We try to keep it flushed out here but it poops up occasionally.
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It reminds me of bat man responding to the bat signal spot light.
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This scares me a little. I’m buying a filter for my tap water tomorrow.
Gitter done
4 bags of Lipton tea, cup of sugar, pinch of baking soda and ice makes any tap water drinkable
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Baking soda?
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Downstreaming roofs would be the only benefit here imo. First thing that came to mind, but would trash the hoses probably. Also, DOT and EPA would have a field day ruining your life in case of a wreck or spill!
Grandma did it to keep the bitterness out. When I was in the fire service I took a class called Teaching Methodology in order to become a Fire Instructor. For the final we had to teach a hour class on any topic we chose. Everyone picked fire related topics and the instructors picked them apart. In taught a class on the history of tea and how to make sweet tea, complete with samples for all the instructors on the review board. I passed with flying colors
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Question for @CaCO3Girl
In my research, I am finding the the higher the % in SH the quicker it degrades to lower %. For example, when you buy 12.5%, it may degrade to 6% within 60 days lets say (maybe sooner, maybe later - no one seems to be able to just say a 55 gal drum opened once per day to fill trailer tank at a consistent 75 degree temp will last “X” amount of time at 12.5% before it degrades). However, when you buy 6%, it can stay 6% for 6 months or longer. If you could explain, what is the chemistry behind this quick degrade to a point and then a stabilization of the concentration for extended period of time after that? My ignorant and probably wrong thesis is that chlorine does not like to be in higher concentrations and somehow self degrades to a level it is comfortable at. I know, lame thought…
Whew, okay, we are going back to high school chemistry folks, enjoy the ride!
Sodium Hypochlorite is NaClO
Na (Sodium) is happiest when it has one bond, this is because it has ONE valence electron hanging around it. think of it like a hand it is holding out.
Cl (Chloride) has 7 valence electrons shooting hands out. So hand one and two hold hands and form a bond.
Three and four do the same, as do 5 and 6…but hand number 7 is out there ready to attach to something. In order to be happy it has to have 8, it does this by attaching itself to something and forming a bond. in this case it attached itself to oxygen. It’s pretty happy.
O (oxygen) has 6 valence electrons. it also has to have 8 to be happy. So it stretches out 6 hands but only attached itself to Cl…this means 4 hands of itself are together, one hand is holding Cl, and one hand is just left hanging in the wind, so it is unhappy because it wants 8 spots full, and now only 7 are full. This means the charge on Oxygen is negative…because it’s missing a bond
So this extra hand is just waving around, so it of course starts grabbing at things…this is why to make SH they do it in a closed box, so the oxygen can’t grab anything else. We are surrounded by air, air has carbon dioxide, oxygen LOVES to be with carbon dioxide because it is written as O-C-O…see the two oxygens are on the end and they are waving their free hand…so it grabs our oxygen’s hand and rips it away from the Cl.
Now instead of NaClO we have NaCl…which is salt.
So why does SH degrade? Because the oxygen isn’t happy staying with Cl. The more oxygen with their hands out the more likely it will attract a CO2 molecule to change with. So as there are fewer and fewer NaClO’s there is less of a reaction.
Water in the atmosphere can have the same effect on the ClO molecule. This has less of an effect because inside the SH you get from the vendors is also NaOH…this is sodium hydroxide. It helps keep the water away by offering up it’s oxygen hand as well.
So, why can’t anyone make a chart on bleach content…because there are too many variables. How humid, hot (speeds up the reaction), level of CO2…how long has it been exposed to the CO2?
These all vary too much.
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Thanks!
So now I am curious and what is driving this is the desire to purchase SH in 55 gal drums to reduce my chem cost. In my market, my only option for 12.5% SH is pool supply in 4/1 gal @ $4.00 per gal or in 55 gal drum that I can get for $3/gal. Since I do not do much roof cleaning, my SH usage can be anywhere from 20 gal per week to 50 gal depending on the type of cleaning lined up that week. I want to purchase in 55 gal to reduce cost even it degrades (just don’t know how much it will degrade in a week or two week’s time) but lets say it degrades to 6%, it is still usable with adjustments to my mix ratios or application method while still providing me the cost savings overall albeit just not as much since degraded chem = increased gal used for same job.
What I am trying to get clear on based on research (a chart was provided which I do not have the link to at the moment) that showed basically various SH % strengths from 6% to 15% in a chart the graphed over time (used days from 1 to 90 I believe). At 15% it was a significant downward line in strength as was 12.5%, 10%, etc but 6% showed an even line across the dilution/time graph. I interpreted this to imply that once a dilution reached that low of a level it simply balanced out and stayed stagnant at the level.
Would SH do that or does it degrade to 0% (my criteria for consideration is that a 55 gal dark drum (preventing UV rays) in a constant temp environment only being opened at max once per day. Each time I open it, I am introducing fresh air which would cause a degrading affect but only to some certain point in the process you described since their is only a specific amount of air in the container once sealed again. For that matter, if I opened it once and resealed and let’s say the SH degraded to 10% with the introduction of new oxygen, could one assume it would stay 10% until exposed again to fresh oxygen?).
Sorry for going on and on, just trying to project in as much of a scientific method what the likely outcome of dilution at given points would most likely be, then back in how that would affect usage thus ultimately cost. No one wants 20 gal of chlorine salt that is useless for our purposes because it sat too long.
I would venture to say (mind you I am no chemist by any means) is that even the 6% will degrade. I purchased a 2.5 gal jug of 10.5% and I used about 1.5 gals, so 1 gal left. Several months went by, after sitting in a hot Florida garage, without being used. I went to pour it into a pump sprayer and it was essentially clear, no longer greenish, but instead looked very much like water. It had a very, very FAINT chlorine smell, but not nearly as strong as it used to. I am going to assume that it degraded below the 6% mark, but again, unlike bottles of chlorox that sit in the laundry room, it was sitting in 95+ degree heat, with 75%+ humidity.
Over 90 days it will probably stay around 6%…but I tell my customers that their SH has a shelf life of no more than 6 months, and that is when it’s in a formula at less than 6%
Eventually it will degrade to zero. If you can’t use what you have in a month I wouldn’t bother buying that much.
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My storage tank is outside. I painted it black thinking that would prevent UV rays from breaking it down. Maybe it does, but it also makes it hot inside, so the heat probably breaks out down. It gets filled every Monday so it isn’t really an issue except in Jan and Feb when we are slow and only get it filled once a month.
Leave it black and now paint it white again.
Did you know that UV rays can go through some paint?
Also, by placing a removable awning over the tank you lower the temperature by at least 10 degrees…just a thought.
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Yes I put a pinch in mine too. Makes a difference
For your situation, I think buying drums makes a lot of sense. Out of sunlight, in a cool, low humidity environment, I would guess that you should be able to keep it above 10% for at least 3 or 4 weeks, maybe more.
Currently I buy 4 gallon cases of 12.5%, between 24-48 gallons at a time. Sometimes it will sit in the crawspace under my house for 4 weeks or more before I use it all. And it still seems just as hot as it did brand new.
I’ll make it happen. Thanks
That makes sense. About 5 years ago I had had 7 hunks of my back and shoulders cut out because of melanoma. I’ve never had my shirt off. Clap to blackboard erasers together and that white cloud of chalk dust is the color of my back lol
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