Often times, seals and gaskets are in very dangerous environments. These environmental factors  damage seals can be acidic (very low pH levels) or caustic (very high pH levels/alkaline). Seals can also face rapid damage, such as warping in shape and cracking/splitting due to being exposed to very high or low temperatures. Extremely high pressures can also have a quite damaging effect on seals, which can destroy the elastomer of a seal and thus even potentially flatten a seal

Gaskets and seals are both an integral part to pumping processes. Though, like everything, gaskets and seals are not indestructible. Both gaskets and seals are designed to be very durable and appropriately applicable under the conditions they are intended for, yet they are still quite susceptible to deterioration over time. The two general reasons for deterioration of a gasket or seal fall into the following two categories: mechanical extremes and chemical extremes.          

(Above) Reason 2: Improper installation of packing seal can lead to damage of a shaft due to shaft-sleeve area being impossible to seal. When sealing pumps, there are two major types of seals most frequently used: mechanical seals and packing seals (AKA compression packing). Most of the seals on pumps are mechanical seals, though packing seals are sometimes used instead. Packing is usually chosen over mechanical seals because packing seals are much less expensive, as well as