unsubmerged walls of sewers, and is likely to hang in partially formed droplets from the horizontal crown of the sewer. As a portion of the hydrogen sulfide gas and oxygen gas from the air above the sewage dissolves into these stationary droplets, they become a habitat for sulfur oxidizing bacteria (SOB), of the genus Acidithiobacillus. Colonies of these aerobic bacteria metabolize the hydrogen sulfide gas to sulfuric acid. Corrosion Sulfuric acid produced by microorganisms will interact with the surface of the structure material. For ordinary Portland cement, it reacts with the calcium hydroxide in concrete to form calcium sulfate. This change simultaneously destroys the polymeric nature of calcium hydroxide and substitutes a larger molecule into the matrix causing pressure and spalling of the adjacent concrete and aggregate particles. The weakened crown may then collapse under heavy overburden loads. Even within a well-designed sewer network, a rule of thumb in the industry suggests that 5% of the total length may/will suffer from biogenic corrosion. In these specific areas, biogenic sulfide corrosion can deteriorate metal or several millimeters per year of concrete (see Table). For calcium aluminate cements, processes are completely different because they are based on another chemical composition. At least three different mechanisms contribute to the better resistance to biogenic corrosion: The first barrier is the larger acid neutralizing capacity of calcium aluminate cements vs. ordinary Portland Cement; one gram of calcium aluminate cement can neutralize around 40% more acid than a gram of ordinary Portland Cement. For a given production of acid by the biofilm, a calcium aluminate cement concrete will last longer. The second barrier is due to the precipitation, when the surficial pH gets below 10, of a layer of alumina gel (AH3 in cement chemistry notation). AH3 is a stable compound down to a pH of 4 and it will form an acid-resistant barrier as long as the surface pH is not lowered below 3-4 by the bacterial activity. The third barrier is the bacteriostatic effect locally activated when the surface reaches pH values less than 3–4. At this level, the alumina gel is no longer stable and will dissolve, liberating aluminum ions. These ions will accumulate in the thin biofilm. Once the concentration reaches 300-500 ppm, it will produce a bacteriostatic effect on bacteria metabolism. In other word, bacteria will stop oxidizing the sulfur from H2S to produce acid, and the pH will stop decreasing.