Lung damage from chlorine?

[jmastron]

Edited post:
That’s a good idea. I do want a larger measuring cup for the MA. You do have to be careful of what plastic you use with MA and I’m finding it a bit difficult to find measuring cups made from plastics that are safe to use with MA that have all the different measurements printed on it that I like. I’m going to get a larger glass measuring cup.

https://sitefiles.camlab.co.uk/RTP_instructions/Plasticomp.pdf

Like others, I use plastic measuring cups and never really considered the material/compatibility especially since the liquid is only in it for a minute. I don't think any of the standard clear plastics used pose an actual danger (like melting immediately and spilling); if one did start to cloud/degrade it would be obvious over time.

Having said that, I don't measure muriatic acid like that anymore. I took a stick of wood and an empty jug, filled it with water measuring quart by quart, and marked the levels on the stick. Now when I get new MA jugs I mark them with a sharpie, and pour directly from the jug into the pool. A quart at a time is about right to drop my pH from 7.8-8 to 7.4-7.5, and since I'm doing that based on testing it doesn't have to be exact. Much less exposure to fumes this way.

I do wear chemistry goggles when the MA jug is open, since the splash risk is high. I don't bother with gloves, since I understand the risk to skin is minimal if you wash it off quickly, and I have 25,000 gallons of water readily available to do that I don't wear a mask -- like others said, better to smell the fumes and close it/move away than to not smell them and have eye damage.

 

[Newdude]

understand that you don’t need to be exact, but how exactly do you know where to mark the jug?

Just your best eyeballing that 58(?) ounces is a skootch under half a gallon at 128 oz. you can guess within 6 oz pretty easily.

 

[Newdude]

like others said, better to smell the fumes and close it/move away than to not smell them and have eye damage.

It’s ironic here that the quick whiff of fumes are a good thing to let you know you need to change your approach. (Providing you were already being careful and not huffing them of course)

 

[Orion7319]

Like others, I use plastic measuring cups and never really considered the material/compatibility especially since the liquid is only in it for a minute. I don't think any of the standard clear plastics used pose an actual danger (like melting immediately and spilling); if one did start to cloud/degrade it would be obvious over time.

Having said that, I don't measure muriatic acid like that anymore. I took a stick of wood and an empty jug, filled it with water measuring quart by quart, and marked the levels on the stick. Now when I get new MA jugs I mark them with a sharpie, and pour directly from the jug into the pool. A quart at a time is about right to drop my pH from 7.8-8 to 7.4-7.5, and since I'm doing that based on testing it doesn't have to be exact. Much less exposure to fumes this way.

I do wear chemistry goggles when the MA jug is open, since the splash risk is high. I don't bother with gloves, since I understand the risk to skin is minimal if you wash it off quickly, and I have 25,000 gallons of water readily available to do that I don't wear a mask -- like others said, better to smell the fumes and close it/move away than to not smell them and have eye damage.

I like the stick idea, now I just got to get though a bottle to have an empty one to measure...

 

[magiteck]

I’ve only had to add MA once. I held the jug and a large plastic measuring container at arms length over the pool water (opposite hands), letting the water actually bear the weight of the jug. Then I poured into the measuring container up to the approx line I wanted, and then just tipped it into the pool.

 

[mguzzy]

I understand that you don’t need to be exact, but how exactly do you know where to mark the jug?

Here's what I did initially. I get my MA from the same source so all the jugs are the same dimensions. I used an old jug and filled it to 1 cup, 1 pint, and one quart levels. I put those lines on a stick (actually it was an old ruler). My original idea was to pre mark my jugs with a sharpie in half cup increments. But I lost interest in that after one jug. But I still had my stick, and I found I only really needed to mark the beginning and ending of a particular addition. So I would put a line where the current MA level was and measure down to say a cup and half with my stick and put another line. That would be my addition for the day and the second ending line would be the starting line for next time. After a while the dog ate my stick but by then I had a feel for how much was a cup or a quart kind of like how a bartenders measures shots by the number of fingers. I don't even use a Sharpie any more, I just make a smudge with my finger for the end level I am shooting for.
So now I pull up the Pool Math app and plug in the numbers.. and I'm not thinking of ozs of this and pounds of that.... it more like.. 3 shots of MA with a double CYA chaser. And you can still wear a hazmat suit if you want to.

 

[Orion7319]

Here's what I did initially. I get my MA from the same source so all the jugs are the same dimensions. I used an old jug and filled it to 1 cup, 1 pint, and one quart levels. I put those lines on a stick (actually it was an old ruler). My original idea was to pre mark my jugs with a sharpie in half cup increments. But I lost interest in that after one jug. But I still had my stick, and I found I only really needed to mark the beginning and ending of a particular addition. So I would put a line where the current MA level was and measure down to say a cup and half with my stick and put another line. That would be my addition for the day and the second ending line would be the starting line for next time. After a while the dog ate my stick but by then I had a feel for how much was a cup or a quart kind of like how a bartenders measures shots by the number of fingers. I don't even use a Sharpie any more, I just make a smudge with my finger for the end level I am shooting for.
So now I pull up the Pool Math app and plug in the numbers.. and I'm not thinking of ozs of this and pounds of that.... it more like.. 3 shots of MA with a double CYA chaser. And you can still wear a hazmat suit if you want to.

I don’t leave my house without my hazmat suit on...

 

[skimmerswimmer]

Measuring cups? Doesn’t anyone else eyeball this stuff? It’s supposed to be “trouble free”!

I have never used a measuring cup for adding chemicals to my pool. For things like muriatic acid, your PH range can be anywhere between 7.2 and 7.8. If I'm drifting up closer to the higher number, I just eyeball about a half gallon which will bring my PH down by about 0.4 or 0.5. Chlorine is all handled by the Stenner pump run time, which I tweak throughout the season.

The only thing I measure is the number of scoops of DE when starting up the filter each season, since I take it apart and clean it prior to closing in the fall.