That is my biggest problem; organizing stuff - in part (mostly?) so I can find it when I need it. Also, inventorying stuff so that I know what I need to get and what I don't need to get.
You need one of these!
My Two Favorite Calibers! .308 & .223
Why add the bleach if from a good source?
Although almost all tap water in the USA is pure enough to drink from the faucet, the long-term storage of water can provide a breeding ground for algae.
Interesting. My local utility board uses chlorine in its water treatment. Does adding bleach then need to be repeated for storage?
Bleach is "essentially" chlorine (it's a little more complicated than that, but I assume you don't want a chemistry lesson), just a whole lot less concentrated than the pure chlorine that your water purveyor uses. The bleach you buy in jugs at the grocery store is sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), the same stuff the pool boy uses to shock/treat swimming pools. Grocery store bleach is typically a 6% NaClO solution in combination with 94% of other crap you don't need. But if it were sold to the public as 100% NaClO, then a lot of people would end up killing themselves because strong concentrations of NaClO are highly corrosive and somewhat dangerous if not handled properly. If NaClO is mixed with certain other chemical cleaners, it will liberate chlorine gas, which is unbelievably poisonous. Just a few good whiffs of chlorine gas will kill you, which is why it's incredibly regulated and the folks at your water purveyor are trained in how to use chlorine gas safely. See chlorine gas hazards.
We have seen very drastic changes in tap water in multiple states recently. Do you know what other sanitizer municipal water systems have been using other then chlorine? Having some irrigation suitability(all for commercial ag) tests run, the major difference we are seeing from the prevoius tests is extremely elevated Chloride and Sodium while even though the pH of the water has climbed, the amount of acid to reduce pH has been greatly reduced if not completely eliminated. It's like the water has been run through a "water softener" rather than just being disinfected with Chlorine.Bleach is "essentially" chlorine (it's a little more complicated than that, but I assume you don't want a chemistry lesson), just a whole lot less concentrated than the pure chlorine that your water purveyor uses. The bleach you buy in jugs at the grocery store is sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), the same stuff the pool boy uses to shock/treat swimming pools. Grocery store bleach is typically a 6% NaClO solution in combination with 94% of other crap you don't need. But if it were sold to the public as 100% NaClO, then a lot of people would end up killing themselves because strong concentrations of NaClO are highly corrosive and somewhat dangerous if not handled properly. If NaClO is mixed with certain other chemical cleaners, it will liberate chlorine gas, which is unbelievably poisonous. Just a few good whiffs of chlorine gas will kill you, which is why it's incredibly regulated and the folks at your water purveyor are trained in how to use chlorine gas safely. See chlorine gas hazards.
The amount of chlorine added at the water treatment plant is designed to react with other things in the water over time and get "used up" so your tap water doesn't knock you backward with "that bleach smell" when you turn on the faucet. Chlorine will react with viruses, bacteria, organic and inorganic material, metals, etc. over time as the water sits in the storage tower and also in the pipes on its way to your and others' homes. By the time the water gets to you, the chlorine has done its job of disinfecting the water all the way to the point of delivery (your faucet) and likely doesn't even smell like bleach anymore. That's the perfect case - virtually undetectable (to the human nose) chlorine residual. Too little chlorine residual and your water may not be safe to drink from the tap.
Too much residual chlorine is also a dangerous thing, in that it can form various forms of trihalomethane (THM) in the pipelines. THMs are known to cause cancer and birth defects, and were the subject of the very first drinking water regulations promulgated by the EPA way back in the early 1970s and resulted in the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Public water systems aim for a chlorine residual in the water at the point of delivery to provide disinfection, but not result in possible THM poisoning. The chlorine residual target is typically just 2 mg/liter, or 2 parts per million (ppm). The maximum allowable is 4 ppm, so you can see that the purveyors are targeting a pretty low residual to avoid getting into THM territory.
So, with the above as a chlorine primer, let's answer your question...
Because all of this chlorine has likely dissipated by the time my water gets to me, putting my water directly into containers and capping them is not the best idea, since I'm probably right at that 2 ppm residual. I know this because I know for a fact that my water purveyor uses chlorine to treat our water and that my water just barely smells like bleach when it comes out of my faucet.That's just fine for immediate consumption, but for long-term storage, not so much. Just as the water system folks dose the water at the plant with chlorine so there's a little left in it when the water gets to you, so must I (and you) dose my water with just a hint of bleach (or iodine) if I'm not going to use it immediately, but instead put it up for long-term storage. One doesn't know for certain what's in those containers one is using for water storage, nor does one know for certain that one's garden hose is "operating room clean"...
Probably way more than what you wanted to know about water treatment, but hey, I'm a civil engineer and I studied water and wastewater treatment for a semester at the graduate level while still a senior getting my BSCE. Almost went for a MSCE in it, but since it took 5 years to get my BS, I decided I was done with school and just wanted to get out get a job, and start my career. I never went back...
There are dozens of processes for water treatment, depending upon the amount of water that needs to be treated and for what end purpose. If we are just talking about disinfection for human consumption, then chlorine is by far the cheapest and easiest for large volumes of water (on the order of millions of gallons per day). Other disinfection methods for water for human consumption that might be used include ozone and ultraviolet light. These are more expensive treatments, so unless you're in a big city, I doubt your water purveyor is using anything other than chlorine and perhaps a "finishing" hit of UV. Ozone treatment requires the purveyor to own/operate an O₃ generator - not something everyone has...
@sobo, okay, you set yourself up for this:Bleach is "essentially" chlorine (it's a little more complicated than that, but I assume you don't want a chemistry lesson), just a whole lot less concentrated than the pure chlorine that your water purveyor uses. The bleach you buy in jugs at the grocery store is sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), the same stuff the pool boy uses to shock/treat swimming pools. Grocery store bleach is typically a 6% NaClO solution in combination with 94% of other crap you don't need. But if it were sold to the public as 100% NaClO, then a lot of people would end up killing themselves because strong concentrations of NaClO are highly corrosive and somewhat dangerous if not handled properly. If NaClO is mixed with certain other chemical cleaners, it will liberate chlorine gas, which is unbelievably poisonous. Just a few good whiffs of chlorine gas will kill you, which is why it's incredibly regulated and the folks at your water purveyor are trained in how to use chlorine gas safely. See chlorine gas hazards.
The amount of chlorine added at the water treatment plant is designed to react with other things in the water over time and get "used up" so your tap water doesn't knock you backward with "that bleach smell" when you turn on the faucet. Chlorine will react with viruses, bacteria, organic and inorganic material, metals, etc. over time as the water sits in the storage tower and also in the pipes on its way to your and others' homes. By the time the water gets to you, the chlorine has done its job of disinfecting the water all the way to the point of delivery (your faucet) and likely doesn't even smell like bleach anymore. That's the perfect case - virtually undetectable (to the human nose) chlorine residual. Too little chlorine residual and your water may not be safe to drink from the tap.
Too much residual chlorine is also a dangerous thing, in that it can form various forms of trihalomethane (THM) in the pipelines. THMs are known to cause cancer and birth defects, and were the subject of the very first drinking water regulations promulgated by the EPA way back in the early 1970s and resulted in the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Public water systems aim for a chlorine residual in the water at the point of delivery to provide disinfection, but not result in possible THM poisoning. The chlorine residual target is typically just 2 mg/liter, or 2 parts per million (ppm). The maximum allowable is 4 ppm, so you can see that the purveyors are targeting a pretty low residual to avoid getting into THM territory.
So, with the above as a chlorine primer, let's answer your question...
Because all of this chlorine has likely dissipated by the time my water gets to me, putting my water directly into containers and capping them is not the best idea, since I'm probably right at that 2 ppm residual. I know this because I know for a fact that my water purveyor uses chlorine to treat our water and that my water just barely smells like bleach when it comes out of my faucet.That's just fine for immediate consumption, but for long-term storage, not so much. Just as the water system folks dose the water at the plant so there's a little chlorine left in it when the water gets to you, so must I dose my water with just a hint of bleach (or iodine) if I'm not going to use it immediately, but instead put it up for long-term storage. One doesn't know for certain what's in those containers one is using for water storage, nor does one know for certain that one's garden hose is "operating room clean"...
Probably way more than what you wanted to know about water treatment, but hey, I'm a civil engineer and I studied drinking water and sewage treatment (what we referred to as "taps and turds") for a semester at the graduate level while still a senior getting my BSCE. Almost went for a MSCE in it, but since it took me 5 lonnnnnnnnng years just to get my BS, I decided I was done with school and just wanted to GTHOOD, get a job, and start my career. I never went back...
Harbor Freight BAY-BEE !!!
