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Steel pipe with brass barb and white-green filling found in bushland (aussie.zone)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by WaterWaiver@aussie.zone to c/whatisthisthing@lemmy.world
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Location: Sydney, Australia. Found it during bushcare.

The brass barb fitting and the powdery filling suggest some sort of kiln burner to me, but the dark green paint on the outside of the tube looks rather ordinary and not like it has been through high temperatures.

The soft, powdery cemetitious filling has a copper-green tint. Only one end has a hole.

If it were not for the brass barb and coppery fill colour I would assume this is just a bit of structural steel from someone's carport (or similar) that has filled with cement and now been cut to pieces for disposal. But a carport with a barb fitting? WTH?

We find all sorts of garbage in this bushland because it's sandwiched in suburbia. Traditionally it was a dumping ground (mattresses, furniture, asbestos, whole cars) and today still people use it illegally as a dump (mainly building materials and soil). Lots of random materials get deposited by or uncovered by stormwater runoff & floods too. There is no limit to the craziness of what you find here.

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[-] Godnroc@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Shot in the dark, but the barb and filling remind me of the DIY foundries you see online. Perhaps a way to add air or fuel and the thick lining is a heat resistant material to prevent the pipe from melting while in use.

[-] Machinist@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Guessing.

Something to do with fluid mixing/filtration/reaction. Fair amount of quick and dirty, not a production item. Low pressure, just a few psi. Water treatment, meth, process prototype, pesticides, agricultural water.

There are green forms of arsenic. Wouldn't go licking it, wash hands after touching. Don't hang on to it.

[-] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 0 points 8 months ago

How would you know that green is arsenic and not copper?

[-] Machinist@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

I don't know that it's arsenic. Green arsenic is that color due to the copper in molecule.

However, that object looks like it did something with industrial fluid. The pipe shell is also painted green. It's an area where illegal dumping occurs. I'd be cautious. I've found sealed 55 gal drums in deep woods before from illegal dumping. Getting rid of toxic shit can be expensive so some assholes illegally dump.

Until you know what it is, it pays to be cautious. That thing just makes my Spidey sense tingle.

[-] taldennz@lemmy.nz 1 points 8 months ago

You don't. But you also don't know it isn't. And if there was chemical processing involved it could be.

[-] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Alright so after looking at the symptoms of arsenic poisoning, I'm not sure how I can tell it apart from getting a combo at Taco Bell with a large fruit punch.

[-] smb@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago

How would you know that green is arsenic and not copper?

he already suggested to NOT lick it, guess arsenic would cause death upon licking, so he already mentioned how to "know" that but suggested to better stay alive instead 😉

@ @WaterWaiver@aussie.zone : it would be interesting to know if the hole is connected right through to the barb or not, suggesting that the powdery chemicals would have to do sth with the barb, or not. then maybe suggesting some chemical processing.

guessing chemicals by picture and observations is error prone and can be dangerous. if you want to know, send it to a lab. maybe hint it to police mentioning them the meth processing guessed earlier by @Machinist@lemmy.world maybe they'll analyse it and tell you later what it was.

[-] WaterWaiver@aussie.zone 1 points 8 months ago

it would be interesting to know if the hole is connected right through to the barb or not

I feel very uncomfortable with the thought of probing this thing with long metal rods whilst looking down the end.

maybe hint it to police

I guess I could try and send them the pics and ask them about this "suspicious object". Hopefully it's just a bong.

(I can't quite see it being an arsenic cannon, but yeah I wasn't planning on trusting my copper oxide assumption regardless xD)

[-] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 months ago

I think if you lick random object you find laying around, you're destined to doom.

[-] smb@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago

I think if you lick random object you find laying around, you’re destined to doom.

but at least they're yours once licked ;-)

this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2024
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