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Calling all chemists...

bbarnhart

bbarnhart

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 16, 2002
824
1
I had some driveway ice melt that was left over from the winter that I had poured from the spreader into an old metal popcorn tin. That tin sat in my garage for several months until I discovered it the other day. The snow melt had turned from beads to a clear thick liquid that isn't evaporating.

Now, what can I do with this liquid? Can I pour it on the lawn? Pour it into the street? Pour it down the sink (I'm on a septic system). I don't want to kill anything, but I don't want it sitting around in a metal tin that's beginning to rust.

I still have a bag of the stuff so I can look and see what it's made from.

Thanks.
 
Don't pour it on your lawn. Everything else is probably fine, more or less. But diluting it before you do anything would probably be a good idea.
 
Wait, I'm confused. What's in the tin, (what's spreader?) ( a bag of the stuff?)

If I have an idea of what's that thick liquid, I can help you to dispose it.

Does it have any smell? What's the color of it?

I wouldn't go dilute it just yet until you know what it is. It's probably not gonna do anything bad, but if it's not water soluble or something it will be even harder to dispose.
 
It would be sodium the stuff would it not?

Don't pour it down a house drain or on the road or down the storm water drain. Don't want to be responsible for any wildlife to suffer. Best bet is to take it to your local dump. They usually have a station where you can take old engine oil and car batteries. This is the place you want to take the stuff.
 
furious said:
It would be sodium the stuff would it not?

Don't pour it down a house drain or on the road or down the storm water drain. Don't want to be responsible for any wildlife to suffer. Best bet is to take it to your local dump. They usually have a station where you can take old engine oil and car batteries. This is the place you want to take the stuff.
Click to expand...

But if it's just some variance of salt that's used in melting the snow and stuff, the water should all evaporate, and left with those salt. I can't think of any salt that will bind water so tightly that can left you with some thick liquid. Is it the consistency of milk? cooking oil?

If you are certain it's just salt and water, then you can take a bit and dilute with water (it's like a science experiment!) and if they mix well (and no smell), then you can dilute the rest of the thing and dump down the drain. Salt (and not just sodium chloride salt) is generally safe in that regard.

My only worry is that there's more than just salt in that thick liquid of yours.
 
Im no chemist, but I think what you have is Calcium Chloride. Is it little white pellets, or flakes? If so just a quick Serach brought up a Wikipedia artical, and it says it is Hygroscopic, which means it likes to pull moisture from the air, which would explain why it is a thick goo. Here is an excerpt:

Wikipedia said:
Because of its hygroscopic nature, it must be kept in tightly-sealed containers.

Because it is strongly hygroscopic, air or other gases may be channeled through a column of calcium chloride to remove moisture. In particular, calcium chloride is usually used to pack drying tubes to exclude atmospheric moisture from a reaction set-up while allowing gases to escape. It can also be added to liquids to remove suspended or dissolved water. In this capacity, it is known as a drying agent or desiccant. It is converted to a brine as it absorbs the water or water vapor from the substance to be dried:
Click to expand...

I bolded the last sentence for emphasis, sounds like what you got.

P.S. I must be board at 3AM :)

Heres a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_chloride
 
I hated chemistry in college... thus I got a minor in it, and I'm doing quite a bit of it in grad school.

First off- let me get this straight- you put ice melt in a tin container, left it in the garage for the winter, and now you have a nice thick liquid... is that right?

That stuff usually has several components- depeding on the brand. It has Calcium Chloride, Magnesium, Potassium Chloride and Sodium Chloride. The Sodium and Potassium will not do much. They are salts, and are diluted fairly easily. The Magnesium is a fairly docile metal. What you have in this combination is that condensation has somehow gotten in your tin, and has dissolved your beads. The CaCl does not play nicely with the KCl or NaCl, especially in high conc., viscous solutions, and precipitated, forming white crud.

Simply take the tin outside, dump it in a plastic bag, and take it to the trash. You might want to rinse off that tin later, but flush it in the toilet, not down the sink.
 
I looked on the bag this morning and it said it was Calcium Chloride. It also said it would not hurt my lawn. It was a bunch of white pellets and it must have absorbed the moisture out of the air and became a liquid like todd2000 said.

After looking on the Internets this morning, it is safe to pour down the sink, however, I'm on a septic system. I've decided that I'm going to pour the stuff into a large container, dilute with water, pour that on the lawn, and then spray it down with some more water.

Thanks for everyone's help
 
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