Water corrosivity in Gdansk Bay, Poland, the southern part of the Baltic Sea, was investigated. The analysed region is heavily industrialized, and the coastline is very diverse. Twenty-seven test points along the coastline were selected. Water parameters such as salinity, total dissolved solids content, resistivity, conductivity, oxygenation, pH and corrosion rate were determined. The results of the investigation are presented. Water samples were collected, and structural steel specimens were exposed in the water for 2 months. The corrosion rate for each test point was determined and plotted on a map. The spatial distribution of water parameters was calculated using the ‘inverse distance to a power’ method and presented on the maps. Salinity did not exceed 0.7 %, and average corrosion rate equalled 0.0585 mm/year.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to detect the source of stray current interference on underground pipelines in urban areas using a joint time/frequency method of signal analysis.Design/methodology/approach: Investigations are performed on an underground pipeline located in the vicinity of the two direct current tractions: a tramway line and a train line. The results of the analysis are presented in the form of spectrograms, which illustrate changes in the spectral power density of the potential of the rails and of the potential of the pipe in the joint domain time‐frequency.Findings: The comparison of the spectrograms can be used to evaluate if and which stray current source has influence on the investigated metal construction.Originality/value: The combined analysis in the domain of time and frequency can be used as a supplementary one providing new information useful in the evaluation of stray current corrosion hazard. In the presence of several electric field sources in urban areas, this method reveals the complete time‐frequency characteristic of each stray current source and its interference on the investigated construction.