chlorine in water ??

[ribena]

hi all

fantastic part of the forum

how do you all at polished bliss still have the time to post on here so much ??

anyway, will chlorine in water have an effect on my cars paint, the washing process, wax or any other product I apply

reason is : I have a rainwater harvesting system that in the recent bad weather became contaminated with sewage. I had the enviable job of emptying 6000 litres of stinking water, then getting in the tank and scrubbing it clean with disenfectant

I was advised to also treat the water upon refilling with chlorine tablets because of using the water in the toilets and washing machine as well as the hosepipe

Its only a weak mixture (20ppm) just to kill any bugs but I'm a little concerned as I understand bleach contains chlorine and don't want to bleach my car!!

any chemists on here know what a safe mix is ?? or not at all

simon

 

[DiscoPanda]

Chlorine is used in drinking/tap water to kill bacteria and its around 0.5ppm.

Bleach has about 17% chlorine so you're hardly bleaching you car as such. having said that, I'm unsure at what point chlorine is nasty to the rubber/metal/paint of a car. 20ppm is quite high (you can probably smell it quite strongly?) I think but maybe someone with superior knowledge (that won't be hard!) will confirm.

Just realised I was no help whatsoever! Sorry!

 

[ribena]

lol

your post was a help.

does that make chlorine in bleach 170000ppm ?? if so mine is quite weak!!

there is a whiff but quite bearable. i suppose i'm a little worried about any excessive spotting or staining

probs need to do a bit of experimenting with something other than the car first

thx again

 

[DiscoPanda]

20ppm is tiny - nowhere near whats in bleach. You're washing your clothes in it remember and its flowing through all your pipes. Unless someone says differently I'd not worry about it.

 

[Caesium]

Very unlikely it will damage your car, the local swimming pool has more chlorine content that what you are describing and that wouldn't be enough to damage the car

 

[WX51TXR]

Hmm, if I recall correctly, drinking water is usually in the range 2-4 ppm chlorine content, and pools are usually maintained in this band too, apart from when they are shock treated, when levels up to 10ppm are used (although this can lead to stingy eyes, eyes, etc). 20 ppm is thus pretty darn strong in terms of chlorine content, but I doubt it will have any bad effect on your paint (pH will be more important to check). Might want to investigate this further though.

 

[ribena]

thx for that

any ideas on where to get a pH test kit

although rainwater should be fine

should'nt need to continue with the chlorine treatment for long just peace of mind for now

 

[WX51TXR]

Garden centres or online sites for swimming pool maintenance. :icon_thumright: