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For
the past 40 years,
oleate-based lubricants
(vegetable soaps) have
been used as lubricants
in joining both,
gasketed plastic and
ductile iron pipe. The
lubricant is derived
from common soap
components and is
considered to be
nontoxic. Recently,
however, city water
departments have been
finding that the
problems with odor,
taste and overall water
quality have stemmed
from the use of
oleate-based lubricants
on new installations.
In 1990 the
City of
Philadelphia encountered
problems of foul odors
in the water of new
potable mains. Through
extensive testing, the
City of Philadelphia's
Water Department traced
the source of the
problem back to the
oleate based lubricant
used to assemble the
pipe. "Philadelphia's FPA panel described the
lubricants odor (from
water in new mains) as
wet paper, chalky or
wood putty in character.
In just four months of
odor testing of new
mains, 45.5% of the 136
sanitary release samples
had the off odor...¹".
In the installation of
51 new mains, 34% had
failed when tested for
odor and overall water
quality. This required
extensive flushing of
the line in order to
dissipate the oleate
odor so the system could
be approved. On some
mains, this flushing
would last for weeks,
resulting in loss of
source water and
excessive cost for labor
involved.
The same year, the
City
of Edmonton also found
that taste and odor
complaints were
occurring more
frequently at new
construction sites.
"Customers complained of
turbid water, a
difficult to describe
sickening odor, a
'sticky' feel to the
water and, in a few
instances, of feeling
ill ('greasy stomach')."
Edmonton found
approximately 20% of all
water quality complaints
were directly related to
the use of oleate
lubricants. "The
lubricant was found to
dissolve slowly over
four hours, increase the
turbidity of water to
form a surface scum and
insoluble precipitate in
tap water.¹" The
problems facing Edmonton
and Philadelphia were
compounded when the
system containing
oleate-based lubricants
were chlorinated to
sterilize the system.
The chlorination caused
the lubricants to
oxidize and release aldehydes in the system.
According to the reports
and tests performed "aldehydes
such as heptanal have a
rancid oily odor....
there is no doubt that
they (aldehydes) play a
role¹" in the odor
problem.
With the problems with
water quality in regard
to odor and taste, both
the City of Edmonton and
the City of Philadelphia
have had to implement
costly and time
consuming test
procedures to insure
good water quality.
These test procedures
have shut down many new
watermains which have
used oleate based
lubricants. The test
standards require the
systems to be flushed
clean of aldehydes
before it can be
operational, taking both
valuable time and
resources.
The conclusion of the
Water Departments Report
was to "develop an
acceptable alternative
pipe joint lubricant for
those utilities
experiencing odor
problems.¹" It was
determined that the pipe
lubricant must be water
soluble, nontoxic, an
excellent lubricant,
useable in all weather
conditions, not readily
dry out, and have no
effects on water quality
for taste and odor. At
the time of this study,
Whitlam Manufacturing
was at the early stages
of developing such an
alternative, "Blue Lube"
Gasket Lubricant. "Blue
Lube" has been
formulated to meet or
exceed all the alternate
lubricants requirements.
Municipalities Requiring
or Recommending the use
of "Blue Lube": |
