Ductile and Grey Iron Assessment

A unique service for water pipeline operators worldwide

CHALLENGE

In the water piping industry, the use of buried ductile and cast iron piping is a standard. Nowadays, it has been found that promises made by pipeline manufacturers have not been kept and pipelines corrode severely. There are several reasons for this, in particular the following due to their significance:

Pipe trench has been backfilled with topsoil during the laying of the pipelines
Wood has been used as a base for the joints
Pipes were used as grounding
Alternating and direct current interference of the pipelines

For these reasons, the entire water pipeline industry faces a major challenge: how is it possible to determine what condition the buried pipelines are in and what differences exist in the pipe network.

SOLUTION

EMPIT’s Current Magnetometry Inspection (CMI) offers the water industry finally a possibility to determine the actual condition of ductile and grey iron pipelines. Therewith, it can be determined whether a pipeline is suffering corrosion or as in as-built condition and safe to operate for the next years. CMI is especially powerful for cast and grey iron pipelines, as it also overcomes the problem of localizing the pipeline's XYZ position as well as determining the position of the sleeves and off-takes. Our costumers use CMI to receive an updated pipeline documentation and know if the pipeline wall is corroding or not.

There is no EU-based company at the moment that has inspected the amount of ductile and grey cast iron pipelines, which makes EMPIT the industry leader for ductile and cast iron assessment. Together with a pipeline operator from Switzerland, SWG Grenchen, EMPIT has published an article that gives insights about the experiences made with CMI.

Download journal article →