COMMITTEE REPORT - GASKET MATERIALS

Rubber components are used extensively in water distribution systems, and their long-term performance is of concern to water utility enginee rs. Thus, AWWA member utilities asked the AWWA Research Foundation (AW WARF) to investigate how chlorine and chloramine affect these componen ts. In 1992, AWWARF commissioned a study to evaluate the effects of ch lorinated and chloraminated water on two types of elastomers: generic specimens of known formulations and sheet stock of unknown formulation s. This report responds to the AWWARF research, which concluded that c hloraminated waters are more detrimental to most elastomers than water s with equivalent concentrations of chlorine. It also enumerates propo sed actions, including developing pass-fail criteria, related to these findings and explains why it is not currently feasible to develop an AWWA standard for all gaskets used in chloraminated waters.