Adding Acid - DON'T DO WHAT I DID! - Now I Am Off to the Doctor

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Situations like this are where the recommended 15 minute eye flush can make all the difference. It's not an occasional splash for 15 minutes. It's supposed to be a constant stream of water for 15 minutes. It's annoying to continue for that long, but that amount of water flushed through your eye can flush and eliminate any residual chemical to prevent further damage. It should be followed by an immediate medical evaluation to discover the extent of the damage, and a proper treatment plan to help heal said damage. Lots of household chemicals are extremely dangerous because they are so concentrated, but they have to be to be effective without using a huge quantity of the chemical with an unreasonably long contact time at lower concentrations.


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im just baffled by all this. first off, glad the OP is ok. second, he seems to have a big fear over MA and the gear/procedures he was using to add it too his pool I don't understand. it seems all this unnecessary gear he was using gave him a false sense of safety. why are you placing it in a bucket to pour, and standing over it??

people, just open the jug and lower it to the pool water level and gently pour it in, away from your face. put on a pair of safety glasses to avoid a splash. the less steps and "procedures" you have, the less opportunities to mess up.


And if you are really this sensitive to MA, then pay the extra and use dry acid.
 
Reading this during lunch I was thinking there has to be a way to safely add MA to the water directly from the bottle... I can't find anything to buy but this is what I was thinking, found this picture on a random website and I think we could adopt something like this to the MA bottle, put the tube in the water and turn upside down.. The MA would go directly into the water, no splashing, no fumes... The only thing I do not know is will it react in some way with the water as it was put in?

What does everyone think??

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MarianParoo said:
Note that Ben said if there was any splatter (and I would assume this goes for any sign of eye burning), to immediately jump into the pool away from where you added acid and open your eyes to flush them while swimming away from the acid.

I have been involved in threads here at TFP where people say they measure their MA. That makes me crazy. I always strongly caution them against doing this. I hope they all read this thread.

Thank goodness you will be okay.
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Pretty new around here. But, I've got a question. The pool math calculator tells you a given number of ounces of MA to add to get to the desired pH level. Is it that one should just use the ounces from the pool math calculator as a target and try to pour roughly that amount in or is there some other way of getting exactly that 23 ounces (or whatever amount pool math says) into your pool? Maybe some sort of disclaimer should be added to the pool math calculator is measuring MA is very hazardous. My initial reaction when I came across the pool math calculator is that I need to get a measuring cup so I get the right number of ounces into the pool for MA and I doubt I'm the only one to do so.
 
+1 to bgray question. I just starting adding chemicals and I have been pouring the MA into a measuring cup and then pouring that into the pool. I have done this 3 or 4 times. The last time I did it the wind switched on me and got my first sniff of the MA - almost knocked me over. Honestly, I have been pretty haphazard and now realize I need to be a LOT more careful
 
I haven't had an issue yet with MA with my methods. Check the wind direction. Keep the wind at your back so fumes go over the pool, not toward you. If there's no wind at all or it's extremely humid, I wait until another time. Remove the cap immediately before I intend to use, don't open until you have to. Lower jug most of the way into the water then tilt to pour just above pool surface. Close immediately and store away from other chemicals and bare metal objects to prevent corrosion.

That being said, I worked in laboratories for over 10 years and in college. I routinely handled volatile solvents, concentrated acids and bases. Sometimes I'm a little too comfortable around chemicals and that can get me in trouble...

EDIT on volumes: I would just use approximate amounts when adding for my pool. I have measured into a large graduated pitcher, but I hated it and it made for a mess of fumes on a humid night last summer. 1/4 jug, 1/2 jug... of course I have a large pool. If you have a 8000 gallon pool and need to add 20 mL, I can see how that would be problematic. Problematic, but very doable if you take proper precautions and respect the MA.
 
When I have to add it I usually have to add about 20oz to drop from 7.8 to 7.5. I use a red solo cup because it's close to the amount I need, and it's disposable. I splash a little water on the concrete, dip the bottom of the jug in the pool, sit the bottle on the wet spot to open it, pour the MA into the cup while holding the cup, dip the bottom of the jug again, sit it on the concrete and recap, pour the acid in front of the return, rinse the cup and jug again, then splash more water on the concrete where the jug was sitting. I've seen what that stuff does to concrete, and I'm not interested in my pool deck looking like that. Someone at work was deressuring a vapor hcl line into a drum of water without adding extra water to it to keep it diluted. I turned the water on to dilute it, it overflowed onto the concrete before it was diluted, and turned an 8x8 area of concrete into a mud hole. It dissolved the first inch of concrete before it got diluted enough to stop.


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Using a red solo cup seems to create the same concerns as using a measuring cup and I'd think a solid measuring cup would have less chance of cracking and such as those solo cups aren't very sturdy.
 
bgray9 said:
Using a red solo cup seems to create the same concerns as using a measuring cup and I'd think a solid measuring cup would have less chance of cracking and such as those solo cups aren't very sturdy.
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Yeah. Definitely not advocating using a cheap plastic cup. Just stating my method. If I ever remember it when I'm at the store I'm gonna pick up a plastic measuring cup to use. I've only had to add acid once this season, so it hasn't been at the front of my mind. For some reason my new swg doesn't cause nearly the ph rise my last one did. I had to add about every 7-10 days last summer. Working at a chemical plant, you learn to pay extra attention to wind direction, so I don't have a problem putting some in a smaller container so I don't accidentally put in too much. I can also pour it slower if I'm not holding the whole jug out over the pool.


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bgray9 said:
So it sounds like some folks are ok with measuring MA as long you're careful, while others advise against.
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I sometimes measure into a plastic, 1-Qt painters cup ( you can get them at any hardware store) that has 4oz graduation marks. Then I either pour that directly into the pool if it's a small quantity (< 20 oz) or I dilute into 2 gallons of pool water and pour if I need more than pint or so. It's a lot of secondary measuring containers and mixing but I have to say, in all honesty, I have never experienced any of the issues brought up in this thread. And yes, I have whiffed some MA vapors in my days but I can't say that it ever did more than provoke a blink & recoil reflex. Never once was I ever hurt or sickened by it. Perhaps, like others with chemical experience, my sense of safety is a bit dulled since, in reality, I have worked with acids, bases and organics that are far more dangerous than hydrochloric acid.




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I usually just estimate to the nearest 1/4 gallon. There is no reason to be more exact. Granted this is more difficult the smaller the pool/spa as you need fewer oz which makes it harder to estimate the volume.

This is an interesting discussion and I too wonder if the respirator was a factor in this. Even the tiniest whiff of this stuff seems to make me involuntarily, exhale, turn my head and close my eyes.
 
Don't forget that it is also important to pour SLOWLY over a return flow. Unfortunately, that gives more opportunity for fuming. What would be ideal would be an attachment to the jug that both measured and dispensed slowly and did so from a tube going into the water over a return flow.
 
chem geek said:
Don't forget that it is also important to pour SLOWLY over a return flow. Unfortunately, that gives more opportunity for fuming. What would be ideal would be an attachment to the jug that both measured and dispensed slowly and did so from a tube going into the water over a return flow.
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How about using the Venturi effect with a small tube show in this thread?

The tube could be placed into the bottle of acid and the Venturi suction would draw acid into the return. You'd still have the problem of feeding a tube into an acid bottle and removing it to rinse when finished.

Alternatively, Mark (mas985) has a build thread for a DIY acid injector into the pump using cheap, off the shelf irrigation components. It still requires filling a large 5 gallon carboy with acid but the draw rate would be slow enough to make it a monthly type interval.

Or, if the the pool owner has the money, both Hayward and Pentair sell acid dosing systems that retail around $1,000 with installation. Again, you have to fill the tank but that is maybe once per month or less frequently.


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No need to measure small volumes. Using an empty jug, measure volume increments into the jug. Mark the outside of the jug. Transfer marks to new jug. Estimate according to the mark while pouring. Minimize risk. If MA makes you uncomfortable don't use it. Period. Use dry acid. All that money spent on safety equipment that didn't work in this instance can buy a lot of dry. Pools are supposed to be fun people.


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If you add a lot of acid, then using dry acid will build up sulfates and above around 200 ppm they can be damaging to plaster/concrete surfaces. That's one reason why we normally don't recommend using it if a lot of acid is to be used, at least not in plaster pools.
 

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