Cash plea to make water safe
AUSTRALIAN scientists have invented a new form of brass which could eliminate the risk of water contamination from lead.
But they haven’t been able to raise the money to get it in the hands of industry.
How much do they need, you ask? $1 million? $10 million? Try $70,000.
One of the brains behind the breakthrough said revelations published by the Sunday Territorian about the dangers of lead-laced brass may be the turning point.
“Until the media storm kicked up from that article, we’ve been hearing crickets,” said University of NSW materials scientist Dr Kevin Law.
News Corp Australia last week reported households had been warned to run taps for 30 seconds in the morning before using water for drinking or cooking amid growing concern about lead poisoning.
Infants and young children are most at risk because their brains haven’t fully developed.
Bright brass contains none at all but retains the properties that lead gives — such as machinability — without being more expensive.
Dr Law said $70,000 would pay for six months’ work by a researcher “to get this out of our hands and into industry’s for large-scale trials”.