Axalta Coating Systems is supplying its Abcite® thermoplastic powder coating to protect pipes and fittings of Berliner Wasserbetriebe, Germany’s largest municipal drinking water supply company.

Berliner Wasserbetriebe supplies drinking water to Berlin’s 3.5 million inhabitants via a complex network of nine waterworks, eight pumping stations and roughly 7,900 km of pipes. Reliable water transport and safety are key issues for drinking water companies, as it is vital for the water to remain safe when it comes out of the tap. The reliable, lasting corrosion protection Abcite provides made it the ideal choice for the new pipes and fittings at the Mariendorf pumping station to the south of Berlin.

“As we know, burst water pipes and leaks can have a tremendous financial implication for the water company and for the community as a whole,” noted Michael Cash, Axalta’s senior vice president and president of Industrial Coatings. “Abcite, part of Axalta’s extensive global industrial coatings portfolio, can help to prevent corrosion damage and to ensure reliable water transportation. Its use by Berliner Wasserbetriebe showcases Axalta’s ability to provide sustainable, high-performance solutions when there’s much at stake.”
Tasked with applying Abcite to the pipes and fittings for the Berliner Wasserbetriebe project was Berlin-based Trapp Infra, who specializes in the production of steel parts for pipelines.

Peter Wurl, Trapp Infra’s managing director, said, “convincing a customer like the Berliner Wasserbetriebe is not an easy task, but the many advantages of Abcite – its performance, its certification, as well as its many worldwide references – made it an obvious choice. I am sure this is just the first chapter of a long success story for Abcite in Germany.”

In use for over 20 years, Abcite has been controlled, tested and certified to the most stringent standards for contact with drinking water, not only in Germany, but also in Belgium, France, the UK and in North America, Australia and New Zealand. Its unique thermoplastic technology creates an impermeable barrier, offers durable adhesion to steel, excellent chemical resistance and minimizes bacterial growth as well as friction loss. Abcite provides outstanding impact resistance, which helps to prevent handling damage, and can be used to coat both the interior and exterior of pipes in one single coating step. Abcite is robust and simple to apply, as it does not require a primer.