Download or read book The Action of Sewer Gases and Acids on Cement and Concrete Pipes written by International Clay Products Bureau, Kansas City, Mo and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The few observations here compiled check absolutely and it is perfectly clear that concrete sewers are destroyed not as much by the ready made acids which are poured into them from soap factories, tanneries, chemical works, printing offices, engraving plants, breweries, livery stables and the like, but by the acids which are made directly in them by the decomposition of the putrescent matters which they naturally contain. The process is very simple. By the action of decomposition and bacteria, the putrescing contents of the sewer generate large quantities of hydrogen Sulfide gas. In the presence of air and moisture this gas readily forms sulphuric acid. The damp walls of the sewer readily absorb this acid which soon becomes strong enough to attack the lime which forms a large portion of Portland Cement. [Ad for Vitrified salt-glazed Sanitary Sewer Pipe].