Influence of Polyethylene Pipe on the Quality of Water in a Water Distribution System

In the past two decades economic considerations and very good mechanical parameters of polyethylene pipes contributed to more and more common use of the pipes for construction and repair of water distribution systems all over world. This paper presents the results of research into parameters of water collected from a polyethylene pipeline which was a part of an operational water supply network. We determined Total Organic Carbon (TOC) content and the content of organic compounds in the examined water samples using a multichannel gas chromatograph (Trace Ultra Thermo) coupled with a mass spectrometer (Polaris Q). We identified organic compounds bounded with antioxidants, added to polyethylene in the process of pipe production, in the water samples.