Have they considered filling the pipe with "Fresh" water, and flushing the brackish after each annual test to prolong the life of the pipe. A brackish water sample and a pipe sample given to a lab might give you some indication of the possible life of the pipe, but nothing is fool proof. Is all the pipe of the same lot and MFG? Are the water conditions constant? Does the air temp fluctuate, since it is an elevated line, raising and lowering the water temp. which could promote or inhibit corrosion.
Tell them the worst case is they have to replace it next year, and the best case is it's still there and working 20 years from now. Thom McMahon, SET Firetech, Inc. 2560 Copper Ridge Dr P.O. Box 882136 Steamboat Springs, CO 80488 Tel: 970-879-7952 Fax: 970-879-7926 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Kowkabany Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 6:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Expected life of painted steel fire main with brackish water in it Close Todd, it's only about 20 miles from Orange Park. I forgot to mention that it is aboveground pipe. It's totally clean right now and has only just had brackish water introduced to it, so right now it's perfect. They are just asking how long can they expect it to last? Steve -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Todd Williams Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 7:36 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Expected life of painted steel fire main with brackish water in it Has this pipe seen brackish water in the past? Perhaps sending a camera into the pipe and see what is going on will answer you question. Also, the life expectancy of buried Sch 40 might be in question, brackish or not. Remember that for free standing FDC's, we use galvanized pipe with an exterior coating. No specific experience, just some thoughts. Sounds like it's around Orange Park. At 05:58 PM 7/23/2009, you wrote: >Anyone have any historical data or experience with how long sch 40 >steel piping typically lasts outside when filled with brackish >(somewhat salty) water? > > > >I have an industrial project where the client wants to reuse some >decommissioned existing 16" sch 40 painted steel product piping as >their new >fire water main. It would be nice to do this, because they need about >one mile of fire main 12" or larger and this line is already there, in >place, and currently unused. > > > >The water supply is the Saint Johns river (vertical turbine pump on a dock), >which is normally fresh water but it's brackish at this site - which is >about 6-7 miles from the ocean and gets a good amount of salinity with >the tides. > > > >Does anyone have a feel for how long steel pipe will last in this type >of application? It will be normally wet and filled entirely with >water. It will likely only be flowed annually with their yearly testing. > > > >Thanks in advance for the insights, > > > > > >Steve Kowkabany, P.E. > >Fire Protection Engineer > >Neptune Fire Protection Engineering LLC > >616 Davis Street > >Neptune Beach, FL 32266 > >904-652-4200 Phone > >904-212-0868 Fax > > > >_______________________________________________ >Sprinklerforum mailing list >http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum >For Technical Assistance, send an email to: >[email protected] > >To Unsubscribe, send an email >to:[email protected] >(Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) Todd G. Williams, PE Fire Protection Design/Consulting Stonington, Connecticut www.fpdc.com 860.535.2080 _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.387 / Virus Database: 270.13.21/2252 - Release Date: 07/23/09 06:02:00 _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
