Cement water distribution pipe

Only one case reported an increase of Al during drinking water distribution (also discussed in this paper), because Al leached from the cement lining of a water distribution pipe [17, 18]. 

Cement linings of drinking water distribution pipes should be reevaluated for their possible toxicological properties. 

Berend K, van der Voet G, Boer WH. Acute aluminum encephalopathy in a dialysis center caused by a cement mortar water distribution pipe. KidneyInt. 2001 59 746-753... 

Distribution Systems. A substantial amount of contamination of drinking water can occur while the water is in transit to the consumer after treatment. Pipes are made of copper, galvanized iron, asbestos-cement, lead, or plastic, and often polymeric or coal tar coatings are used. All of these are capable of contributing contaminants to the water, especially if the water is corrosive. Lead, copper, cadmium, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in finished water are primarily problems of water distribution and not source water contamination. Physical deterioration of the distribution system can also permit biological contamination to occur during transit. 

In Curacao, the major island of the Netherlands Antilles with a population of 130,000 inhabitants, distilled seawater from the water plant was used without further purification for hemodialysis for several decades. Unfortunately, two months before the planned installation of a water treatment system including a reversed osmosis (RO) in the dialysis center Diatel, a new distribution pipe supplying water to a dialysis center on the island was installed in 1996. To protect it from corrosion, this pipe was lined on the inside with a cement mortar. Because of the aggressiveness of the distilled water, calcium and Al leached from the cement mortar into the water used to prepare dialysate. At the time of replacement of the new conduit pipe, 29 patients were dialyzed in the dialysis unit. Patients were dialyzed three times per week during 3.5 to 4.5 hours using hollow fiber kidneys (Fresenius, F6 and F8). Untreated tap... 

Some people may also be exposed to elevated levels of asbestos in drinking water, particularly where there are widespread natural deposits of asbestos (e.g., San Francisco Bay area), disposal of asbestos-containing ore tailings (e.g., Duluth, Minnesota), or the use of asbestos-containing cement pipes in drinking water distribution systems with low pH and low hardness (Craun et al. 1977 Kanarek et al. 1981 Webber et al. 1989). 

Major internal corrosion can occur in pipes made of cast iron, ductile iron, steel, galvanized steel, and cement-based materials. Table 3.3 summarizes the types of corrosion occurring in different piping materials and the possible tap water quality problems caused by them, as described by the AWWA Research Foundation in 1996 in a reference book on internal corrosion of water distribution systems (17). 

Millette JR, Craun GF, Stober JA, et al. 1983b. Epidemiology study of the use of asbestos-cement pipe for the distribution of drinking water in Escambia County, Florida. Environ Health Perspect 53 91-98. 

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