Hydrochloric Acid - Disposing !!!!!

lamf68

Anyone have any idea what you can do with Hydrochloric Acid when you're done using it? Basically I'm following a line of ideas for aging metal parts and have got a half inch pool of it sat in a plastic tub with a smaller bowl inside that with the lid on the outer tub...Now I'm ready to remove the metal bits from the inner bowl, what the hell do I do from here. Kinda shitting my pants at the minute, don't wanna blow up the street or poison myself or something else horrific! Anyone know what I should do next with the metal bits, im reading stuff like rinsing under fresh water, but will that remove the acid residue properly, and the remaining acid left in the tub, can I simply leave it there for months on end until im ready to do some more or does it lose it's pizazz and become useless. And finally if I do have to get shot of it, what do I do with it?

cheers for any help. Rich

jd0272

I just pop them on a bowl of soapy water and rinse.

I've a similar large jar of etchant solution. I must get round to contacting the Council.

lamf68

jd0272 said:

I just pop them on a bowl of soapy water and rinse.

I've a similar large jar of etchant solution. I must get round to contacting the Council.

Are you talking about the same stuff mate? do you rinse HCL fume blasted hardware with soapy water or stuff that's had Etchant Solution on it?  is it one and the same as I've got both and I thought they were different.

jd0272

I doubt the rinse would harm either, it's just to stop the process.

jd0272

I'm happy to stand corrected tho

streethawk

I use, and reuse, etchant solution.

If you diluted your HCL with water you'd be do no more harm than somebody scrubbing their decking with the kind of cleaner found in B&Q. I'm not sure what ratio of dilution is going to protect the environment given that it's going into a huge water supply anyway.

If in doubt, contact your local council.

littlethoughts

streethawk said:

If you diluted your HCL with water you'd be do no more harm than somebody scrubbing their decking with the kind of cleaner found in B&Q. I'm not sure what ratio of dilution is going to protect the environment given that it's going into a huge water supply anyway.

Don't dilute it with water! add it slowly to an excess of water. If you add water to strong acid it's a bad idea since it liberates a lot of heat which can result in spitting - not good. Whereas if you add it slowly to a larger amount of water there is a much larger thermal bath so it is much more gentle. HCl isn't harmful to aquatic life (unlike, say, Ammonia) so you should be okay to dilute it in lots of water and put it down the sink. At that point your solution will be significantly less nasty than, say, Mr Muscle.

Maynehead

Just drip it down the sink with the water running at the same time, whilst wearing a full biohazard suit and holding a blast shield**.

**optional

streethawk

Don't dilute it with water! add it slowly to an excess of water. If you add water to strong acid it's a bad idea since it liberates a lot of heat which can result in spitting - not good. Whereas if 

Well, yes.

I wasn't suggesting tipping some water in the tupperware container. Should have been more clear!

ToneControl

commercial drain cleaner is HCL or sulphuric acid

So you are just tipping drain cleaner into the drain, so don't worry, just be careful doing the dilution right. Unless you have a blocked drain, in which case just tip it down there

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/plumbing/drain-cleaner2.htm

FelineGuitars

If you added a solution of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) it reacts to leave salt and water as I recall, but don't know how safe the reaction is.

ToneControl

FelineGuitars said:

If you added a solution of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) it reacts to leave salt and water as I recall, but don't know how safe the reaction is.

BANG

stimpsonslostson

streethawk said:

Don't dilute it with water! add it slowly to an excess of water. If you add water to strong acid it's a bad idea since it liberates a lot of heat which can result in spitting - not good. Whereas if 

Well, yes.

I wasn't suggesting tipping some water in the tupperware container. Should have been more clear!

I work in a lab*, you'd be astonished (or worryingly not) how many otherwise REALLY bright people forget the rule of "always add acid", so I'm happy to see it repeated! 

Dilute it into lots of water & it'll wash away down the drain without issues. As FelineGuitars suggest you COULD neutralise/raise the pH of it by adding an alkali (washing powder/sodium bicarb being easily available) but it's overkill, and potentially not something you want to dabble with.

*Today's health and safety excitement involved a grad student warming a sealed bottle of agar using the microwave! When I noticed & pointed out that she was essentially creating a bomb she was a bit sheepish. 

ToneControl

http://www.thechemicalblog.co.uk/sulphuric-acid-and-sodium-hydroxide/

monquixote

You can put it down the drain.

Some high power drain cleaners contain hydrochloric.

Don't mix it with anything or some really nasty things can happen. For example mix it with toilet duck and you will get chlorine gas which in an enclosed space can kill you.

streethawk

Bleeding hell. Like the anarchist's cook book on here.

(kidding - GCHQ)

ICBM

(Former lab technician here) It's safe to wash acids and alkalis down the ordinary drain providing you use plenty of water - they're inherently water dilutable and in the quantities they will reach the water system they won't do any harm. Don't mix any of them together, they can produce a lot of heat and possibly dangerous gases as monquixote said.

It's mostly organics - solvents, oils etc - you must not put down the drain. They don't mix, dissolve or dilute with water and can cause contamination.

thermionic

My old chemistry teacher used to say:

"Always do what you oughta, and add the acid to the water"

Good advice.

lamf68

Thanks for the tips lads, into a bucket of water it'll go and down the bog with it.

JD50

Make sure you protect your self against splash back. Seen some shocking eye injuries on some h&s videos.....

hywelg

I often have to dispose of spent ie reasonably dilute HF after use. My method is a.sink full of water with a handful of chalk powder in it.

Would probably work for most acids