The Evaluation of Corrosion Potential of the Soil at the Periphery of Water Supply Pipes in Abadan and Khorramshahr Cities

Soil can cause corrosion of the pipes as a result of chemical and microbial factors and, therefore, make extremely harmful effects happen on water transfer projects. The aim of this study was the evaluation of corrosion potential of the soil at the Periphery of Water Supply Pipes in Abadan and Khorramshahr cities.

20 points were randomly selected from the areas in the cities of Abadan and Khorramshahr where pipelines had been installed and then the soil in the close vicinity of the pipelines were sampled. The soil samples were immediately sent to laboratory where the moisture was measured. Also, after the soil was dried and crushed at the ambient temperature, its physical, chemical characteristics and soil’s microbial respiration were measured. Finally, the correlations between each of the parameters with the microbial respiration rate were investigated.

The results indicated that there is a positive and significant correlation, 0.633 and 0.673 in a 1% level of the statistical tests, respectively, between the electrical conductivity (EC) and the amount of Sodium with the carbon dioxide present as a result of microbial respiration but no significant correlation was found between the soil moisture at sampling time and microbial respiration. Also, the study results showed that the soil’s pH is positively and significantly correlated with the total alkalinity rate.

The Soil at the Periphery of Water Supply Pipes in the stations of 10, 11 and 17 Due to the low electrical resistance, stations of 8 and 10 Due to the high Alkality and stations of 17, 18, 19 and 20 Due to the high microbial respiration had the greatest potential corrosion.