Water spills

I have safety product catalogs that have equipment and materials for
oil, chemical, and biological spills, but none deal directly with just
plain water spills.  Has anyone seen any apparatus for water problems?
(Other than wet-dry vacs and dehumidifiers--we're trying to prevent the
water from pooling.)

The HVAC equipment in our building is on the fourth floor above our
archives and office space on the third floor.  When there is a
mini-water disaster, the water seeps through the seams of the concrete
floor into the drop ceiling over our areas.  We then have to scramble to
place plastic over book selves and desks, and trash cans lined with
plastic bag under the drips, which occur in the same general areas, but
the actual drips are not always at the same spots.  It could be 3 to 5
drip locations, coming from  a 1, 2, or 3 square yard area.

In answer to anticipated questions: physical plant has been working on
this for years so their assurance that the problem has been fixed cannot
be cashed in for damaged books or papers.  Above the drop-ceiling is
duct work, light fixtures, and computer/phone/electrical/security system
cables so stopping or directing water up there is not possible.

Therefore we could use an apparatus that will catch multiple drips and
direct them to a catch basin and can be "quickly set up".  Some kind of
canopy on four adjustable poles, that works like a small inverted tent
that instead of repelling water catches and directs it.  (We'll call it
"The Book Poncho.")

Frank A. Reynolds
Hunt Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA  15213

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 8:6
                   Distributed: Sunday, July 10, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-6-005
                                  ***