permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflondon@mindspring.com>]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2001 00:24:03 -0800 (PST), John Schinnerer
<eco_living@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>Aloha,
>
>> Any decent well, properly installed will have galvanized casing
>> installed and grouted securely into bedrock. 
>
>This is typical of what I've seen, but galvanizing isn't exactly
>low-tox - (small-print) warning messages are now appearing on packages
>of galvanized wire bought at hardware stores.  Basically they say
>something like "don't eat anything you've touched with your hands (or
>suck on your finger, etc.) after touching this stuff until you wash
>your hands *real* well, and it might be a good idea to wear gloves when
>handling it."
>
>Galvanized roofing isn't OK for potable catchment, afaik.  I certainly
>wouldn't drink water off it except in an emergency.
>
>Anybody have more details on galvanizing?


Yes. Never weld or oxy-acet cut galvanized unless you like 
languishing in a hospital bed - ZINC is the culprit here.
There may be some slight rish handling new galv. roofing then
eating oranges with unwashed hands but only slight. After it has
weathered a bit there should be no risk using a galv roof in a
catchmanary system. Never use lead head nails as fasteners on such a
roof; alternatives: stainless steel screws, also galvanized screws and
nails with neoprene washers.




L.F.London ICQ#27930345 lflondon@mindspring.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech  london@ibiblio.org