Winter/Snow Chemical Storage?

[Plettschner]

What are you poor folks who live in snowy winter lands, like myself, do for your liquid chlorine, muriatic acid, etc. chemical storage with easy access by the hot tub?

Not supposed to store the CL and MA together in the same bin, so it seems two bins or boxes would be needed. Perhaps my sealed bucket of salt and squeeze dispenser of MA in one bin and a couple of gallon jugs and CL squeeze dispenser in a second bin?

What have you guys come up with?

 

[ajw22]

Your liquid chlorine is likely to be about half strength in 6 months. I pour my leftovers in the pool before closing.

Start with fresh LC next year.

Breakdown of Bleach Over Time by Storage Temp - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

I put the acid outside near the pool. Acid does not freeze. Acid fumes will cause any metal around it to rust so storing indoors in a garage is not recommended.

 

[Plettschner]

This is for the hot tub, so I would need them through the Winter. I'd like to have them protected from snow and ice and easy to access like a bin with a hinged lid. Seems silly (and stupid expensive) to get a 22 or 30 gallon deck box just for a quart of MA.

 

[Mdragger88]

I keep my jug of Muriatic acid on a plant stand under the patio & a small thing of bleach under the patio table right next to the tub year round.
Both are out of the sun & under the patio roof- the rest of my bleach stays under my pool deck in the shade.
It doesn’t get cold enough to freeze bleach here. It got colder than 5f here last year but it was only for a couple hours.

Bleach Freezing Point & Consequences

What happens if Regular 6% Bleach freezes? I have about 20 gallons in 182 oz bottles out in the garage. Bringing them in is possible but I'd rather not but if it will lose it's CL I'll do it.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Plettschner]

No doubt, the muriatic acid is safe.

I have some 12% liquid chlorine still and just picked up 4 gallons of 10% from HD. It doesn't drop to those kind of temps but maybe for a handful of nights here. Not going to worry about that.

I did find some 11gal "end table" storage boxes that look decent and are, unfortunately, about $65 each. I also found some butt-ugly 20gal storage boxes for about $32 each. Form or function... sigh.

 

[Plettschner]

Dating myself, but I was just thinking a couple of old milk boxes would work great. Got me thinking some more... a couple of cheap coolers may work for mini deck chemical storage boxes. I think I even have one or two floating around here.

 

[A.O.]

How about a couple 5 gallon buckets with lids, readily available at the big box stores pretty cheap. I keep all my chemicals inside, I have a utility room for my pool pump and controls, and my storage of excess chlorine goes in a detached garage.

 

[Plettschner]

Could go the 5gal bucket route. Wouldn't exactly blend with the patio decor, but so be it. I even have a couple of extra Gamma screw on lid kits for buckets I could use.

 

[Mdragger88]

Spray paint fixes everything “What 5 gallon bucket? That’s a plant stand !”

 

[Plettschner]

Spa steps with storage would be kind of sweet. A bit pricey and plasticy though.

 

[jseyfert3]

I don’t have kids and I’m lazy, so my containers just sit on the patio near the spa. Last winter I’d dig them out of the snow and stick them in the tub to thaw ice/snow off the sides of the containers so I could open them.

 

[A.O.]

I guess I'm not understanding... why doesn't everybody just store these containers inside?? Does everyone keep their gas cans an stuff outside too?

 

[ajw22]

I guess I'm not understanding... why doesn't everybody just store these containers inside??

Acid fumes will cause any metal around it to rust so storing indoors in a garage is not recommended.

 

[A.O.]

Acid fumes will cause any metal around it to rust so storing indoors in a garage is not recommended.

So then cap the bottle tight and there wont be any problems, been doing it for years..

 

[ajw22]

So then cap the bottle tight and there wont be any problems, been doing it for years..

Glad it has worked for you. Not what I would recommend to others. We have seen too many pics of stuff rusting near where acid is stored.

 

[A.O.]

Glad it has worked for you. Not what I would recommend to others. We have seen too many pics of stuff rusting near where acid is stored.

Then it could be stored inside the 5 gallon bucket with a lid... inside. Not a fan of stuff lying around outside.

 

[ajw22]

Then it could be stored inside the 5 gallon bucket with a lid... inside. Not a fan of stuff lying around outside.

Noted.

 

[derekm]

I store my regular bleach, spa-size dichlor (for CYA), Washing Soda (PH up), baking soda (alk up) and a spa-size container of pool store PH down granules (don't use MA in the hot tub due to storage/safety issues) on a small wire "bakers rack" just inside the house, right beside the door that takes me outside to the hot tub. No danger of freezing there. If the bleach is getting old it goes to the laundry room and I buy new stuff for the spa.

 

[Bperry]

Then it could be stored inside the 5 gallon bucket with a lid... inside. Not a fan of stuff lying around outside.

That might work but would still need to be careful. I stored a gallon of acid tightly capped in my deck box with the gas assist lifts and the exposed steel rusted in a few days. I think even a bit of fumes can damage stuff even if the cap is tight.
I keep mine in a 5 gal bucket with a lid and I still do see some yellow liquid inside that smells like acid. I suspect the caps aren’t air tight enough after they’re opened initially.

 

[Plettschner]

I've had issues in the past with MA fumes from opened containers that are tightly capped rusting anything nearby. My MA stays outside year round in the pool equipment corral that's open but fenced in.

Our door out to the deck and hot tub is in our dining room, so not really convenient to store stuff there, as far as my wife is concerned anyhow. The other door out to the area is my MIL's kitchen, so that's a no go as well. The pool equipment corral is not really close to the tub and I don't see myself shoveling a path to it.

All that being said, I was looking for ideas to safely store supplies right by the tub for out of sight easy access.