Protection against electric shock in laboratory sea-water systems

An electrical shock hazard can exist to personnel in modern sea-water systems which use hard rubber and synthetic piping. A method, non-toxic to marine life, is described herein which safeguards personnel against electric shock by the insertion of grounded platinized titanium electrodes in the system. The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, maintains a salt water supply system with a capacity of 76,000 gallons. This system provides a water supply for the main laboratory and for the public aquarium. A breakdown of the total water capacity is given in Table 1. A diagram of the salt water system at Woods Hole is shown in Figure 1. Sea water supply systems for aquaria which have in the past used metallic piping, not utilize non-corrosive hard rubber and poly-vinyl-chloride (PVC) type plastics. While the latter has eliminated the problems of toxicity to fish inherent in the combination of salt water and metals, it has presented a potential shock hazard to personnel. by James M. Crossen, with a contribution by Paul S. Galtsoff. "Web version posted November 28, 2006." "Prepared 1966, Issued 2006." System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Includes bibliographical references (page 8). 2006 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center) Library Public Domain 1863