What to do with bleach solution after cure.

[Laird]

I'm about to do a large bleach of several hundred pounds of my old rock that's been sitting in storage a few years. Its been 8+ years since I did a bleach cure.

Anyone have pointers on how to dispose of 2 large garbage cans full of the 10:1 water/bleach solution? I was going to do it outside and don't have easy access to an interior drain.

 

[GlassMunky]

I just poured it down the street to the drain

It’s the same as if you had used bleach in your washing machine... shouldn’t hurt anything.

 

[KrisReef]

Can you set up the treatment barrel in the shower or bath tub?
(Keep the bath fan on.) Then disposal into the sewer is ok! It will clean out your pipes at the same time.

Otherwise, bleach is toxic to fish and wildlife. If you add declor to the bucket before you dump it that would eliminate the pollution issue and potential issues with public dumping.

 

[GlassMunky]

Can you set up the treatment barrel in the shower or bath tub?
(Keep the bath fan on.) Then disposal into the sewer is ok! It will clean out your pipes at the same time.

Otherwise, bleach is toxic to fish and wildlife. If you add declor to the bucket before you dump it that would eliminate the pollution issue and potential issues with public dumping.

How is it going down the drain of your house any different than it going down the drain the street?
They both go the same place, at least around here

 

[Laird]

I'd like to do it outside because of the risk from fumes. The only bathroom that would work is right under my bedroom and I have a pregnant wife so I don't want risk anything.

I was going to do it in the back of my house which has a walk out basement so it would be difficult to get to the street to dump it. There is a drain that goes to the sewer that my rain gutters go to that that I could pump it to.

What about the last little bit of water that can't be pumped? How bad is it to dump on the ground? How fair away from trees or plants would it need to be?

Is it ok to have a secure lid on or does it need air?

 

[MnFish1]

How is it going down the drain of your house any different than it going down the drain the street?
They both go the same place, at least around here

On our street the 'drain' is about 100 feet away.
There is a difference between a storm drain and home drain (i.e. you wouldn't put raw sewage out in your street), right?

In any case - firstly - with a 9:1 solution - its not like its 'pure bleach'. 2. After a couple days outside (especially if its sunny) - a lot of the 'bleach' will be 'dissipated. 3. you can probably - with your hose diluting it - merely empty it into an outside drain. (the recommended way to get rid of 'full strength' bleach is merely running water while pouring it down the drain...

Other solutions - don't do it in as big a batch (i.e. nothing is forcing you to do it all at once) - put your bin into the bathtub so its easier to drain.

Lastly - just a comment - I dont think there is much value in leaving coral in bleach for 'days'. 12-24 hours is likely enough - especially if its been dry for 'years'. What are you trying to accomplish - just curious - not criticizing.

EDIT- after reading up on it a bit - throwing it into a street drain is NOT a good idea. Some of these drain very quickly into streams - etc.

 

[MnFish1]

I'd like to do it outside because of the risk from fumes. The only bathroom that would work is right under my bedroom and I have a pregnant wife so I don't want risk anything.

I was going to do it in the back of my house which has a walk out basement so it would be difficult to get to the street to dump it. There is a drain that goes to the sewer that my rain gutters go to that that I could pump it to.

What about the last little bit of water that can't be pumped? How bad is it to dump on the ground? How fair away from trees or plants would it need to be?

Is it ok to have a secure lid on or does it need air?

Dump the last little bit down the drain in a bathtub.

 

[AZMSGT]

Mine went down the house drain. I used a cheap Marineland 1200 pump to move it from the bleaching tub to the laundry room drain.

Do NOT pour that junk into any storm drain.

And nearly every municipality has separate drain systems

Also, use the right bleach! Only use Pure bleach.. no additives, NONE, NADA.. ZIP. Lots of people make the mistake of using the wrong stuff.

 

[Cell]

Just dilute it as you drain. Or let it sit for an extra day before dumping.

 

[MnFish1]

Mine went down the house drain. I used a cheap Marineland 1200 pump to move it from the tub to the laundry room drain.

Do NOT pour that junk into any storm drain.

And nearly every municipality has separate drain systems

BY the way - this is correct - and I meant to mention that many municipalities don't allow emptying any chemicals directly into storm drains. Before you do anything outside - you need to ask your city.

 

[MnFish1]

BY the way - this is correct - and I meant to mention that many municipalities don't allow emptying any chemicals directly into storm drains. Before you do anything outside - you need to ask your city.

@GlassMunky I know - the answer from the city will be 'no'. lol. But - If (one) of my neighbors saw me throwing 80 gallons of 'something' into the street with a chemical odor - I for sure would get a visit.

 

[Frysize]

Leave your container in the sun all day. The sun will break down the bleach in no time. Unless you added a stabilizer. You'll know cause it won't smell like bleach anymore.

 

[GlassMunky]

my entire neighborhood knows we are into fish tanks, with us moving the 5 of them inside and then taking a whole day to bring the new 220 custom into the house.... not to mention that we cleaned out all the old tanks in the driveway....
they are used to pouring stuff down the street drain.
and like you said,being as diluted as it is isnt going to hurt anything.


the one that probably looked the weirdest was when we did the acid wash step..... seeing a foaming container probably looked weird.... but even that stuff once neutralized by enough baking soda is fine to go down the drain

 

[MTBake]

I would not empty this into a storm drain. Some storm drains empty into water ways and not the treatment plant.

I would dump it down a house drain. Using a pump to move the water if needed.

 

[MnFish1]

Here is an interesting article: https://www3.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/stormwater-feature.html

And an interesting quote from that article: And household cleaners can hurt the environment as well, if not disposed of properly. One ounce of household bleach requires 312,000 ounces of water to be safe for fish. Even biodegradable soaps can pose problems for aquatic life — in order for one ounce of biodegradable detergent to be safe for fish, it needs to be diluted by almost 20,000 ounces of water.

 

[GlassMunky]

Here is an interesting article: https://www3.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/stormwater-feature.html

And an interesting quote from that article: And household cleaners can hurt the environment as well, if not disposed of properly. One ounce of household bleach requires 312,000 ounces of water to be safe for fish. Even biodegradable soaps can pose problems for aquatic life — in order for one ounce of biodegradable detergent to be safe for fish, it needs to be diluted by almost 20,000 ounces of water.

one could make ye argument based on this that even using bleach to clean your clothes is bad for the environment.....
its all in how you look at things

 

[GlassMunky]

one could make ye argument based on this that even using bleach to clean your clothes is bad for the environment.....
its all in how you look at things

and as such, are we all going to stop washing our clothes?

 

[MnFish1]

one could make ye argument based on this that even using bleach to clean your clothes is bad for the environment.....
its all in how you look at things

No - its completelly different - the water that drains from your washing machine goes to a treatment facility - the street drain goes directly into other bodies of water (streams, lakes, rivers). Its completely different.

 

[KrisReef]

With a pregnant wife at home I would do this outside. If the rain water goes into the sewer than that is the place where the bleach water should go.

Different municipalities have laws governing the disposal of hazardous wastes and where these wastes can be properly disposed of. If you can't pump into the rain gutter system then I would treat the water with declor (sodium thiosulphate) and put it on the lawn or in a flower bed of into the storm drain if the garden option isn't available.

You don't want to deal with possible municipal violations for failure to purchase some declor or to pump into the rain water (sewer) system if that is available. Your wife and baby don't want to visit you in jail and you don't want to give any money to the court when you could spend a few bucks at the LFS.

And, come to think of it, you could dump this into your neighbors pool or water fountain if they don't mind. These are the same folks that might call the city if they observe you dumping funky water in the street. I hope you don't have neighbors like this, but some of the nicest people on my block have told me they called the city for similar minor infractions when they saw a neighbor doing something minor that they didn't like.

Barking dogs, parked cars, and dumping aquarium water in the storm drain, etc.

 

[Laird]

So it sounds like I need to figure out how to get it into an inside drain and not into the storm drain. This is getting a bit tricky.

Is it ok during the cure to have a lid on the garbage can?