Bill Aycock wrote:
> Mike-
> Don't be confused by references to "Fullers Earth"; Bentonite and Fullers
> Earth behave VERY differently. Chemical similarity does not make them work
> the same way. Bentonite's value is in the behavior with water. Like all
> clays, it swells when wet; Bentonite, however, swells a LOT. This is why it
> is used to seal ponds and below-grade walls. In water, it forms a
> Thixotropic gell.
> Bill-W4BSG
>
Bill raises a good point. I think that for ground conductivity
enhancement it's the water holding capability and the fine particulates
that's important, more than the mechanical properties. So all those
clays should work.
And, it's not that alternates won't work for ground rods, if it doesn't
happen to match up with some recommendations and common practices in
industry. Those might be driven as much by cost or ready availability
of the materials. If you're already bringing in sacks of bentonite for
sealing, then using a few extra sacks for grounding makes good sense to
a contractor.
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