plastic pipe facts

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Third Party Sources

The Life-Cycle of

Polyethylene, M.

Rozental, Suez

Environnement, 2009.

Impact of Chlorine

Dioxide on the

Microstructure of

Polyethylene Pipes:

Study of a Crack

Network", DeVilliers

et al., Veolia

Environnement, 2009.

The Effects of

Chlorinated Water on

Polyethylene Pipes",

Eng, J. et al, Cytec

Industries, 2011.

Oxidative Degradation

of High DensityPolyethylene Pipes

from Exposure to

Drinking Water

Disinfectants", Duvall,

Edwards, Engineering

Systems, Inc., 2009.

Evaluating theCompatibility of

Chemical Disinfectants

Some Plastics Can Be Adversely Affected by Drinking Water Disinfectants

R e se a r ch h a s Es t a b l i sh e d t h a t C omm o n D r i n k i n g W a t e r D i si n f e c t a n t s D e g r a d e P o ly e t h y l e n e

( H DPE & MDPE) P i p e : Research dating back to the 1950's documents oxidation of polyethylene

polymers1,2,3It is understood that the amount and type of oxidants, that are added to disinfect drinking

water, attack polyethylene pipes and can cause premature aging and failure. Reports of HDPE water

pipe failures have linked the failures to oxidative degradation. The two largest water utilities in the world,

Veolia Environnement and Suez Environnement experienced a rash of HDPE service line failures which

were initially thought to be ductile in nature (warmer soils can soften plastic pipe causing bursts). Uponcloser examination the failures were brittle in nature indicating chemically induced embrittlement.

Veolia and Suez spent millions of dollars and eventually built a pressure testing laboratory that could

simultaneously test approximately 400 samples under various pressures, temperatures and disinfectant

regimes. They also exhumed over 200 samples of in-service HDPE pipe from around the world (including

North America). Analysis of the laboratory testing and subsequent correlation with the forensic

examination of field samples has been published in respected peer review journals.4,5,6,7Veolia's and

Suez's findings are consistent with others in the world of polymer research. It is now readily accepted thatHDPE pipes are subject to degradation and therefore pose a threat for possible premature failure in water

disinfectant environments particularly in warmer environments. 8,9,10,11,12,26

PlascPipeFacts hp://www.hdpeoxidaon.com/

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with Plastic Pipe

Materials Used for

Potable Water

Distribution", Carollo

Engineers, 2008.

Advantages of PVC

Chemical Resistance

for Pressure Pipes",

Fumire, J., PVC 4

Pipes, 2008

Long Term

Performance of

Polyolefins in Different

Environments

Including Chlorinated

Water: Antioxidant

Consumption and

Migration and Polymer

Degradation",Lundback, M., KTH

Fibre and Polymer

Technology, 2005.

Failed HDPE Water Line, France Suez

Environnement 2009

6 Failed HDPE Water Line, USA Duvall, Edwards

2010


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Edwards, et al. Failure Analysis of Polypropylene Used in Hot Water Environments Effect of Different

Stabilizer Systems, ANTEC 2007.


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Pl Pi F h // hd id /


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Choi, et al.Modeling Stress Corrosion Cracking in Plastic Pipes,ASCE Pipelines 2008.


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Rozental-Evesque, et al.A Reliable Bench Testing for Benchmarking Oxidation Resistance of

Polyethylene in Disinfected Water Environments, Plastic Pipes XIV, 2008.

Further Forensic Analysis of Field Exhumed Pipe in the United States (US) Has Confirmed HDPE

Pipe Oxidation: In 2007, Jana Laboratories (Toronto) published a paper for the ANTEC plastics

conference that examined a number of exhumed HDPE pipe samples and reported, ..it would appear that

the failures are generally consistent with the Mode 3 Oxidative Initiation-Mechanical Propagation type of

failure.15

In 2009, Engineering Systems Inc., led by Dr. Donald Duvall (a noted polymer expert andformer technical manager of one of the largest HDPE pipe manufacturers) conducted a study that

examined over 50 HDPE pipe samples from 13 US water utilities which found varying degrees of oxidation


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induced degradation in the samples (23 were from failure sites).13, 14Failures which are suspected to be

related to oxidation have occurred and continue to occur across the US. Las Vegas Valley Water District is

in the process of replacing 86,000 HDPE service lines due to pre-mature aging and failure.16

HDPE

service line failures in cities such as Mesquite, NV; Pomona, CA; Henderson, NV; Bakersfield, CA; Maui,

HI; Hamilton, OH; Laughlin, NV; HB & TS, TN have all been linked to oxidative aging in potable waterservice.13,14

Scott, Charles, Forecasting Pipe Replacements Using Weibull Analysis, Society for Maintenance and

Reliability, Annual Meeting, 2007.


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Service Temperature and Type of Disinfectant Influence the Degradation Phenomenon:The

problem of oxidative degradation in HDPE pipes has been particularly severe in areas with higher water

temperatures that use either chlorine dioxide disinfectant or chlorine (hypo-chlorite) disinfectant.6

Accordingly, some HDPE pipe manufacturers have modified their warranties to limit coverage in oxidative

environments.17The Australian trade association, PIPA (Plastics Industry Pipe Association of Australia),

printed an advisory in 2010 that stated, Especially at service temperatures above 20C, chlorine dioxide

will shorten the service life of polyethylene pipes. For this reason chlorine dioxide water disinfection

should not be used with polyethylene, polypropylene or polybutylene (i.e. polyolefin) pipes.18

Duvall, et al. Oxidative Degradation of High Density Polyethylene Pipes from Exposure to Drinking Water

Disinfectants, 2009.

Appropriate Design Guidance is Lacking, but Needed: There is a real need for practical,

quantitative guidelines for prospective HDPE pipe users and their design engineers. Outside of some very

general warnings, the only guidance currently being provided by the manufacturers of HDPE pipes is in

the form of very general chemical compatibility charts that do not consider pressurized environments or

long term exposure and express only vague warnings on unspecified pressure reduction or service life


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Duvall, et al. Oxidative Degradation of High Density Polyethylene Pipes from Exposure to Drinking

Water Disinfectants, 2009.

13.

Duvall, D.E., Edwards, D.B. Forensic Analysis of Oxidation Embrittlement in Failed HDPE Potable

Water Pipes, American Society of Civil Engineers, Pipelinesproceedings 2010

14.

Chung, et al.An Examination of the Relative Impact of Common Potable Water Disinfectants

(Chlorine, Chloramines and Chlorine Dioxide)on Plastic Piping System Components, ANTEC 2007.

15.

Scott, Charles, Forecasting Pipe Replacements Using Weibull Analysis, Society for Maintenance and

Reliability Professionals, 15th Annual Conference, Louisville, KY, 2007.

16.

Charter Plastics, 50 Year Limited Warranty PE 3408, PE 3608 and PE 4710 Potable Water Pipe,

4/21/11

17.

Plastics Industry Pipe Association of Australia Limited (PIPA) Chlorine Dioxide Disinfectant for

Drinking Water Effect on Pipe and Seal Materials July 2010

18.

Carollo Engineers, Evaluating the Compatibility of Chemical Disinfectants with Plastic Pipe Materials

Used for Potable Water Distribution Technical Memorandum, August 2008.

19.

Performance Pipe (website), Who says HDPE isnt tough Enough to handle chlorine?20.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP , Performance Pipe Field Handbook, June 2012.21.

Plastics Pipe Institute, Technical Note 19, Chemical Resistance of Thermoplastic Piping Materials,

2007.

22.

JANA Laboratories, Technical Report, Impact of Potable Water Disinfectants on PE Pipe, June 2010.23.

Edwards, et al. Failure Analysis of Polypropylene Used in a Hot Water Environment Effect of DifferentStabilizer Systems, ANTEC 2007.

24.

Cox vs. Shell Oil Company (Polybutylene Pipe) 11/17/1995 Date of Settlement25.

Cytec Industries, "The Effects of Chorinated Water on Polyethylene Pipes", Plastics Engineering,

October 2011.

26.

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