A plentiful supply of clean potable water is surely an essential component of a healthy living environment. However increasing living standards and population densities continue to put pressure on available water supplies, such that investment in new sources and water treatment facilities is expanding rapidly and will continue to do so for some time to come.

Whether it is to expand the purification of water from existing sources, or to bring on–stream completely new types of supply such as desalination, we find an increasing need for tubes, valves, filters and other components made from stainless steel. Its corrosion resistance is an obvious benefit for such components but so, too, are its ease of fabrication and its cleanability.

A further important consideration is the inert nature of stainless steel from a biological standpoint. Increasingly stringent water purity standards require materials that do not leach into the water significant traces of hazardous constituents.

In this section, papers and other publications describe the many ways that stainless steels help to prevent contamination of our lakes and rivers as well as to treat and distribute the water from our taps that so often we take for granted.

In sewage treatment stainless steel has a track record of superior technical and economic performance. Its further development potential in this application is huge: urbanisation is accelerating throughout the world. The efficient handling and treatment of waste water is a key element of sustainable urban development. Euro Inox has issued a new brochure, which shares current experience with designers and operators of waste water treatment facilities. The 28-page publication “Performance of Stainless Steels in Waste Water Installations” examines the specific requirements on stainless steel in this environment and makes conclusions for grade selection, design, fabrication and installation. Besides the impact of the waste water, also atmospheric influences and the corrosion resistance in soil are addressed. Finally, the economic benefits are described in terms of life cycle cost.

The first water desalination plant in the UK, the Thames Gateway Water Treatment Works in East London, opens in 2010. It will treat water from the brackish waters of the River Thames, producing up to 140 million litres of clean, fresh, drinking water each day during times of drought or extended periods of low rainfall, or to maintain supplies in the event of an incident at other water treatment facilities. Within the plant, saline river water passes through lamella clarifiers to remove solid particles. The clarifiers are large, open tanks containing a coarse filter media that is supported by a grillage of 78 stainless steel I-beams.

The first water desalination plant in the UK, the Thames Gateway Water Treatment Works in East London, opens in 2010. It will treat water from the brackish waters of the River Thames, producing up to 140 million litres of clean, fresh, drinking water each day during times of drought or extended periods of low rainfall, or to maintain supplies in the event of an incident at other water treatment facilities. Within the plant, saline river water passes through lamella clarifiers to remove solid particles. The clarifiers are large, open tanks containing a coarse filter media that is supported by a grillage of 78 stainless steel I-beams.

Provides information on the design, fabrication, installation, and economy of stainless steel in piping systems. Discusses advantages and limitations, costs in terms of design, material, fabrication, and erection, and applicable standards. Fourteen tables provide data on physical and mechanical properties.

This document provides information about stainless steel fabrication practices and their implications on corrosion behaviour when exposed to waters and waste waters. This information is intended for fabricators, designers, specifiers and end users. Originally written to assist engineers involved in the United Kingdom's water industry, its content is also relevant internationally. Additional information, frequently requested, about grade selection guidelines, alloy properties, design and health and safety aspects are also included.

Filtration is part of our daily life … and stainless steel is the material of choice for filtration. In this animation you can find out how, why and where!

Never has there been a time in Australia when water preservation was so critical.  As populations rise and dam levels fall, the importance of treating and reusing water has become not a question of “if” but a question of “when”.

Here, you will find information which will help you to select, fabricate, use and recycle nickel-containing materials that come into contact with water.

This excerpt from the Book of New Applications 2009, gives more information on water applications.

The following are included here:

·         Press Fitting System for Drinking Water Pipes

·         Solar Hot Water Heater

·         Water Treatment Plant

·         Fasteners for Solar Panels

·         Thermal Solar System

The contents of this article is: Requirements of the revised drinking water regulations and DIN 50930-6 to the material used in drinking water installations, Hot dip galvanized steel, copper and stainless steels in water-bearing plants; Microbiologically influenced corrosion in metallic and nonmetallic materials and their avoidance, and to preserve drinking water quality with particular attention to the operation of the installed equipment; material selection, proper processing and efficiency in the drinking water piping systems from stainless steel for optimum water quality, stainless steel linings for drinking water tanks - new construction and renovation; innovations in water treatment.

[article in German, please contact ISER for more information]

The contents of this article is: Introduction; groups of stainless steels: ferritic stainless steels, austenitic stainless steels, austenitic-ferritic stainless steels, martensitic stainless steels, overarching statements about the mechanical properties, corrosion resistance to water and their influencing factors: general, material-related factors, waterside factors, site factors, occupational effect sizes; Practical Experiences: collection, treatment and distribution of drinking water, sewage, other applications in the water, life / cost, frequently asked questions; Literature.

[article in German, please contact ISER for more information]

This article discusses the influence groups and their size, applications, conversions and literature of chloride containing water.

[article in German, please contact ISER for more information]

The following are being discussed:

·         Functional aspects

·         Architectural features

·         Environmental qualities

·         Choice of grade and surface

·         Applications (roof geometries, bitumen-felt roofs, historic monuments)

·         Guidelines (tools, forming, soft-soldering, adhesive bonding, fixings)

·         Accessories

[Besides English, this publication is also available in Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Swedish. Clicking on the language will open the pdf]

The purpose of this paper is to frame the role of stainless steel as a material at the service of the integrated water cycle. It presents specific characteristics such as chemical properties and physical and mechanical resistance to corrosion.

[this article is in Italian for more information please contact Centro Inox]

The purpose of this paper is to define the types of stainless steel most suitable to use; assess more practical and reliable joining systems, and finally to present some of the most significant drinking water applications with stainless steels to date.

[this article is in Italian for more information please contact Centro Inox]

The purpose of this paper is to present the role of stainless steel as a material to serve for potable water. As confirmed by recent applications, stainless steel is gaining its own identity in an area which, however, has other materials as protagonists.

[this article is in Italian for more information please contact Centro Inox]

The remediation of pipelines for potable water that are in a bad state is an issue that has absolute priority for public governments. More reliable and durable solutions are needed. In this article the maintenance of two interventions, performed using a method that allows the introduction of stainless steel pipe inside of the existing pipelines, are described.

[this article is in Italian for more information please contact Centro Inox]

We know that the networks of pipes for the transport and distribution of drinking water have an important efficiency problem; about 40% of the fluid is dispersed between supply and use. Certainly part of these losses are due to aging equipment and to particular environmental conditions, but in many cases they are also linked to deficiencies in the materials and premature corrosive attacks.

[this article is in Italian for more information please contact Centro Inox]

Many changes have occurred in the criteria on how to choose tubes for heat exchangers for condensers in steam power installations. Currently the tendency is to use fewer materials and to reduce the wall thickness of the tubes; in the mean time general improvements are done to the materials. This implies a departure from traditional copper alloys.

[this article is in Italian for more information please contact Centro Inox]

Paper delivered by Chris Quinn at BSSA Conference 2000

This publication outlines the grades, design and fabrication principles for the optimum use of stainless steel in the water industry.

This paper contains the full text of the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) application 56.4.477, published by the Steel Construction Institute in 2002. There are two distinct parts, the Code of Practice and the Operational Guidelines. A comprehensive range of issues is covered, including material selection and approval, design, welding, fabrication, post fabrication cleaning, installation, maintenance and inspection (construction, commissioning and operation).

The excellent corrosion resistance of stainless steels can provide society and industry with better water quality and reduced environmental impact at lower cost. A European seminar was organised in Brussels in November 2003 by Euro Inox and CeoCor to highlight the opportunities for more use of stainless steels in the treatment, storage and distribution of drinking water. The article is based on a paper given at the seminar, augmented by highlights of other presentations.

A summary of the regulations affecting stainless steels used in the treatment and supply of drinking water is shown. The Water Industry Acts of 1989 and 1991, Regulation 25 is discussed. The approval of stainless steels for use under regulation 25 involves leachate determinations based on BS7766 to the DWI Operational Guidelines and Code of Practice for Stainless Steel Products in Drinking Water Supply. The approval process for stainless steel products is briefly summarized.

This paper was presented at the seminar “Materials in Contact with Drinking Water”, organized for the Water Treatment & Environmental Management Industry in Leeds in June 2002. A review of the approval of stainless steels to the DWI Regulation 25 and the eventual publication of the DWI Operational Guidelines and Code of Practice for Stainless Steel Products in Drinking Water Supply is discussed. The importance of material selection, design, fabrication and maintenance and inspection for the successful application of stainless steels in drinking water applications is outlined, before a more in depth discussion of the approval process for stainless steel is covered.

Stainless steel grades, such as the 304 or 316 types are generally suitable for storing and handling cold or unheated drinking (town's) waters.

Localised corrosion by crevice or pitting mechanisms is not usually a hazard in properly designed, fabricated and finished tanks handling clean waters of drinking quality.

Hot water tanks however may be at risk from stress corrosion cracking (SCC)

Rouging is sometimes found in high purity hot water systems, usually appearing as a thin red or black powdery or 'slimy' deposit.

The mechanism that causes rouging does not appear to be fully understood, but is connected to destabilization of the passive layer. Measures that improve corrosion resistance can help prevent rouging.

Passivation and smoothing of surface finishes by electropolishing have been used to reduce the risk of rouge formation.

Type 304 and 316 stainless steels are normally successfully used in the range of water compositions encountered during water and waste water treatment. They do not experience general thinning and therefore do not require a corrosion allowance. This allows thin and light weight sections to be made that are readily transportable, and have a low maintenance requirement throughout a long service life.

There is increasing pressure to provide more clean drinking water to more people. At the same time, impact on the environment must be minimized. Stainless steels can and do play an important part in providing cost-effective solutions to these requirements. However, this can only happen when the relevant properties and costs are understood by those who have to make the choice of material for a particular application.

In pure water at normal (ambient) temperatures, stainless steels can be considered "inert". Except for chemically purified waters there are various levels of anions, including chlorides, which can be aggressive to stainless steels under certain circumstances. General corrosion over large areas of the surface is not usually encountered on stainless steels, due to formation and maintenance of an inert "passive" surface layer, but localised corrosion can occur due to the breakdown of the passive layer by chlorides at discrete sites.

This excerpt from the ISSF Book of New Applications 2007, gives more information on water applications.

The following are included here:

·         Quick-connect coupler

·         Evaporators for multi-effect distillation

·         Ferritic stainless steel water tank

Water is mankind's most precious resource. Stainless steel is an ideal material to handle this element of life. Let us take you on a guided tour of the applications of stainless steel in a water context.

Stainless steel pipes circulate water through tubular reactors, custom-built of stainless steel. The reactors contain a patented device that uses ultraviolet light to destroy contaminants.

The largest water treatment facility in the United States has been completed on schedule, thanks to an automated welding process that is well-suited to joining nickel-containing stainless steel pipe.

This document provides information about stainless steel fabrication practices and their implications on corrosion behaviour when exposed to waters and waste waters. Aspects of grade selection guidelines, alloy properties, design and health and safety aspects are also included.

Discusses the use of welded stainless steel piping in types 304L and 316L which has been successfully used in over 100 PWTPs and related potable water applications in North America. Stainless steel has been used since 1965 for the large, central-control, gravity filter in water treatment plants with good performance in over 75 installations.

Nickel Institute reference book series, 1987. Provides engineers with information that allows them to make reasonable preliminary estimates of the manner in which the operating environment is likely to affect performance of the various stainless steel grades available.

Since the late 1960s, over 1600 municipal waste water treatment plants in the USA have been built with stainless steel aeration piping, transfer piping for digester gas and sludge, sliding gates, valves, tanks, screens, hand rails, and other equipment. Stainless steel was selected to reduce the high maintenance and replacement costs associated with less corrosion-resistant materials. Overall experience has been good to excellent.

This report includes information on the selection and fabrication of stainless steel equipment in distillation-type desalination plants. An in-service test for stainless steels was provided by a three -year study of the operation of a 11 000-litre per-day distillation plant in Freeport, Tx, U.S.A. Photographs show typical details of the test plant and specific corrosion problems that were encountered in its operation.

Information about cost-effective, durable, potable water distribution systems using stainless steel.

Presentation by P. Cutler from the Nickel Institute about global applications for stainless steel in the water industry. BSSA Conference 2008.

The Italian tourist town of Como has built an underground drinking water plant that uses nickel stainless steel, ensuring corrosion-resistance and low maintenance.

The city of Matsuyama on the Japanese island of Shiboku has built the country’s first stainless steel municipial water tank to ensure its residents a safe, steady supply of drinking water well into the 21^st century. This article tells why they chose stainless steel.

Paper originally delivered at the BSSA Conference 'Stainless Solutions for a Sustainable Future' held in Rotherham on 3rd April 2003. Stainless steels are used extensively throughout the Changi water plant that will provide a long-term sustainable future for the citizens of Singapore throughout this century. The role of stainless steels in Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, Desalination Plant and other water treatment projects is also touched upon briefly.

High-nickel austenitic stainless steel S34565, which contains 17% nickel, may be the solution to some of the corrosion challenges facing operators of desalination plants worldwide.

Presentation on the occasion of the workshop “Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Applications”, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.)

This paper summarizes the basic requirements of the material in potable water applications. The paper was produced by The Steel Construction Institute (SCI) on behalf of the British Stainless Steel Association (BSSA). It has been accepted as a code of practice in the UK, but is also useful as an advisory technical document beyond the national context.

11019 Stainless Steel Plumbing 10076 Guidelines for the Use of Stainless Steel in Municipal Waste Water Treament Plants 10072 Water Supply Wells for Reverse Osmosis Plants 10003 Reverse Osmosis -- Which Stainless Steel to Use? 12005 A Report on the Performance of Stainless Steel Pipe for Water Supply in Underground Soil Environments 10008 H2O: Nickel's Contribution to Distilled Water, Dams and Condensers

This letter by the DWI clarifies the approval status for stainless steel products used in contact with Drinking Water in the UK.

Paper by J. Baron, CRECEP, Paris (France) presented at the workshop “Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Application”, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.)
It covers European Co-normative research 1995 –1999 and looks at some current EU standards.

Paper by Dr. V. Boneschi, Centro Inox, Milan (Italy) and Dr. A. Quazzo, SMAT S.p.A., Turin (Italy). Presented at the  workshop “Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Applications”, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.) Covers  types of stainless steel used in the water cycle and refers to relevant hygiene, release, laws and standards. Also illustrates recent examples of applications in Italy with reference to specific case studies.

Paper by P.-J. Cunat, Euro Inox, Brussels (Belgium), presented at the workshop “Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Applications”, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.) Covers  electrochemical investigations and discusses the passivity phenomenon, the critical pitting potential, the open circuit potential (OCP) and metal leaching experiments

Paper by Dr. P. Cutler, Nickel Development Institute, Birmingham (UK) presented at the workshop “Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Applications”, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.). Discusses the reasons why stainless steels are used in drinking water applications and covers grade selection, life-cycle cost benefits and design and fabrication aspects.

Paper by Prof. J. Ledion, Ecole Nationale Sup. d'Arts et Métiers, Paris, France presented at the workshop “Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Applications, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.) Covers the importance of water composition, the aggressiveness of water, the driving forces for corrosion and the corrosiveness of water towards metals.

Paper by Dr. H. Schlerkmann, Mannesmann Forschungsinstitut GmbH, Duisburg and Dr. H. Klemp, Mapress, Langenfeld (Germany) Presented at the workshop Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Applications,, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.) It covers Metallic materials for potable water pipe systems and a Stainless steel pressfitting system for potable water

Paper presented at the workshop “Stainless Steel in Drinking Water Applications”, Brussels, 19th November 2003, organised by Euro Inox with support from CEOCOR (Brussels) and GfKorr (Frankfurt/M.) Covers  the limitations of conventional systems,  the characteristics of stainless steel solutions and practical aspects of the lining process

Stainless steel pipes for drinking water systems facilitate the job of keeping water clean and quality standards high.