TABLE OF CONTENTS The effects of corrosion may not be evident without monitoring. The effects can be expensive, and in the case of corrosion by-products such as lead, copper, and cadmium, they can be injurious to the health of segments of the population.
Corrosion has many causes, and many techniques exist to measure or cure corrosion. Corrosion in a system depends on a specific water and the reaction of that water with specific pipe materials; therefore, each utility is faced with a unique set of problems. General methods of measuring and monitoring for corrosion can, however, provide a basis for a sound corrosion control program for any utility.
The first concern for a utility is to meet all regulatory sampling requirements, in terms of the number of sampling sites, the location and frequency of the samples, and the use of approved and generally accepted analytical methods. Beyond these requirements, monitoring programs may address other questions. Some recent reviews discuss several aspects of investigating and monitoring for corrosion control and system studies (AWWARF-TZW, 1996; AWWARF-DUGW Forschungstelle, 1985; Lytle and Schock, 1997; Schock and George, 1991; AWWARF, 1994, 1998; Wysock et al., 1995; Schock, Levin, and Cox, 1988).
The many factors responsible for variability in lead concentrations that can limit the accurate assessment of exposure levels, treatment performance, and regulatory compliance have been reviewed (Schock, 1990a; Schock, Levin, and Cox, 1988). These factors are, in fact, not unique to lead in most cases. The goal of a...
