Hi all,

How can I safely dispose of a few gallons of hydrochloric acid. I live in Bangkok.

Thanks in advance.

CM

If it’s not contaminated anyone with a swimming pool will take it off your hands.

Remember you can add acid to water, but never add water to acid or you will get a blow back.

Probably the easiest way (although slow) would be neutralize it in water and then simply dispose of it down the drain.

Water mixed with baking soda will make it faster but I like the pool idea.

Anyone with sandwashed concrete would also appreciate it I guess

Easiest way if its not pool quality is to pour it slowly into a running river (or even more slowly into the edge of a lake, provided it's not too shallow and you can move around).

Unless it is impure it will not damage the environment if you poured say a 20 litre carbouy over the course of a few minutes. Takes a hell of a lot of acid to lower pH/raise acidity of a even the localised area of a big body of water before it would have an effect on wildlife

Dangerous stuff though - beware splash back as it gurgles out the container until the container is half empty and beware splashback as it hits the water. Wear wellington boots, goggles, chemical gloves and old clothes (perhaps you know someone with a pool that does his own treatment). I tend not to bother with the old clothes when dosing my pool, but I'm always ready to to take curative steps against any splashback (including jumping in the pool!). A minor splash will not burn if you douse with water immediately, but you have to be alert to the fact that you have actually been splashed!.

Actually I know that a big thing is made about adding HcL to water and not vice versa. I made a mistake and did it the wrong way once - poured half a litre of water on top of a litre of normal strength HcL in a tall narrow 2 litre plastic jug. Yikes!! ....But absolutely zilch reaction. I don't recommend anybody recreating my unintended experiment though even if you are heavily into discrediting old (potential) wives tales.

Easiest way if its not pool quality is to pour it slowly into a running river (or even more slowly into the edge of a lake, provided it's not too shallow and you can move around).

Unless it is impure it will not damage the environment if you poured say a 20 litre carbouy over the course of a few minutes. Takes a hell of a lot of acid to lower pH/raise acidity of a even the localised area of a big body of water before it would have an effect on wildlife

You can't be serious, are you?

What would you think if everybody would start to dispose his HCI that way ?

If you want to extrapolate to an improbable extreme just to prove a point then go ahead Mr Troll.

Would not bother me at all (unless all the pool owners in Bangkok went with 10 carboys of the stuff to the same small lake or a slow running stream on the same day). I think you are overestimating either the lack of dilution effect or the difference between water with a pH level of say 7.4 and 7.8. You get that kind of change in pH levels just by changing water in a fish pond/tank sometimes - and yes you do it in stages, just as you would add it to flowing water in stages.

I thought I was clear that I was proposing it to be added to a large body of water - either fast flowing or by spreading it around in a static body of water like a lake.

If the OP was proposing to get rid of half a tanker load of HCL then I misunderstood. A few carbuoys is not going to change the acidity level by more than a few 0.1 ppm's of pH.

Would not bother me at all. I think you are overestimating either the lack of dilution effect or the difference between water with a pH level of say 7.6 and 7.8.

I thought I was clear that I was proposing it to be added to a large body of water - either fast flowing or by spreading it around in a static body of water like a lake.

If the OP was proposing to get rid of half a tanker load of HCL then I misunderstood. A few carbuoys is not going to change the acidity level by more than a few 0.1 ppm's of pH.

Think you missed my point of, if everybody would start to dispose his HCI this way, or would this be a case of legal for you but not for others?

You will know that several " few carbuoys" will make half a tanker load.

Since you edited your post I shall add:

You realise that the OP isn't a pool owner, so seemingly other people than pool owners also have large possessions of Hydrochloric ACID.

And since you want to call me a troll, in your home country you would go to jail if they catch you pouring the acid in a stream. Didn't know they did that to trolls though.

Pax - we've both made our points and sorry for accusing you of being a troll.