Improve the power of bleach in your preps

[Micro]

This may be of interest to preppers here on the board. It is cheap to add a gallon of vinegar to your preps along with your bleach.


http://www.asm.org/microbe/index.asp?bid=43204

Effective Use of Bleach as an Antiseptic and Disinfectant

Cecil H. and Michele H. Fox point out the disinfecting properties of inexpensive and universally available diluted bleach (5% sodium hypochlorite) as an important germicide to help control the spread of influenza (or any other communicable virus, bacteria, or fungus) (Microbe, April 2006, p. 159). A few more details might help for the effective use of diluted bleach as an antiseptic and disinfectant. Bleach is sold as a stable alkaline solution with a pH value of about 11 or 12. At this alkaline pH value, virtually all of the bleach is in the form of the chlorite ion (OCl-). At an acidic pH value of about 6.0 to 6.8, 90% of the bleach is in the form of hypochlorous acid (HOCl). Hypochlorous acid is 80 to 200 times more antimicrobial than the chlorite ion. Thus a simple formula to prepare an effective antimicrobial dilution of bleach is to add 2.0 oz of concentrated bleach to one gallon of tap water, and then add 2.0 oz of 5% distilled white cooking vinegar, also inexpensive and commonly available, to lower the pH of bleach to about 6.0. This will yield about 800 ppm free available chlorine from hypochlorous acid. Use this acidified bleach in well-ventilated areas as there will be a mild odor of chlorine. The acidified bleach must be prepared fresh daily. Protect eyes and mucous membranes. Never add ammonia to bleach. Follow the
safety directions as found on the bleach label.

Norman Miner
MicroChem Laboratory
Euless, Tex.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Oh boy, here we go again.

I use this stuff myself. Just did in fact for rotating my entire water storage. One cup of plain laundry bleach added to one gallon of water, stirred well, then add one cup of plain white 5% vinegar. I cleaned the drums and water jugs then refilled them with fresh water and the requisite amount of bleach. Works quite well.

.....Alan.

 

[Double_A]

Great Find! This goes into the prepper file.

 

[HangingDog]

This thread was posted 2 weeks ago and removed because vinegar and chlorine create a nerve gas sor t of thing - toxic

 

[HangingDog]

Until you get a chemist to say ok to mixing strong ingredient the mods should remove this thread

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Those ARE chemists that are talking about this. ASM.org is the American Association of Microbiology.

.....Alan.

 

[von Koehler]

This thread was posted 2 weeks ago and removed because vinegar and chlorine create a nerve gas sor t of thing - toxic

Hanging Dog:

Please do not confuse having an opinion with actual knowledge of what you are commenting about. Did you read the report? Have you tried making a batch as per the study's directions?

I started the vinegar & bleach thread which was based on a research study for the government on how to disinfect areas, effectively and inexpensively.

If you read and follow the instructions given in the study, it DOES NOT form a nerve gas. You can just smell the bleach, no more so then when bleach is added to just water. From the report, "Use this acidified bleach in well-ventilated areas as there will be a mild odor of chlorine. The acidified bleach must be prepared fresh daily. Protect eyes and mucous membranes. Never add ammonia to bleach. Follow the safety directions as found on the bleach label."

I use as a disinfectent in the kitchen, and yes, it does seem cleaner.

This is a dup thread.

Flavius Aetius

 

[my2scentsathome]

Bleach as a prep item.

It may be worth mentioning that Bleach only has a shelf life of approximately one year.
It loses much of it's potency after one year.

I have a supply of the granular chemical "bleach" used in "shocking" swimming pools and Hot Tubs. It can be mixed with water to form "bleach" and has a much longer shelf life it kept closed to air and moisture.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

When I have bleach that is a year old or more I double the quantity used. This probably gives me a total ppm of free chlorine that is more than actually needed but seeing as how the amount of bleach used for most purposes (other than bleaching clothes) is rather small I'm not concerned about it.

For large quantities of bleach you'd be better off using test strips or something, but most folks don't deal in large quantities.

The above article isn't for sanitizing water, but for using it as an antiseptic and disinfectant for cleaning surfaces and equipment. If you've got a lot of water to sanitize (full drums or larger) you'd do well to buy some fresh pool water test strips so that you can know for sure how much chlorine is actually present when you add your bleach or pool shock or whatever.

It is better not to let your bleach storage get old though, especially bleach that has been opened.

.....Alan.

 

[Dixielee]

Bleach tablets

I have not looked for them yet, but read on another form that you can get bleach tablets at Home Depot. Apparently they are widely used in Canada and Great Britain. Drop one in a gallon of water, and voila! Bleach. Seems like a great way to store lots more bleach. I would guess vacuum packing would extend the shelf life indefinately. Need to check next time I am at HD.

 

[hitssquad]

Is granulated pool shock possibly a better idea than liquid bleach for sanitizing water, Alan?