So if you keep it outside, it's pretty hot in the summer. Sounds like lots of expansion and vapors. Thanks for the great explanation.
Adding Muriatic Acid near a ladder, and storage
- Thread starter steveg_nh
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How about this one too - instinct is to rinse an empty bottle when done. But you never add water to acid. Always add acid to water. If you want to rinse an MA bottle isn't that impossible? I thought of slowing dunking bottle in pool and pouring it in but that is adding water to acid even though just a little. 
Just moved it outside in a bucket. I wondered if the nails and screws in the deck above would eventually rust out!
And I didn't want it too close to the pool eqpt pad, as I don't want to rust my heater or control box! No good place. LOL.
I assume normal fuming from a bottle in a well ventilated area like outside would really do no damage. But if you are really worried about something specific, what's a good distance?
And I didn't want it too close to the pool eqpt pad, as I don't want to rust my heater or control box! No good place. LOL.
I assume normal fuming from a bottle in a well ventilated area like outside would really do no damage. But if you are really worried about something specific, what's a good distance?
How about this one too - instinct is to rinse an empty bottle when done. But you never add water to acid. Always add acid to water. If you want to rinse an MA bottle isn't that impossible? I thought of slowing dunking bottle in pool and pouring it in but that is adding water to acid even though just a little.
Haha. True but with that small volume, it's fine. I pour the last of a bottle to the last drop and slowly dunk into pool to rinse it out, 3 times. I work with the exact same acid occasionally at work so I'm a bit more cavalier than most... maybe too comfortable with it.
I keep it outside but it's in the shade 100% and rarely gets very hot, no direct sun. Concrete pad that the container is on stays pretty cool.
How about this one too - instinct is to rinse an empty bottle when done. But you never add water to acid. Always add acid to water. If you want to rinse an MA bottle isn't that impossible? I thought of slowing dunking bottle in pool and pouring it in but that is adding water to acid even though just a little.
I'm not a chemist (and I don't play one on TV, lol), but I'm pretty sure the rule of never adding water to acid is more of a physics reason, not a chemical one, at least for our purposes. When you pour one liquid into another (assuming similar densities of liquid), any "splash out" is the result of the liquid that is being displaced by the liquid that is being poured. If you quickly pour water into acid, then acid is the one being displaced and splashes out, which can obviously cause damage to anything in the area (like you). When you pour acid into water, it is the water that is being displaced and splashing out, which is obviously harmless. It is very easy to pour too quickly, thus the rule of always add pouring acid into water.
I also know diluting acids causes an exothermic reaction, which means the acid can be heated up and cause more fumes, but with the acid we use for pools, and at the volumes we use, I would think the exothermic reaction would be less of a concern than the splashing.
Now that I'm done providing some useless information, I'll get back to diagnosing the leak in my spa...
Not quite accurate on why you don't pour water into an acid. The reason is that acid diffuses into water extremely rapidly, so when you pour acid into water, it diffuses outward into the surrounding water very quickly. If you do the opposite and pour water into a large volume of acid, the large volume of acid tries to diffuse very rapidly into a small amount of water which can cause a rather energetic reaction. Probably won't explode, but could burst out of the container all over you. This is why it isn't a problem to rinse the outside of the bottle in the pool, because you are still adding a small amount of acid to a large volume of water.
n240sxguy
Well-known member
I didn't mean to make muriatic acid seem like a monster. I was referencing the pungent odor of hydrogen chloride, and the fact that muriatic acid being a weak hydrochloric acid probably had a similar, although lesser, irritating effect if you got a good whiff of it. That's why I suggested using a respirator if it bothered you. I probably did state it in a less than ideal way, but I didn't mean to suggest that it would harm anything in a pool if used correctly. That's why I mentioned adding it on the side of the return away from the ladder to further minimize it being in a high concentration next to the ladder if that was a concern.
P.S. I love this site, and am grateful for the wealth of knowledge I am absorbing from it. Sorry it I caused any alarm. I work in a chemical plant, and have learned a healthy respect for chemicals. I deal with things daily with a pH as low as 1 and as high as 14.