Hazardous Material?

[Geof]

Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), a manufacturer of firefighting chemicals, has announced the discovery of a new firefighting agent to add to their existing range. Known as WATER (Wonderful And Total Extinguishing Resource), it augments existing agents such as dry powder and BCF (bromine-chlorine-fluorine) which have been in use from time immemorial. It is particularly suitable for dealing with fires in buildings, timber yards and warehouses. Though required in large quantities, it is fairly cheap to produce and it is intended that quantities of about a million gallons should be stored in urban areas and near other installations of high risk ready for immediate use. BCF and dry powder are usually stored under pressure, but WATER will be stored in open ponds or reservoirs and conveyed to the scene of the fire by hoses and portable pumps.

ICI’s new proposals are already encountering strong opposition from safety and environmental groups. It has been pointed out that, if anyone immersed his or her head in a bucket of WATER, it would prove fatal in as little as three minutes. Each of the proposed reservoirs will contain enough WATER to fill 500,000 two-gallon buckets. Each bucket-full could be used 100 times so there is enough WATER in one reservoir to kill millions of people. Risks of this size should not be allowed whatever the gain. What use was a fire-fighting agent that could kill people as well as fire?

A government spokesman said that he would strongly oppose planning permission for construction of a WATER reservoir unless the most stringent precautions were followed. Open ponds were certainly not acceptable. What would prevent people falling in them? What would prevent the contents from leaking out? At the very least the WATER would need to be contained in a steel pressure vessel surrounded by a leak-proof concrete wall.

A spokesman for a fire fighters said he did not see the need for the new agent. Dry powder and BCF could cope with most fires. The new agent would bring with it risks, particularly to firemen, greater than any possible gain. It has been reported that WATER was a constituent of beer. Did this mean that the fumes would intoxicate firemen? In addition a sample of WATER has been tested and found to cause clothes to shrink. If it does this to cotton, what would it do to men?

[Steve@Reliance]

Immersing your head in anything for 3 minutes could prove fatal.

[keebler303]

This may be a similar compound:

Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the unstable radical Hydroxide, the components of which are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol.

For more detailed information, including precautions, disposal procedures and storage requirements, refer to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for Dihydrogen Monoxide.
Should I be concerned about Dihydrogen Monoxide?
Yes, you should be concerned about DHMO! Although the U.S. Government and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) do not classify Dihydrogen Monoxide as a toxic or carcinogenic substance (as it does with better known chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and benzene), DHMO is a constituent of many known toxic substances, diseases and disease-causing agents, environmental hazards and can even be lethal to humans in quantities as small as a thimbleful.

http://www.dhmo.org/

Enjoy
Matt

[Jason Marsha]

Thanks guys I really got a laugh out of this thread.

Jason

[dertsap]

if they were to put the water in steel tanks rather than in man made reservoirs the water would have to be filtered first before adding it to the tanks ,due to the fact with air pollution causing acid rain which in turn becomes part of the water table ,this high concentrate of acid will indeed corrode the tanks in no time redering them useless ,eventually eating it s way thru the concrete barier around the once was tanks

[Steve@Reliance]

Unless the W.A.T.E.R. was processed into one of these many potential compounds like beer. Immersing my head in that for three minutes only renders me unconcious.

My smilies aren't working.

[miljnor]

ya why not use beer instead thus surving as a multi purpose chemical agent. It could be sprayed at rioting crowds to calm them down!!!!

Of course the riots would become more numerous and we would have to form a new task force to deal with said riots something like "Broad Urban Reactionary Bureau" or B.U.R.B for short!

(couldn't think of a good one for P)

[diarmaid]

Lol