Water Well Journal

August 2015

Water Well Journal

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fittings are used in between copper or brass fittings. For example, corrosion can occur in jet pumping systems when a steel fitting is used between two brass fittings. "When we're installing jet pumps, we'll use brass all the way up to the jet pump so there's no steel fittings in be- tween," Tyler says. "Then up top we'll discharge to copper so it's a gradual change in the metals." Crevice corrosion, on the other hand, is much more difficult to control be- cause it's often hidden from view. Keeping your equipment clean is the No. 1 way to prevent crevice and any type of corrosion. Allowing road salt to accumulate on your trucks and trailers will only speed up the whole corrosion process. Shawver Well invested in a large wash bay equipped with an undercar- riage sprayer, making it easier to keep tiny crevices under the vehicle clean. "The brine they're using (on the roads) just tears stuff apart," Budke says. "We try to get everything in once a month over the winter months to get it sprayed down really well." Grignon tries to spray his vehicles down when he gets in for the day. He uses a long wand on a pressure washer to clean out the wheel wells and bumper skirts. "We use soap and a 5000 pounds per square inch, 4.5 gallons per minute pres- sure washer," he says. "We just drench it and try to get it everywhere we can." Crevice corrosion has eaten away at the truck beds of Mantyla Well Drilling Inc. in Lakeland, Minnesota. Road salt has collected under the cross members of the dump boxes, causing corrosion to form, says Richard Thron, MGWC, owner of Mantyla Well Drilling. As the corrosion has built, the rust has expanded from the cross members to the sheet metal, creat- ing humps in the metal. Eventually, it has rusted through the beds of trucks. "It's hard to spray your pressure washer into the exact seam and get all of the rust out of there," Thron says. "So then you've got an uneven bed so it doesn't unload as easy as it used to. Then all of a sudden a hole pops through on that seam or on that rib going across the supportive beam. . . . It ruins a good truck within a matter of years." When Thron notices rust starting to form, he sandblasts any rust off and sprays a corrosion-resistant paint on the area to keep rust from spreading. Sealants and lubricants are another way to slow the start of crevice corro- sion. When Shawver Well buys new equipment or has its rigs repainted, it pays the extra money to have the equip- ment undercoated. "It costs about $300 to $400 depend- ing on the piece of equipment," Budke says. "We see a lot less corrosion when we have that done." Grignon uses a lubricant like Fluid Film to protect his equipment. He de- scribes it as a "chicken grease-like product" that protects the equipment's surfaces and crevices from corrosion. "It gets into everything," he says. "It gets into the bolts and all of the tight spots and everywhere. That really pre- serves the equipment and stops the corrosion process." How you can prevent corrosion No matter what type of corrosion you deal with, regular maintenance is the key to catching corrosion early and keeping it from spreading. Ignoring it may save you time in the short term, but will cost money down the road. "The brine they're using just eats equipment up," Budke says. "Equip- ment is deteriorating two to three times faster now." That's why contractors like Grignon can't stress enough the importance of keeping your equipment clean. "You've got to get everything cleaned out," he says. "If left there, it will eat the vehicle alive." CORROSION from page 29 WWJ Jennifer Strawn was the associate editor of Water Well Journal from 2004 to 2007. She is currently in the internal communications department at Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. She can be reached at strawnj2 @gmail.com. DACUM Codes To help meet your professional needs, this article covers skills and competen- cies found in DACUM charts for drillers and pump installers. DO refers to the drilling chart and PI represents the pumps chart. The letter and number immediately following is the skill on the chart covered by the article. This article covers: DOK-1, DOK-6, DOK-10, PIG-4 More information on DACUM and the charts are available at www.NGWA.org. waterwelljournal.com 30 August 2015 WWJ It is important to identify and understand these different types of corrosion in order to minimize or prevent corrosion damage to your equipment.

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