Plant engineers who move to Cape Town from inland often notice the same thing: equipment here rusts far faster than they are used to. It is not their imagination.
Chlorides are the accelerant
Sea air carries tiny salt particles that settle on every surface. Once moisture is present, and in a Cape winter it nearly always is, these chlorides form an electrolyte that drives corrosion much faster than fresh water alone. Sites in Milnerton, Montague Gardens, the Foreshore, the Strand and the West Coast see it worst.
Factory paint is not a coating system
Most pumps and valves leave the factory with a thin enamel finish designed to look good in a catalogue. One knock during installation and the steel is exposed. Corrosion then creeps underneath the remaining paint, out of sight.
Idle equipment suffers most
Standby pumps, seasonal irrigation pumps and rarely-cycled valves often corrode faster than duty units. Stagnant water, condensation and no flushing create the ideal conditions for rust.
What works
Abrasive blasting to bare metal, rebuilding any pitting, and a multi-coat high-build epoxy or glass flake system, applied under controlled conditions, gives coastal equipment a real chance. Read more about our corrosion coating process, or see which Western Cape areas we serve.
