6030A - Cathodic Protection Jewell & Peoria

Aurora Water (AW) is looking to address cathodic protection insufficiencies on  waterline in E Jewell Ave. Cathodic protection (CP) is a technique that helps control the corrosion of buried metallic pipelines. When corrosion is not controlled on metallic pipes it leads to leaks and breaks which disrupt service to customers and can lead to costly emergency repairs. Corrosion is an electrochemical reaction that occurs when electrons travel between metal and an electrolyte, usually the moist soil the metal is buried in. A simple cathodic protection system provides protection from corrosion by directing the corrosion away from the pipe to a sacrificial anode with the use of a rectifier. This causes the anode to be corroded instead of the pipe. Cathodic protection in the AW system is growing as the utility focuses more resources on preventing water breaks. Currently, AW protects almost all steel pipelines 16” or greater with cathodic protection and roughly 25% of the ductile iron-pipe (DIP) 16” or greater has some CP on it.