According to the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), the counties that make up the San Francisco Bay area use over 240 million gallons of water every day. This demand is expected to grow by up to 30 percent by the year 2030. As the demand is growing, climate change and disappearing water supplies make conservation a critical component to meeting the San Francisco area’s water needs.
A BAWSCA study for the fiscal year 2005-2006 shows that over 15 million gallons of water used every day is unaccounted for, lost in the system. 15 million gallons is the equivalent to 23 Olympic swimming pools every day. That is a lot of water to go missing. Some of the loss is caused by leaks. At every stage in the water delivery system water has a chance to escape. Pipes and storage tanks can become corroded and allow water to leak out.
Industrial painting helps solve the problem of lost water by coating the interior and exterior of pipes and storage tanks with water and chemical resistant coating products. Polyurea, a chemically resistant elastomeric coating, is used to seal the interior of the tanks. The tough, elastic membrane formed by the coating protects the structural metal from being affected by the water. If the interior of these water storage tanks was not coated, corrosion could damage the tank’s integrity and cause leaks.
By preventing the corrosion which causes leaks, painting and coating contractors are augmenting the efforts at every level of the water delivery system to conserve water.