Wet trichlor pucks tabs - left in sun to dry, put back in bucket, fumes

[BattleOfYakima]

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice, legal advice, or safe handling instructions for any chemicals or products. This is a hypothetical situation with lots of assumptions and unknowns. All chemicals can be dangerous and you should only handle after proper education and only in the safe manner described by the manufacturer/experts/laws. Nonetheless, decent answers to this post would be appreciated.

What would be the best course of action if the following happened?
Some trichlor pucks got wet, they were left in the Florida sun to dry.
One seemingly dry, they were replaced in the bucket with the not wet pucks. (***don't put them back in, don't even put them in a sealed container at all I'm guessing, take them to hazardous waste disposal if not putting in a floater I'm guessing***)
A couple days later, the smell of pucks was in the air near the bucket.
Upon opening the bucket, (***don't do that, not safe, it is likely that a massive blast of toxic gas would assault you and flood the entire area***) some pucks were discolored.
At this point, let's assume that the lid would be replaced in panic to limit exposure to fumes and the person ran away in search of fresh air.
Should the entire bucket be taken to hazardous waste disposal? Should they be transported lid on or lid off?
If someone did get exposed to the fumes, other than get fresh air, drink water, take an immediate shower... is there anything else they should do? Does a one time blast of the fumes merit an automatic ER visit if no symptoms are observed?

Of course, I'd like to remind everyone that this is not medical, legal, or expert advice. I am not endorsing or suggesting any of this and am not an expert. I am curious what *might* be reasonable courses of action should such a situation arise, God forbid! Please consider the other advice on TFP and really evaluate whether trichlor products are right for you, and if so, please be careful with them and all other pool chemicals. Happy skimming and swimming!

 

[Analogbytes]

Not professional or medical advice, and not even sure if chlorine gas would have been in the supposed bucket, but chlorine gas is VERY dangerous/deadly.

 

[pooldv]

This happened to me at somebody's house last year. Somehow a bucket of trichlor in a ventilated shed got wet/moisture in it. I opened the lid and it was BAD! I ran away and never went back. Just kidding.

I would move them outside to a rain protected area and use them in a floater if you plan to use them. I do not think a trip to the ER is necessary without symptoms. I do not know what the proper method is for disposal of trichlor pucks. I would check the label and call your municipal waste company. I suppose you could toss one at a time in a 5 gal bucket to dissolve and pour it in your pool.

 

[Analogbytes]

I guess I should amend or at least add to my response. You will know immediately if you have been affected by chlorine gas, you won't wonder if you were affected.

Disclaimer: I may know a guy who was cleaning out a shop with a coworker. They were checking if "oxygen" tanks were empty. Well, one wasn't oxygen. His coworker received a unhealthy dose of chlorine gas and immediately started having respatory issues. Hospital was right down the road and after being on oxygen over night and a few breathing treatments he was fine. Could have been much worse.

 

[BoDarville]

I have taken partially-used trichlor pucks out of a floater, thoroughly air-dried them in the sun, and placed them back in the container with the other pucks without any incident. I do this because I strictly manage CYA levels and I don't want to have the CYA needlessly creep up by keeping the pucks in the floater any longer than necessary when I resume my normal M.O. of dosing with liquid bleach. Granted, I only purchase a small tub of pucks for use when I am out of town and this tub will last me 2-3 years on average. There could be brand and formula variations among pucks labeled as "trichlor" (some contain algaecides or other ingredients) that could have caused the issues you experienced. Mine are 99% trichlor and I store them in a ventilated shed.

I will take this opportunity to remind everyone to keep chlorine and muriatic acid stored separately and in a weather-protected and well-ventilated area away from anything that you do not want to get corroded.

 

[BattleOfYakima]

Thank you everyone. I was inspired to test the "saving" of wet trichlor pucks and pulled the 5 from my floater, placed them on their ends on a scrap piece of wood in the sun to dry away from all people and animals, turned them every so often, and at the end of the day, placed them in a bone dry 5 gallon bucket and then placed it away from people and animals. I didn't have a ventilated shed that didn't have any metal i cared about, so I grabbed an old ... bucket I guess you could call it, maybe tub? that was much larger than the 5 gallon bucket and flipped it over the 5 gallon bucket, raised up on blocks on the sides so air could flow up under this makeshift umbrella/shed and so that no significant quantity of gas would build up. I am pleased to say that a few days later, there are no noticeable fumes when walking by it. Removing the big cover does make the smell more prevalent, but it is very tame. I am pleased to report that, in my non-expert experience only, saving wet trichlor pucks that have been thoroughly dried can be done in a way that doesn't seem dangerous or annoying. Thanks everyone!!!

 

[pooldv]

Nice experiment!