Sandman

Science can be enormously boring. For those curious as to what I’m up to now, it is sieving and acid-washing approximately 1750 lbs. of marine sand (literally scooped up off the beach). The acid-washing is necessary because the sand is rich in calcium carbonate, a natural buffer. Since the plants at Fortuna are acid-loving and grow in soils with pHs from 3 to 4, a neutral sand buffer would be antagonistic to growth.

So this is how it all happens. First I go to Noveys in Caledonia, a run-of-the-mill chain hardware store, and purchase the sand. As my Spanish is quite poor at the moment, it is my good fortune that one Manuel Seegasty (300-9257) speaks fluent English, and even commiserates with the sudden need for nearly one ton of sand.

The sand can be shipped to Tupper labs, where it arrives on a large pallet. Plastic containers (also procured at Noveys) act as vats in which the sand can be washed in hydrochloric acid. Since this is sand just scooped off the beach, it must have the large shells, rocks, and various beach detritus sieved out of it. Manually.

Once that is done, the sand is put into the tubs and washed with approximately .05 M HCL, which is about 50 mL of concentrated HCL in one liter of water. The mixture is allowed to sit over-night so all of the calcium carbonate can dissolve. Then the acid bath has to be removed, and some of the silt with it. This is done simply by putting a hose in the horrible soup and letting it drain out.

Not an overly exciting process, or one amenable to expedition, but utterly necessary.