Wall-wash Kit:
This kit has been used to provide most of the basic data that underpins our current understanding of crag geo/biochemical processes. Normally we send out kits in sets of six, so that we get a reasonably representative picture of the electrolyte composition of the rock surface.
The largest running cost associated with this project is the need to pay for international carriage two ways, and it varies from AUD 120 to AUD 240 per set of six samples. The cost of producing the kits themselves is minimal.
All wall-wash results can be viewed as well as downloaded from here.
The documentation for this kit in English and Spanish can be downloaded from the link below. I apologise for the Google Spanish, but it is all I have.
Sulphate Spot Test Kit:
This kit is relatively new, and has been trialed at just a few locations. However, it shows considerable promise as a tool for determining whether a crag is going to exhibit problems with SRB-mediated corrosion of stainless steel.
If a small section of rock is wiped over with moist cotton wool and a few drops of the washing water squeezed into one of the depressions of the black test plate, the presence of sulphate can be revealed in under ten minutes or so.
Similarly, it is possible to take a few grains of efflorescence from points where ground water is oozing from the rock and test these for sulphate.
The cost is low, and thus there would be no problem in distributing this kit to those developing or maintaining bolted crags. However, reagent 2 is somewhat toxic. Toxic as in it would be bad to drink the entire contents of the bottle, but not so toxic that the risk cannot be managed by basic hygiene measures such as not eating and sampling at the same time. The problem is that air freight carriers don’t see things this way, so we have the hassle of arranging special carriage. I’m sure this can be done, it’s just a hoop to jump through if we wish to see wide-spread adoption of this kit.