Sealants - microbiological deterioration under wet conditions

Sealants are widely used in the water industry to prevent water leakage through designed joints and repaired cracks. The extent and rate of microbiological deterioration can be critical, for example in terms of water contamination in service reservoirs, and sealant breakdown where the fluid is heavily loaded with a wide variety of micro-organisms (such as in sewage treatment applications). This report focuses on the degradation of civil engineering polymeric sealants under aqueous challenge conditions, using an evaluation procedure devised to assess the susceptibility of a sealant formulation to microbiological degradation. This publication will enable sealant end-users to obtain a greater awareness of the influence of micro-organisms and be better informed about the essential test data from sealant manufacturers. This guide will be of interest to design, specification, materials, construction supervising and operation engineers involved in the water industry.