I mixed my MA in a one gallon bucket of water, and as I was lifting it to pour into the deep end, the handle of the bucket broke, spilling the contents all over my concrete patio (luckily, none on myself). I immediately flushed the concrete with water, but ended up with a HUGE stained area. I am wondering if the water actually diluted it or if its possible that the acid may still be causing damage to the concrete?
Muriatic Acid Accident
- Thread starter h2ctpdjl
- Start date
To some, this will sound like, "See, my way is best". It's not supposed to. It's supposed to be an alternative way to add acid.
I simply take the undiluted jug with the cap off and lower it partially into the water. with about 1/3 of the jug above water, the jug is almost weightless and can be controlled very easily as you allow the acid to pour from the jug directly into the pool.
My dosing is not particularly precise and this method may not work well when you need, say, maybe as little as 1/2 a quart.
However from that volume on up I believe it is about the safest way to deliver acid to the pool.
I simply take the undiluted jug with the cap off and lower it partially into the water. with about 1/3 of the jug above water, the jug is almost weightless and can be controlled very easily as you allow the acid to pour from the jug directly into the pool.
My dosing is not particularly precise and this method may not work well when you need, say, maybe as little as 1/2 a quart.
However from that volume on up I believe it is about the safest way to deliver acid to the pool.
Glad your ok it could have been much worse.... can you place a planter over the stain with some cool looking flowers?
Just as Duraleigh's method outlined. Then put the cap back on, and douse the whole container in the pool to wash off the sides.
p.s. Excellent disclaimer too.
p.s. Excellent disclaimer too.
I wonder if you took strait bleach & poured on the stained area& brush it if the stain will go away????
When I add I do dilute but I use small, newer buckets about 3 gallon, size with proven plastic handles. I just now picked up a small old bucket, used inside, by the edge and it broke. I am cleaning snake enclosure while he is eating and the bucket had three sham wows with only one heavy with water from water dish. That's exactly the reason I use newer small buckets, that are easy to handle, for the pool stuff and store the buckets out of the sun.
I too have poured directly by "floating" the bucket. I just like to dilute because the MA is so heavy, sinks like lead, and my plaster is old.
Sorry about your accident. I hope you find a solution for the stain. The acid really wouldn't have hurt you unless you got it in your eyes. I've acid washed my pool six times, over the years, so I've had a lot of experience splashing it on my delicate skin. A quick water rinse is all that's needed for skin.
gg=alice
I too have poured directly by "floating" the bucket. I just like to dilute because the MA is so heavy, sinks like lead, and my plaster is old.
Sorry about your accident. I hope you find a solution for the stain. The acid really wouldn't have hurt you unless you got it in your eyes. I've acid washed my pool six times, over the years, so I've had a lot of experience splashing it on my delicate skin. A quick water rinse is all that's needed for skin.
gg=alice
Sorry that happened.
I am also a "direct from the jug" guy. I think that the less you handle it, the better off you are going to be.
I am also a "direct from the jug" guy. I think that the less you handle it, the better off you are going to be.
Sorry to hear about your incident. Perhaps if you now acid wash the entire patio the stain would be less noticable? Not an expert in this area, but I would think that would bring all of your concrete to nearly the same color. I believe besides being used in Pool...MA is a great concrete etcher/cleaner.
Hopefully someone with more masonary experience can chime in?
Hopefully someone with more masonary experience can chime in?
The stain is way too big to cover - I have attached pic of the stain to give you an idea of what I ended up with. I had 29oz of acid in the bucket of water. I could see it bubble immediately upon contact with the concrete. I don't see how you can accurately measure by submerging the MA bottle into the pool water?
Attachments
However, I can get pretty close to a quart just by doing it in two increments....first, a little less than a quart then more if needed. The calculation looks precise but the dosage doesn't have to be perfect.
I'm sorry about that stain and wish I could think of a way for you to minimize it.
NEED HELP - Muriatic Acid Accident
Hello - this site is the only one I found that has so much info on Muriatic Acid and I am hoping you can help me!
We had a bottle of acid stored on a painted wooden shelf (in the back) that is above the washing machine (along with other cleaners - RainX, CLR, etc.) in small laundry room - we pretty much forgot it was there ... do not have a pool anymore ... but we had used it for that. Not sure if it had been opened or not.
We just arrived home after being gone 6 days and as we had some damp clothes, getting them in the washer was priority. Something had spilled onto the middle of the washer lid, and a good amount had dripped into the tub. It is thick and yellowish, for the most part dry, with a sticky/oily feeling and somewhat of a sweet smell. We could see drip residue on the shelf edge, but no damage to the wood.
Thinking it had to be a cleaner from the shelf, I added a touch of laundry soap and started a quick wash cycle. Then I started to clean the lid with a wet rag and Fantastic, while my husband started taking stuff off the shelf. We could see something on the shelf, but no clue what is was. We could not find a active leak in any of the bottles, but the acid bottle which was the last one to come down, had bumps all over the outside of it, like it had chicken pox. (I kinda smelled the acid then) so I opened the washer and the suds were just a bit too BUBBLY if ya know what I mean. Ran it through a few hot water rinse cycles. Then turned on the exhaust fan, threw a towel over the washer lid and washed my hands for like 10 minutes!!
All I could quickly find on the net that was more than just the chemical stuff references - was this site. I poured baking soda all over the washer lid and into the tub, which still shows a bit of yellow, and began this letter................
Now I know I probably sound frantic, we just don't know what to do next?????
Thanks in advance,
A very tired traveler - Michelle
The bottle is now wrapped in 3 garbage bags and sitting outside.
Hello - this site is the only one I found that has so much info on Muriatic Acid and I am hoping you can help me!
We had a bottle of acid stored on a painted wooden shelf (in the back) that is above the washing machine (along with other cleaners - RainX, CLR, etc.) in small laundry room - we pretty much forgot it was there ... do not have a pool anymore ... but we had used it for that. Not sure if it had been opened or not.
We just arrived home after being gone 6 days and as we had some damp clothes, getting them in the washer was priority. Something had spilled onto the middle of the washer lid, and a good amount had dripped into the tub. It is thick and yellowish, for the most part dry, with a sticky/oily feeling and somewhat of a sweet smell. We could see drip residue on the shelf edge, but no damage to the wood.
Thinking it had to be a cleaner from the shelf, I added a touch of laundry soap and started a quick wash cycle. Then I started to clean the lid with a wet rag and Fantastic, while my husband started taking stuff off the shelf. We could see something on the shelf, but no clue what is was. We could not find a active leak in any of the bottles, but the acid bottle which was the last one to come down, had bumps all over the outside of it, like it had chicken pox. (I kinda smelled the acid then) so I opened the washer and the suds were just a bit too BUBBLY if ya know what I mean. Ran it through a few hot water rinse cycles. Then turned on the exhaust fan, threw a towel over the washer lid and washed my hands for like 10 minutes!!
All I could quickly find on the net that was more than just the chemical stuff references - was this site. I poured baking soda all over the washer lid and into the tub, which still shows a bit of yellow, and began this letter................
Now I know I probably sound frantic, we just don't know what to do next?????
Thanks in advance,
A very tired traveler - Michelle
The bottle is now wrapped in 3 garbage bags and sitting outside.
Just neutralize things with baking soda. Get it wet, pour on soda. Keep it wet and keep adding soda until it stops foaming. If there's sticky residue, put on some rubber dishwashing gloves and go to it with a plastic-bristled brush. Wear goggles, just to be safe. And old clothes. ;-)
The acid is good for cleaning concrete. It will also clean calcium film off the shower tile. Dilute it good for that job. Otherwise, mix it in a plastic bucket or empty trash can and slowly add baking soda until it stops foaming. It can foam pretty violently, almost erupt, so be careful.
Or see if your city or county has a hazardous materials collection.
The acid is good for cleaning concrete. It will also clean calcium film off the shower tile. Dilute it good for that job. Otherwise, mix it in a plastic bucket or empty trash can and slowly add baking soda until it stops foaming. It can foam pretty violently, almost erupt, so be careful.
Or see if your city or county has a hazardous materials collection.
Richard,
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I will not keep it - I am lucky as it is that neither of us started messing with it before contacting this site.
Happy Labor Day!!!
Michelle
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I will not keep it - I am lucky as it is that neither of us started messing with it before contacting this site.
Happy Labor Day!!!
Michelle