Home/Sitemap  ·    Search   ·   you are here: Forum => On average, how long can brass stay totally submerged in water? letter 35277 +++++ I am in 11th grade, and I am doing research on brass for a novel, and I have some questions. I found this website, and read a posted question about brass, but I have a couple more questions to ask. First, How long can brass be left totally submerged in water? (this would be lake water or water in a stream). Can it be left in for -days? -weeks? -months? -years? Also- Does Brass rust after being left in water for long periods of time. If you can help me with this please post a reply. Thank you. John B. student - West Bend, Wisconsin +++++ Brass does not rust, only iron bearing materials will rust. Brass will corrode however. There is no good answer to your question as it will depend on the quality of the water. If completely submerged in a clean stream or lake that does not have a lot of offending materials like a low pH or sulfides and etc, it will probably last for many years and only slowly grow a corrosion layer. James Watts - Navarre, Florida +++++ Sorry to be evasive, but the lifetime of brass will depend on a lot of factors, not least of which is what type of brass you use. Furthermore, there will be a major dependence on the chemistry of the water. Brass can undergo "dezincification", when the zinc dissolves out of the brass to leave behind spongy copper. This not only changes its appearance, but also significantly weakens it. The rate at which the zinc is removed will depend on factors such as oxygen content, pH, chloride levels, temperature etc. In an extreme circumstance, attack on the brass could be evident in a matter a few days. Trevor Crichton R&D practical scientist - United Kingdom +++++ As above, lots of factors involved. But you need to know which copper alloy is to be submerged, and what the environment down there would be. Consider bronze (copper and tin mainly) (not brass - copper and zinc mainly) cannons lifted relatively intact from sea bed after hundreds of years (cannons often in low oxygen conditions of silt/mud. Trevor is right, brass is worse and would dezincify, especially in contact with other metals, ask any marine engineer or sea-going boat owner. For lakes and rivers (presumably both fresh water), corrosion rates would however be much lower. Regards Martin Rich Marine Industry - Plymouth, Devon, UK February 5, 2009 In your opinion, how long could brass be kept in a stone box and buried in the earth before it began to corrode? How long would it take for it to corrode altogether? Thank you. Barbara LeFevre - Dover, Delaware February 18, 2009 Brass pins have been unearthed in the Philippines that are estimated to be from 2000 B.C., Barbara. If you search for articles about historical brass artifacts, you'll get some additional ideas. Please try to describe your actual situation rather than posting the question is such abstract terms because the exposure conditions as stated could vary from horrendous to fairly benign :-) Thanks. Ted Mooney, P.E. finishing.com Brick, New Jersey