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Quantifying the effectiveness of cathodic protection in water mains

From National Research Council Canada

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Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Research in Construction
FormatText, Article
ConferenceNACE International Seminar, Northern Area, Montreal Section: 01 August 2002, Quebec City, QC
Subjectwater distribution network, water main rehabilitation, long-term planning, cathodic protection; Water mains
Abstract
Cathodic protection (CP) of metallic water mains has been proven in many cases to be an effective method of reducing breakage frequency and extending the useful life of pipes, however, the effectiveness of CP can vary with specific conditions of water mains. The effectiveness of CP can ultimately be expressed in terms of economic benefits obtained as a result of reduction in breakage frequency and deferral of pipe replacement. Quantifying CP effectiveness can prove to be challenging because there are many factorscontributing to variability in water main breaks while few water utilities have sufficient data to support credible research efforts. In this paper we present an approach that was developed in collaboration with 12Canadian water utilities from Quebéc, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Breakage patterns, before and after implementation of CP, are statistically analysed. Contributing factors such as pipe and soil characteristics, climatic changes and the type of CP (retrofit or hotspot) are explicitly considered. Once the parameters of these breakage patterns are extracted, a thorough economic analysis is performed. A computer application is being developed to facilitate the usage of this approach for the long-term planning of water main management and renewal.
Publication date
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NRC numberNRCC 45721
NRCC 15003
NPARC number20378437
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Record identifier7913659e-6272-4b15-8c48-099cae5e7928
Record created2012-07-24
Record modified2020-03-30
Date modified: