ANSI/AWWA C219-23

(Revision of ANSI/AWWA C219-17)

eal crop marks

Bolted Sleeve-Type
Couplings for
Plain-End Pipe

Effective date: October 1, 2023.

First edition approved by Board of Directors June 23, 1991.
This edition approved June 9, 2023.
Approved by American National Standards Institute May 5, 2023.

SM

Since 1881
AWWA Standard
This document is an American Water Works Association (AWWA) standard. It is not a specification. AWWA standards
describe minimum requirements and do not contain all of the engineering and administrative information normally
contained in specifications. The AWWA standards usually contain options that must be evaluated by the user of the
standard. Until each optional feature is specified by the user, the product or service is not fully defined. AWWA publication
of a standard does not constitute endorsement of any product or product type, nor does AWWA test, certify, or approve
any product. The use of AWWA standards is entirely voluntary. This standard does not supersede or take precedence
over or displace any applicable law, regulation, or codes of any governmental authority. AWWA standards are intended
to represent a consensus of the water industry that the product described will provide satisfactory service. When AWWA
revises or withdraws this standard, an official notice of action will be placed in the Official Notice section of Journal AWWA.
The action becomes effective on the first day of the month following the month of Journal AWWA publication of the official
notice.

American National Standard

An American National Standard implies a consensus of those substantially concerned with its scope and provisions. An
American National Standard is intended as a guide to aid the manufacturer, the consumer, and the general public. The
existence of an American National Standard does not in any respect preclude anyone, whether that person has approved
the standard or not, from manufacturing, marketing, purchasing, or using products, processes, or procedures not
conforming to the standard. American National Standards are subject to periodic review, and users are cautioned to obtain
the latest editions. Producers of goods made in conformity with an American National Standard are encouraged to state
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conformity with particular American National Standards.

Caution Notice: The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approval date on the front cover of this standard indicates
completion of the ANSI approval process. This American National Standard may be revised or withdrawn at any time. ANSI
procedures require that action be taken to reaffirm, revise, or withdraw this standard no later than five years from the date
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or writing the American National Standards Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10036; 212.642.4900;
or emailing info@ansi.org.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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ISBN-13, print: 978-1-64717-146-9 ISBN-13, electronic: 978-1-61300-677-1

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12999/AWWA.C219.23

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including scanning, recording, or any information or retrieval system. Reproduction and
commercial use of this material is prohibited, except with written permission from the publisher. Please send any
requests or questions to permissions@awwa.org.

Copyright © 2023 by American Water Works Association

Printed in USA

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 Committee Personnel
The Steel Water Pipe Manufacturers Technical Advisory Committee (SWPMTAC) Task group
for C219, which updated this standard, had the following personnel at the time:

Ram N. Satyarthi, Chair

Jay Forni, Jr., Vice-Chair

L. Aulich, Mueller Company, Chattanooga, Tenn.

E. Bird, Smith-Blair Inc., Texarkana, Tex.
W. Biery, Victaulic, Center Valley, Pa.
S. Bradberry, Ford Meter Box Company Inc., Pell City, Ala.
R.J. Card, Manufacturers Consultant, Sugar Hill, Ga.
R. Collins, JCM Industries Inc., Nash, Tex.
J. Forni, Jifco Inc., Livermore, Calif.
B.D. Keil, Northwest Pipe Company, Draper, Utah
A. Lemke, Romac Industries Inc., Bothell, Wash.
M. Levine, Straub Coupling, Scottsdale, Ariz.
J.L. Luka, American SpiralWeld Pipe Company, Columbia, S.C.
D. Piontek, Total Piping Solutions Inc., Olean, N.Y.
J. Reinheimer, Robar Industries, Surrey, B.C., Canada
R.N. Satyarthi, Baker Coupling Company Inc., Los Angeles, Calif.
A. Steffan, Dresser Inc., Bradford, Pa.
G. Tate, Viking Johnson/Crane, Hitchin, United Kingdom
M. Zimmerle, Cascade Waterworks Manufacturing Company, Yorkville, Ill.

The AWWA Standards Committee on Steel Pipe, which reviewed and approved this standard,
had the following personnel at the time of approval:

John H. Bambei Jr., Chair

Bob J. Card, Vice-Chair
John L. Luka, Secretary

General Interest Members

S.A. Arnaout (alternate), Stantec, Dallas, Tex.

J.H. Bambei Jr., Bambei Engineering Services, Arvada, Colo.
R.J. Card, Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc., Houston, Tex.

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R.L. Gibson, Freese and Nichols Inc., Fort Worth, Tex.
M.D. Gossett, HDR, Denver, Colo.
M.B. Horsley (alternate), Horsley Engineering LLC, Overland Park, Kans.
R. Issa, AECOM, McKinney, Tex.
C.H. Kirby (alternate), Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc., Houston, Tex.
R.A. Kufaas, Norske Corrosion & Inspection Services Ltd., Surrey, B.C., Canada
D.L. McPherson (alternate), HDR, Charlotte, N.C.
A. Murdock, Jacobs Engineering, Salt Lake City, Utah
R. Ortega, Aurora Technical Services, Houston, Tex.
E.S. Ralph (liaison, nonvoting), Standards Engineer Liaison, AWWA, Denver, Colo.
A.E. Romer (alternate), AECOM, Orange, Calif.
J.R. Snow, Stantec, Denver, Colo.
A.M. Stanton, Black & Veatch, Los Angeles, Calif.
W.R. Whidden, Woolpert, Winter Park, Fla.

Producer Members

H.H. Bardakjian, Consultant, Glendale, Calif.

D.A. Dechant, Dechant Infrastructure Service, Aurora, Colo.
D.W. Dunker, Thompson Pipe Group, Grand Prairie, Tex.
W.B. Geyer, Steel Plate Fabricators Associates, Lake Zurich, Ill.
B.D. Keil, Northwest Pipe Company, Salt Lake City, Utah
J.L. Luka, American SpiralWeld Pipe Company, Columbia, S.C.
R.D. Mielke (alternate), Northwest Pipe Company, Raleigh, N.C.
G.F. Ruchti (alternate), Consultant, Punta Gorda, Fla.
B.P. Simpson (alternate), American Cast Iron Pipe Company, Birmingham, Ala.
C.C. Sundberg, Victaulic, Issaquah, Wash.
R. Wu (alternate), Thompson Pipe Group, Grand Prairie, Tex.

User Members

L. Adams, US Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colo.

G.A. Andersen, New York City Bureau of Water Supply, Little Neck, N.Y.
B. Cheng, Metro Vancouver, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
B. Fountain, San Diego County Water Authority, San Diego, Calif.
J. Fox, Tampa Bay Water, Clearwater, Fla.
J. Garcia (alternate), Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.

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S. Hattan, Tarrant Regional Water District, Fort Worth, Tex.
M. Lobik, Springfield Water & Sewer Commission, Springfield, Mass.
T. Peng, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
G. Ramon (liaison, nonvoting), Standards Council Liaison, Little Rock Water Reclamation
Authority, Little Rock, Ark.
V. Scutelnicu, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles, Calif.
M. Turney (alternate), Denver Water, Denver, Colo.

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 Contents
All AWWA standards follow the general format indicated subsequently. Some variations from this
format may be found in a particular standard.

SEC. PAGE SEC. PAGE

Foreword 4.2 Materials of Construction................. 7

I Introduction..................................... ix 4.3 Design of Bolted Couplings............. 9
I.A Background...................................... ix 4.4 Detailed Design and
Manufacture............................... 11
I.B History............................................. ix
4.5 Performance..................................... 12
I.C Acceptance....................................... ix
4.6 Coatings........................................... 13
II Special Issues.................................... x
4.7 Installation....................................... 14
II.A Advisory Information on Product
Application................................ x 5 Verification
II.B Chlorine and Chloramine 5.1 Inspection........................................ 16
Degradation of Elastomers......... x 5.2 Tests................................................. 16
II.C Gasket Degradation Study................ xi 5.3 Nonconformance............................. 18
III Use of This Standard........................ xi
6 Delivery
III.A Purchaser Options and
6.1 Marking........................................... 18
Alternatives................................ xi
6.2 Packaging and Shipping................... 18
III.B Modification to Standard................. xii
6.3 Affidavit of Compliance................... 18
IV Major Revisions................................ xii
V Comments....................................... xiii
Figures

Standard 1 Typical Straight Coupling................. 4

2 Typical Coupling Configurations..... 5
1 General
1.1 Scope............................................... 1 Tables
1.2 Purpose............................................ 1
1 Minimum Physical Properties of
1.3 Application....................................... 1 Gasket Material.......................... 8
2 References....................................... 2 2 Minimum Center-Sleeve
Length....................................... 10
3 Definitions...................................... 4 3 Maximum Angular Deflection ......... 13
4 Requirements 4 Pipe-End Diameter Tolerances......... 14
4.1 Permeation....................................... 7 5 Recommended Centerline Gaps....... 15

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This page intentionally blank.
 Foreword
This foreword is for information only and is not a part of ANSI*/AWWA C219.

I. Introduction.
I.A. Background. This standard describes bolted sleeve-type couplings,
reducing or transition couplings, and flanged coupling adapters used to join plain-end
pipe. It also includes materials of construction, inspection, and testing.
I.B. History. The first edition of ANSI/AWWA C219 was approved by the
AWWA Board of Directors on June 23, 1991. Subsequent editions were approved on
June 15, 1997, Jan. 21, 2001, Feb. 12, 2006, Jan. 23, 2011, and Jan. 14, 2017. This
edition was approved on June 9, 2023.
I.C. Acceptance. In May 1985, the US Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA) entered into a cooperative agreement with a consortium led by NSF
International (NSF) to develop voluntary third-party consensus standards and a
certification program for direct and indirect drinking water additives. Other members of
the original consortium included the Water Research Foundation (formerly AwwaRF)
and the Conference of State Health and Environmental Managers (COSHEM). The
American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Association of State Drinking
Water Administrators (ASDWA) joined later.
In the United States, authority to regulate products for use in, or in contact with,
drinking water rests with individual states.† Local agencies may choose to impose
requirements more stringent than those required by the state. To evaluate the health
effects of products and drinking water additives from such products, state and local
agencies may use various references, including
1. Specific policies of the state or local agency.
2. Four standards developed under the direction of NSF: NSF‡/ANSI/CAN§ 60,
Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals—Health Effects, NSF/ANSI/CAN 61, Drinking
Water System Components—Health Effects, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372, Drinking
Water System Components—Lead Content, and NSF/ANSI/CAN 600, Health Effects
Evaluation and Criteria for Chemicals in Drinking Water.

* American National Standards Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10036.
†
Persons outside the United States should contact the appropriate authority having jurisdiction.
‡
NSF International, 789 North Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.
§
Standards Council of Canada, 55 Metcalfe Street, Suite 600, Ottawa, ON K1P 6L5 Canada.

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 3. Other references, including AWWA standards, Food Chemicals Codex, Water
Chemicals Codex,¶ and other standards considered appropriate by the state or local
agency.
Various certification organizations may be involved in certifying products in
accordance with NSF/ANSI/CAN 61. Individual states or local agencies have authority
to accept or accredit certification organizations within their jurisdictions. Accreditation
of certification organizations may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
NSF/ANSI/CAN 600, (which formerly appeared in NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 & 61
as Annex A, “Toxicology Review and Evaluation Procedures,” does not stipulate a
maximum allowable level (MAL) of a contaminant for substances not regulated by a
USEPA final maximum contaminant level (MCL). The MALs of an unspecified list of
“unregulated contaminants” are based on toxicity testing guidelines (noncarcinogens)
and risk characterization methodology (carcinogens). Use of NSF/ANSI/CAN 600
procedures may not always be identical, depending on the certifier.
ANSI/AWWA C219 does not address additives requirements. Users of this standard
should consult the appropriate state or local agency having jurisdiction in order to
1. Determine additives requirements, including applicable standards.
2. Determine the status of certifications by parties offering to certify products
for contact with, or treatment of, drinking water.
3. Determine current information on product certification.
II. Special Issues.
II.A. Advisory Information on Product Application. Bolted sleeve-type couplings
have been used for joining plain-end pipe since the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Currently, there are several manufacturers that produce these couplings. Though details
differ, couplings of this type work the same way and have similar components: a center
sleeve (sometimes called a “middle ring”), end rings (sometimes called “followers”), and
threaded fasteners (bolts and nuts) that when tightened, pull the end rings together.
These components compress elastomeric gaskets in the space formed between the end
rings, center sleeve, and pipes being joined, thereby sealing the coupling-and-pipe
combination.
II.B. Chlorine and Chloramine Degradation of Elastomers. The selection
of materials is critical for water service and distribution piping in locations where
there is a possibility that elastomers will be in contact with chlorine or chloramines.

¶
Both publications available from National Academy of Sciences, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington,
DC 20001.

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Documented research has shown that elastomers such as gaskets, seals, valve seats, and
encapsulations may be degraded when exposed to chlorine or chloramines. The impact
of degradation is a function of the type of elastomeric material, chemical concentration,
contact surface area, elastomer cross section, and environmental conditions as well as
temperature. Careful selection of and specifications for elastomeric materials and the
specifics of their application for each water system component should be considered to
provide long-term usefulness and minimum degradation (swelling, loss of elasticity, or
softening) of the elastomer specified.
II.C. Gasket Degradation Study. A pipe gasket, having the hardness of a
compressed elastomer with a large mass relative to the small, exposed surface area,
experiences minimal degradation. This was validated in a research paper reported in
the Journal AWWA,** where the pipe gasket degradation in a 110 mg/L chloramine
solution was found to degrade just the exposed surface.
III. Use of This Standard. It is the responsibility of the user of an AWWA
standard to determine that the products described in that standard are suitable for use
in the particular application being considered.
III.A. Purchaser Options and Alternatives. The following items should be
provided by the purchaser
1. Standard used—that is, ANSI/AWWA C219, Bolted Sleeve-Type Couplings
for Plain-End Pipe, of latest revision.
2. Quantity.
3. Wall thickness, schedule, or class.
4. Flange specification for flanged coupling adapters.
5. For applications other than potable water, whether compliance with NSF/
ANSI/CAN 61, Drinking Water System Components—Health Effects, is required.
6. Actual outside diameter(s) (OD) of pipe ends, including any coatings
(Section 3 [Item 1]).
7. Nominal pipe size(s) (Section 3 [Item 12] and Table 4).
8. Rated pressure, including transient pressure, and the test pressure (Section 3
[Items 15, 19, and 20] and Sec. 4.3.1).
9. Details of federal, state, provincial, territorial, and local requirements
(Sec. 4.2.1).
10. Operating temperature range (Sec. 4.2.3.1 and 4.2.3.2).
11. Type of service (Sec. 4.2.3.2 and 4.2.3.3).

** R.W. Bonds. 2004. Effect of Chloramines on Ductile-Iron Pipe Gaskets of Various Elastomer
Compounds. Jour. AWWA, 96(4):153–160.

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 12. Length and thickness of center sleeve where special performance or
installation requirements exist (Sec. 4.3.2 and Table 2).
13. Anticipated angular deflection of pipes (Sec. 4.5 and Table 3).
14. Special requirements, such as coatings (Sec. 4.6.2), gasket material (Sec. 4.2.3
and 4.2.3.1), gaskets for electrical insulation (Sec. 4.2.3.3), and special type of bolting
(Sec. 4.2.5).
15. Type of pipe(s), including specification to which the pipe is made or
specification and tolerance of pipe ends (Sec. 4.7.2 and Table 4).
16. Purchaser’s pipe-end preparation requirements (Sec. 4.7.2).
17. Additional nondestructive weld evaluation (Sec. 5.1.1.1.1).
18. Material certifications (Sec. 5.1.1.3).
19. Purchaser’s inspection requirements (Sec. 5.1.2).
20. Hydrostatic test data report (Sec. 5.2.2.2).
21. Purchaser’s proof test requirements (Sec. 5.2.4).
22. Marking of rated pressure (Sec. 6.1, Item 4).
23. Affidavit of compliance, if required (Sec. 6.3).
III.B. Modification to Standard. Any modification of the provisions, definitions,
or terminology in this standard must be provided by the purchaser.
IV. Major Revisions. Major revisions made to the standard in this edition
include the following:
1. Updated Sec. I.C. Acceptance in the Foreword with the latest Standards
Council language reflecting the addition of reference to NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 and
NSF/ANSI/CAN 600.
2. The scope was updated to include wastewater and reclaimed water since the
standard is applicable to these (Sec. 1.1 and Sec. 4.2.3.1).
3. Updated Sec. 4.1 Permeation and Sec. 4.2.1 Materials compliance with the
latest Standards Council boilerplate language
4. In Sec. 4.4.1.1 Steel center sleeves, the option to examine welds by
radiography or ultrasonics in lieu of hydrostatic testing was moved to Sec. 5.2.3.1.
5. Sec. 4.4.2.1 Steel end rings was expanded to include information on
permanent expansion, and the information on weld examination by radiography or
ultrasonics was moved to Sec. 5.2.3.1 to avoid redundancy.
6. A new Sec. 4.4.4 Welding was added to address welding procedures.
7. A minimum hold time for test pressure was added to Sec. 5.2.1 Test pressures.
8. In Sec. 5.2.3.1 under Sec. 5.2.3, the subheading was revised to more accurately
portray this section’s intent. Production hydrostatic test was rewritten, and information

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on the options other than hydrostatic testing was moved here from Sec. 4.4.1.1 and
Sec. 4.4.2.1 to avoid redundancy.
V. Comments. If you have any comments or questions about this standard,
please call AWWA Engineering and Technical Services at 303.794.7711; write to the
department at 6666 West Quincy Avenue, Denver, CO 80235-3098; or email at
standards@awwa.org.

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