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A holistic approach to lead pipe scale analysis: Importance, methodology, and limitations
Citation:
Harmon, S., J. Tully, M. Desantis, M. Schock, S. Triantafyllidou, AND D. Lytle. A holistic approach to lead pipe scale analysis: Importance, methodology, and limitations. AWWA Water Science. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, 4(2):e1278, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.1278
Impact/Purpose:
Suggested best practices for water utilities and consultants on preparing and analyzing lead pipe scales while avoiding pitfalls. Manuscript aimed at the audience of laboratories, states, Regions, water systems, and consultants who would have an interest in conducting or interpreting pipe scale analyses. Focus will be on the information that can be gathered from these types of analyses, limitations, and how the analysis can aid in the diagnosis of problems and prediction of potential impacts due to treatment and/or water changes.
Description:
The US EPA’s laboratory in Cincinnati, Ohio has been conducting research on drinking water pipe scales since the late 1970s. Lead service line analysis has become increasingly popular, and EPA has refined a set of analytical techniques that include optical microscopy for scale description and integrity, powder X-ray diffraction for identification of crystalline phases, inductively coupled plasma/X-ray fluorescence/energy dispersive spectroscopy for elemental composition, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy for local atomic structure. A flow chart of the diverse pipe scale preparation processes and corresponding analyses, examples of pitfalls (during pipe excavation, transport, sample lab processing and data interpretation), suggestions to avoid them, and illustrative drinking water utility questions that could be answered by combinations of pipe scale analyses are provided. This paper will be submitted to AWWA Water Science
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: A holistic approach to lead pipe scale analysis: Importance, methodology, and limitations
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