[cctalk] Re: Mercury in schools (Was: I'm working on a Storage

On Mon, 13 May 2013, Cory Smelosky wrote: I'm not familiar with any thermostat simpler than a bimetallic spiral with a vial of mercury on the end of it. Or did you mean a manual valve on a radiator, with NO thermostat?, but I didn't think that THOSE have been used in schools since I was a child. For most of the 20th century, more than half of the classrooms used a round Honeywell thermostat, which did, indeed, have a mercury switch in it. In places where those were replaced with digital, the presence of the mercury within was probably used as an excuse to make the expenditure. More so than major spills of ammonia or bleach. 10+ years ago, the college administration was considering evacuating several buildings due to a spill of a pint of Kodak Stop Bath that had been stored in a maintenance tunnel between buildings. We identified it, and explained what it was. But, the administration didn't calm down until they heard from the head teacher of the Chemistry department that it was not flammable, explosive, or a deadly toxin in miniscule amounts. The spill was right onto a floor drain. We suggested that they pour copious amounts of water into that drain to dilute it and flush it away. They declined, saying that the chemistry teacher had said that it was DANGEROUS to pour water into acid. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com