AWWA INF52173

The distribution system of Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency (NSMJAWA), Elk Grove Village, Illinois is a fairly simple system, consisting primarily of a single loop. The distribution system mains are of a large diameter and operate under relatively high pressure. In many cases, sections of main represent sole source supplies to the customers. Much of the distribution system underlies or runs adjacent to infrastructure the disruption of which would be unacceptable. A number of corrosion mitigation options were considered to correct known corrosion problems on the NSMJAWA distribution system. Cathodic protection (CP) appeared to be the best answer in this case. Some of the reasons CP was chosen included the ability to install or apply the protective measures at discreet locations which could be selected for ease of installation and minimal impact on surrounding facilities and land use. CP also did not require excavation of the pipeline, other than at isolated locations. CP could be applied without taking the pipelines out of service, and perhaps most importantly, the design engineer had included provisions in the original system design which simplified the later installation of CP. This paper describes NSMJAWA's distribution system and corrosion problems and explores the reasons behind the selection of cathodic protection to solve these corrosion issues. Lessons learned during this process are also discussed. Includes 6 references, table, figures.