Article: Preserving Wastewater Infrastructure: Selection Criteria For Protective Linings

By: C. Karl Sauereisen, Sauereisen, Inc.

The wastewater environment poses substantial challenges to the integrity of manholes, lift stations, and treatment plants. Protective coatings and linings are one of the major technologies for protecting underground municipal assets. According to an independent survey of wastewater engineers, municipal managers, and contractors, a chemical-resistant lining's permeability to corrosive substances is determined to be the most important consideration during product selection.

Water Online conducted a survey in April 2006. Among the survey's most prominent statistics were that approximately 70 percent of respondents said permeability to corrosive substances is the most critical factor for chemically resistant linings. Yet, more than 64 percent said permeability is the most commonly overlooked aspect of corrosion-resistant lining selection.