BACTERIAL CORROSION OF CONCRETE IN WATER

A brief account of earlier explanations of the corrosion of concrete is given, and the different sulphate-reducing bacteria found in bottom deposits of water courses are described. The steps in which the oxidation of sulphur takes place in mixed Thiobacillus cultures have been determined. Statistical analysis of a large number of experimental data has indicated that the pH values of Waksman's sulphur medium or Parker's thiosulphate medium after the completion of the sulphur cycle provide a basis for a differentiation of Thiobacillus in its known species. Corrosion experiments with concrete specimens placed in Waksman's medium inoculated with Thiobacillus thiooxydans clearly demonstrated its corrosive action, the loss of weight varying from 11-8 to 60-1 per cent at the completion of the experiments. © 1969.