Help! 12.5% liquid chlorine spill in garage

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al27

Well-known member
Sep 11, 2017
131
TN
What is the best way to deal with a liquid chlorine spill in our garage? A gallon of 12.5% chlorine rolled out of the trunk when we opened the door and a bunch of liquid chlorine spilled out on the floor. We diluted it by pouring water over it but the bleach smell remains. There is muriatic acid, cal hypo shock, calcium hardness increase, stabilizer, gasoline, and other pesticides stored in this garage. The pool chemicals mentioned are all stored in plastic containers on the floor on the opposite end of the garage where the spill occurred. Our 2 cars and a mower is in the garage as well. None of the bleach has touched any of the chemicals that I've mentioned. Can the fumes from the liquid chlorine ignite anything in the garage? If so, I could move the muriatic acid and other pool chemicals inside for the time being until the bleach water dries and the bleach smell dissapates. I don't want to leave the door open over night to dissipate the fumes unless we have to because we often see critters and mice in our yard.
 
al27 said:
What is the best way to deal with a liquid chlorine spill in our garage? A gallon of 12.5% chlorine rolled out of the trunk when we opened the door and a bunch of liquid chlorine spilled out on the floor. We diluted it by pouring water over it but the bleach smell remains. There is muriatic acid, cal hypo shock, calcium hardness increase, stabilizer, gasoline, and other pesticides stored in this garage. The pool chemicals mentioned are all stored in plastic containers on the floor on the opposite end of the garage where the spill occurred. Our 2 cars and a mower is in the garage as well. None of the bleach has touched any of the chemicals that I've mentioned. Can the fumes from the liquid chlorine ignite anything in the garage? If so, I could move the muriatic acid and other pool chemicals inside for the time being until the bleach water dries and the bleach smell dissapates. I don't want to leave the door open over night to dissipate the fumes unless we have to because we often see critters and mice in our yard.
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The bleach is fine, but the acid should not be in the garage.
 
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Bperry said:
The bleach is fine, but the acid should not be in the garage.
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I'll bring the acid inside then. Should I bring the cal hypo shock or any of the other pool chemicals inside too? The bleach smell is rather strong and its going to take awhile to dry since we poured a lot of water over the bleach that was spilled to dilute it. This whole situation makes me nervous because there are a lot of pool chemicals, gasoline, and pesticides in the garage that are flammable.
 
Or metals. The vented muriatic acid cap can do a number on nearby metals. (Which is why it shouldn't be in the garage)
 
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TinFoilHat said:
Keep the acid outside and out of the rain. The heat won't hurt it. You can keep it in a plastic shed as long as there is no chlorine or other oxidants in the same shed. DO NOT keep the acid inside your home.
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I don't have a plastic shed or any place outside to put the acid where it will be out of the rain. I also don't have a shady place to store it either. If I bought a large plastic storage container with a lid, could I store the muriatic acid in that? I would put the storage container next to a deck box near our pool equipment where I store all of my pool cleaning supplies like my manual vacuum, hoses, nets, etc. There used to be chlorine tablets in that deck box so I assume I shouldn't put the muriatic acid in that deck box.
 
al27 said:
I don't have a plastic shed or any place outside to put the acid where it will be out of the rain. I also don't have a shady place to store it either. If I bought a large plastic storage container with a lid, could I store the muriatic acid in that? I would put the storage container next to a deck box near our pool equipment where I store all of my pool cleaning supplies like my manual vacuum, hoses, nets, etc. There used to be chlorine tablets in that deck box so I assume I shouldn't put the muriatic acid in that deck box.
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Yep, mine is in a lowes bucket with a lid in a rocky area on the side of the house ~10 feet from the pool equipment.
 
A chlorine spill will mostly just damage/bleach surfaces. Otherwise it’s not dangerous. You diluted away which is fine. Kitty liter and shop vac would have been a better choice (absorb and remove). Leave the garage doors open for the next 24 hours, park the cars outside and run a blower fan over the offending area for 24 hours. That should remove the residual fumes and dry up the area. If the area remains damp, you can still use cat litter to dry it up.

I’m more worried about all those chemicals you’re storing in your garage. They are not compatible or safe. The cal-hypo is particularly worrisome. That should be in a sealed container and kept outside in a dry location away from anything flammable. An open bag of cal hypo can emit chlorine fumes which can ignite gasoline fumes if the threshold concentrations are high enough. Never store oxidizers and acids near one another.
 
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JoyfulNoise said:
A chlorine spill will mostly just damage/bleach surfaces. Otherwise it’s not dangerous. You diluted away which is fine. Kitty liter and shop vac would have been a better choice (absorb and remove). Leave the garage doors open for the next 24 hours, park the cars outside and run a blower fan over the offending area for 24 hours. That should remove the residual fumes and dry up the area. If the area remains damp, you can still use cat litter to dry it up.

I’m more worried about all those chemicals you’re storing in your garage. They are not compatible or safe. The cal-hypo is particularly worrisome. That should be in a sealed container and kept outside in a dry location away from anything flammable. An open bag of cal hypo can emit chlorine fumes which can ignite gasoline fumes if the threshold concentrations are high enough. Never store oxidizers and acids near one another.
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If I put the cal hypo shock in a large plastic box with a lid, could I keep it in the garage? If I kept the muriatic acid in a plastic container with a lid in the garage, could I keep it in the garage as well? I don't have any place to store chemicals outside where they will stay dry. I've got a deck box by my pool where I store my cleaning supplies but that deck box is probably not airtight. It still smells like chlorine since it used to used to store chlorine tablets in it so I don't think it would be a good idea to put the muriatic acid and/or cal hypo shock in there.
 
al27 said:
If I put the cal hypo shock in a large plastic box with a lid, could I keep it in the garage? If I kept the muriatic acid in a plastic container with a lid in the garage, could I keep it in the garage as well? I don't have any place to store chemicals outside where they will stay dry. I've got a deck box by my pool where I store my cleaning supplies but that deck box is probably not airtight. It still smells like chlorine since it used to used to store chlorine tablets in it so I don't think it would be a good idea to put the muriatic acid and/or cal hypo shock in there.
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No. Get both the calhypo and muriatic acid out of the garage - no matter what they are stored in.

Do not reuse the older deck box for chemical storage either.
Store the muriatic acid away from any metal. Some use a plastic deck box, others use 5 gallon buckets with lids, others use plastic garbage cans.

Safety first.....
 
I just set my muriatic acid out on the shaded side of my house under the eave. My chlorine is in my garage with no other oxidants (I don't have any tabs). In my outdoor shed are the remnants of my Leslies days in a bucket of Fresh 'n Clear, a few bags of Power Powder and maybe one tab for scrubbing the water line when I had algae several years ago. Everything is kept apart from each other.
 
Sorry, the acid has to go outdoors. If you care about anything you have in the garage, like your car, the acid vapors will cause damage. If the cal-hypo is stored in a sealed container that is properly labeled, then that is ok but you need to remember to only ever open that container outdoors and carefully because fumes will build up and you’ll get a very nasty surprise if you open it close to your face.

The main point is to have good air flow. Being outside, the chemicals can never cause a build up of vapors that can be damaging or dangerous. Once inside, you are putting yourself at risk because these vapors are generally heavier than air and they will not get diluted enough in a confined space.
 
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I personally would throw the cal-hypo away. I struggle to keep my calcium from getting too high without putting that stuff in. What’s your calcium level at?
 
Pool chemical storage is something that could use a section in "Pool School".

I have advised neighbors that storing chemicals in their garage or basement is not a smart thing to do. People don't realize that chlorine is an oxidizer, which will make anything like gasoline, diesel fuel, motor oil or even grease spontaneously combust. Acids vent off gas which can cause severe corrosion to metals, and acids should not be stored with chlorine, due to the rapid release of chlorine gas. Even different types of chlorine should not be stored in close proximity.

People look at the fact that these chemicals get dumped in the pool, and they swim in the pool, so they must be safe. This is far from the truth, proper handling and storage of these chemicals is important. We even see an article or two a year of someone mixing pool chemical in their house, and causing gas to form and the fire company to come and ventilate the house.
 
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