Chemical Storage and Shelf Life

[texasdad]

What is the best place to store chlorine, muriatic, and etc.?

A cool dry place.....
But do you keep all the chemicals inside the house?
In the garage - not very cool in Texas.
Backyard Shed - about the same as the garage.

Right now they are in a plastic patio storage box next to my equipment pad. It is on the North side of the house, but not very shady. Not any hotter then the garage, but certainly not cool.


Also, how long can different chemicals be stored? Are they good from one season to the next?
How about test strips and the reagents in the test kit?

Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

Chlorine and test kits are the most sensitive to heat, while most other chemicals are just fine in the garage or shed. You don't want to store muriatic acid and chlorine near each other. To figure out how far apart, assume both containers leak and make sure the two spills will never mix together.

Bleach goes bad over time. Higher concentrations go bad more quickly. 6% is good for most of year, 10% for several months, 12% for perhaps two months without noticeable loss of strength. All of those times assume 75 degrees, it goes bad more quickly at higher temperatures. Other forms of chlorine go bad more slowly but something similar happens, it just takes longer.

 

[texasdad]

So I'll store Bleach bottles and the test kit in the house and everything else next to the pump? thanks

Another question: How often do you test your CYA? I just got my Taylor k 2006 kit today. It only has enough r013 for 3 tests in it?

 

[JamesW]

Another question: How often do you test your CYA? I just got my Taylor k 2006 kit today. It only has enough r013 for 3 tests in it?

The stability of the cyanuric acid level depends on several factors, such as whether you use trichlor or dichlor, water dilution due to water loss and replacement other than evaporation, etc.

I test cyanuric acid weekly for various reasons, but that is much more than most people test and is usually not necessary. Most people test monthly or several times per year.

Since the reagents are not that expensive, I just prefer to test more frequently than necessary to help create a clearer picture of how the level changes over time.

For example, TF Testkits sells 4 oz of the R-0013 for $6.75, which will get you about 17 tests (16.857).

If you use the pool calculator, you can determine how much cyanuric acid would be added if any trichlor or dichlor is used.

Note: The Taylor K-2006 comes with (2) 0.75 ounce bottles, which will get you 6.34 tests (44.4 ml / 7 = 6.34)

 

[Bama Rambler]

The amount of reagents in the kit is one of the biggest reasons I recommend the TF-100 kit above all others. It has appropriate amounts of the reagents we use most. It has been tweaked over the years so it contains more of what most people use the most, and less of what most people don't use much of.