The influence of potable water biofilms on copper corrosion
Webster BJ., Wells DB., Bremer PJ.
© 1996 by NACE International. Micro-organisms have been isolated and cultured from a site suffering "blue" water for laboratory studies of microbiologically influenced corrosion of copper in simulated potable water. A sterile control and inoculated test environment were examined in parallel using electrochemical, microbiological and optical techniques. Copper electrodes upon which biofilms formed in the inoculated cell sustained corrosion under free corrosion conditions for prolonged periods. In contrast, electrodes tested under sterile conditions could not sustain corrosion. It is proposed that the presence of the biotllm permitted stabilization of corrosion by altering the localized interfacial environment such that the formation of the protective copper oxides was no longer kinetically or thermodynamically favoured.