Corrosion of pipelines in urban water systems: Current research status and future trends based on bibliometric analysis

The urban water systems are of vital importance to the society and the infrastructure is increasing largely due to population growth and urbanization. Corrosion is an inevitable problem faced by urban water pipelines, which causes not only the system failure leading to serious economic losses, but also the deterioration of drinking water quality. This paper quantitatively analyzed 3204 publications related to corrosion in urban water systems in the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection Database since 1997 through bibliometric analysis. The results showed that research interest on corrosion in urban water systems increased exponentially, and the related publications mostly belonged to “Environmental sciences”, “Water resources” and “Environmental engineering” WoS categories. China and the USA have published far more papers than other countries, while Belgium is more influential with the highest citation per publication. Researchers collaborated actively globally, especially Chinese and American authors. The most cited publications showed that researchers mostly focused on the formation and composition of corrosion scales and deposits, and the release of contaminants such as heavy metals from them. The keyword analysis implied continuous research interests in lead leaching from corrosion scales in drinking water systems, and highlighted the hydrogen sulfide emission and the associated concrete biocorrosion in sewers. Future research suggestions were also proposed, including the adsorption and desorption of emerging contaminants from corrosion products in drinking water system, the effect of corrosion inhibitors and biocides dosed in sewers on the wastewater treatment processes and the biocorrosion mechanisms of the pipes in reclaimed water distribution system.