Polyethylene Encasement Enhances Ductile Iron Pipelines

Polyethylene encasement to protect iron pipe from corrosion has been in place since 1958. However a new product called V-Bio enhances polyethylene encasement by actively applying a corrosion inhibitor. 

The patents on the V-Bio were purchased in late 2012 by the Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association (DIPRA), an association which represents the interests of ductile iron pipe manufacturers.

As Gregg Horn, Executive Vice President of Technical Services for DIPRA, discusses in this Water Online Radio interview, the irony of all the conversation around aging infrastructure and decaying pipe is that iron pipe has proved to be incredibly sustainable over time.

“There’s an iron pipeline at the Palace of Versailles that was installed in 1664. It’s still being used,” explains Horn. “In Philadelphia, we’ve got pipe that’s almost 200 years old and more than 600 utilities with iron pipe that’s over a 100 years old still in place.”

What Horn is excited about is the fact that unlike these century old systems, the new corrosion control V-Bio technology has been created utilizing modern metallurgy, manufacturing and design methods.

For more about the new corrosion control technology and to understand how asset management is helping cities prioritize their pipe repair or replace strategies, click on the radio player below: