Similar Cases:

Black Water Contamination in Condominium Plumbing Due To Corrosion

Failure of Cold Water Piping Due to Material Defects

Failure of Water Piping in an Apartment

Water Tank Corrosion and Leaks Due to Defective Exterior Coating

Underground Hot Water Piping Corrosion and Leakage

Contamination of Residential Plumbing Systems ("Blue Water")

Blue-green sediment was observed to cause widespread water contamination within numerous adjacent housing subdivisions in Northern California. This was known as the "Blue Water" case. The affected homes were served by a common water distribution system and had been built at approximately the same time by a variety of contractors and plumbers. There were no instances of pipe leakage. An investigation revealed that the source of the sediment was copper corrosion products that were loosely adhered to the interior pipe surfaces. The affected copper pipe included both the service laterals connected to the water mains as well as the interior plumbing in the homes. The origin of the problems was found to be due to inadequate residual chlorine level associated with the water chemistry. The sediment disappeared as soon as the residual chlorine level was increased by the water district.

Satish Almaula		Plant failure and root cause analysis; process and design engineering analysis; process technology development and testing; plant engineering, operations, maintenance and safety management; plant and process control system management.

Philip Lindsay, P.E.		Corrosion failure analysis, metallurgy, piping systems, corrosion mitigation, materials selection.

Kimble Clark, Ph.D.		Failure analysis, heat transfer & thermodynamics, process plant equipment failures & explosions, fuel science, combustion, industrial fires and explosions.

Geoffrey Egan, Ph.D.		Engineering mechanics, welding engineering, stress and fatigue analysis, risk analysis, nondestructive examination, project management.

Eric Sullivan, P.E.		Metallurgy, welding, failure analysis, fire and explosion investigations, equipment, piping.