Corrosion in water systems is the cause of a wide range of problems. Invariably, when corrosion occurs it attacks the less noble metals in the system such as mild steel and aluminium, which have low resistance to corrosive attack and oxidation resulting from oxygen in the water.

Corrosion can be caused by a number of factors. These include poor commissioning, leading to fouling of the system by installation debris and contaminants such as metal swarf, soldering flux (which may be acidic), jointing compounds, grease etc. Air ingress can also cause corrosion, as the oxygen in the air will oxidise the metals.

When suffering from corrosion, the system may experience the following problems:

• Leaking and eventual failure of the system
• Pin holes caused by galvanic corrosion, especially in systems using soft or artificially softened water
• Heavy deposits of black sludge to foul the system
• Generation of highly flammable hydrogen gas
• Formation of magnetite sludge, which builds into an immovable mass
• System noise

In all of these cases, the cause of the problem must be rectified and the system must be thoroughly cleaned and treated with inhibitor.

Please click on Product Solutions Product Solutions for further information about how to deal with corrosion.