Delivering With Confidence
THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS
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LOAD-BEARING manhole covers can readily be seen in many locations all over Germany. They are roughly one
metre square, with diagonal bracing and a central ventilation stack. Below the manhole cover, a stainless
safety climbing system leads down to the water extraction area, where the borehole well heads and risers are
also made of stainless.
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EXTRACTED WATER goes to numerous water works where much of the piping is stainless, which is highly
resistant to erosion under high-speed, turbulent flow conditions.
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PURIFIED DRINKING WATER is stored in reservoirs, commonly equipped with linings of stainless sheet and
protected by stainless access doors, often surrounded by stainless railings.
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THE BRAUROSL OKTOBERFEST in Munich has a stainless sanitary system to meet the tough requirements of
10,000 beer drinkers, each handling litre jugs of beer. Thousands of metres of stainless piping of different
sizes have been installed in numerous water installations throughout Germany.
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THE NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE in Bavaria is a major tourist attraction. It has a new heating system requiring 1,500 metres of stainless pipe.
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IN A NEW BUILDING at the Audi Neckarsulm plant, 10,000 metres of stainless pipes were installed for the
drinking water service and also for fire-fighting lines. The 50,000 press-fittings, in this particular case,
were made of gunmetal, an alternative to stainless, particularly for larger diameter pipes in unconfined
areas.
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Widespread use of stainless steel for drinking water applications in Germany
By Ulrich Heubner and Dr. Gerry Crawford
Nickel Magazine, July 2006 -- While stainless steel has yet to gain commonplace application for drinking water systems in the United States, it has enjoyed growing acceptance over the past 25 years for extraction, treatment and distribution of drinking water in Germany. And for obvious reasons – the life-cycle cost of stainless components provides a clear advantage because stainless seldom if ever requires replacing in long-term, infrastructures such as drinking water installations.
While there are numerous different stainless components in contact with drinking water, including pipes, valves, reservoir linings and others, they are generally made of S30400 or S31600 stainless steel, depending on the chloride content of the water. In addition, there are other stainless components in water installations, including reservoir access doors, railings around the doors, and manhole covers over well extraction chambers, that are in contact with the atmosphere, rather than with the water, and may be made of S30400, S31600 or other stainless grades, depending on the environmental requirements.
From the examples on this page, it is clear that Germany has embraced stainless for drinking water applications and established the engineering and economic superiority of stainless over alternative materials.
Ulrich Heubner and Dr. Gerry Crawford are consultants to the Nickel Insitute.
PHOTOS: Ulirich Heubner, Braeurosl, Butting and Geberit Mapress.
Ulrich Heubner |
