Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:11:54 -0400
Reply-To: ILPI <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: ILPI <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Subject: Re: Temperatures of Emergency Shower and Eyewash Water
In-Reply-To: <E07AD36B17A4D411896D00805FCC9B0D0F88701E**At_Symbol_Here**nt05.wstf.nasa.gov>

I have seen safety showers used in actual emergencies several times. 
And the water that comes out on a cool or cold day in the Northeast 
(NY or MA) can be really quite cold although (as it was an emergency) 
we didn't stop to take the temperature.  These units were, of course, 
installed on cold water lines, which I suspect can get well below 60 
F.  And even near 60 F, a victim will no doubt start shivering and 
feeling uncomfortable enough that they may forgo adequate rinsing.

One could ask this in the hypothermia context.  Lots of charts on the 
web for that - here's one 
http://www.watersafetycouncil.org/coldwaterimmersion/index.html  The 
50-60 F range on that one says exhaustion or unconsciousness after 
1-2 hours...which if you are suffering from a trauma accident is no 
doubt considerably shorter.

The tepid water recommendation is an excellent one.  You can view cut 
sheets for some thermostatic mixing valves here:

	http://www.gesafety.com/pdf/G3600.pdf
	http://www.gesafety.com/pdf/G3700.pdf

List prices on those 2 units are $603.75 and $894.75, respectively. 
Disclaimer: We are Guardian Equipment distributors.

Best regards,

Rob Toreki

>Colleagues - With previous discussions regarding "tepid" water temperatures
>required by ANSI Z358.1-2004 in mind, I was curious what other facilities
>have measured the temperatures of their delivered water and what the results
>were.  With the low end of "tepid" being 60 F (Appendix B), it might seem
>cold for a dip but not for a, uh, soft drink.  We recently measured the
>temperatures of water from more than a dozen units (both eyewash and
>emergency showers, indoor and outdoor), and found a mean temperature of 72 F
>at an ambient outdoor temperature of 75 F; safely above the 60 F  "limit".
>Of course, we expect seasonal variation and plan to measure the temperatures
>periodically in the future to determine if mixing units are required. 
>
>We are in southern New Mexico which has a nominally mild climate (though it
>does cool down in the winter) and I wondered what the delivered water
>temperatures at facilities in other parts of the country are.
>
>Ben

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