Any Chemists on here?

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Joined
Nov 8, 2008
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Location
Nr Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
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National
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Would anyone know how much Potassium Permanganate I need to put into 40 gallons of water to keep it sweet?

In my field I have no fresh water supply.....well I've got a river running by, but it's not easy to get any out, so I collect rainwater from the roofs of my hen huts and every so often put some PP in. I've never been able to find out the correct amount. I asked the Pharmacist where I bought it from, who did a quick calculation and announced I needed 1.5lbs per 40 galls :eek: I kinda figured that that was way too much and have got by using 1.5 teaspoons. I completely ran out of water during the dry spell in summer, but now of course my tubs are full again (and frozen) I would normally keep a bit of a lid on with fine nylon mesh underneath, but I have failed miserably to do that and as it is thawing out and I'm getting the odd bucket out, it's a bit stinky, so I need to syphon some into a fresh tub and start again. I could carry on with my 1.5 tspn but would also quite like to know the correct amount.

Thanks in case........:)

Frisbee
 
Thanks......when I was looking originally over two years ago, that was the only reference to dosage I could find. The words crystal threw me as what I bought is a fine powder, but my 1.5 teaspoons was the amount which tinged it a light pink. My main concern is that I could be using too much.

Frisbee
 
Dont get to bogged down with technicalities (although we await the chemistry lesson from others!) just add it until it is a very faint pink.

I would drink it!
 
The figure for human drinking water is 1.1mg per US gallon
That would be 1.1mg x 1.2 = 1.32mg Potassium Permanganate per UK gallon.
(1 imperial gallon = 1.2 US gallons)

This US site is where the image was taken from.

For verification, see Application rates: Human drinking water. For chickens you don't need as much. :)

Observe safety precautions as concentrated PP can burn eyes and skin and swallowed or inhaled is extremely poisonous.

Don't spoil him :grouphug:

Oops - I totally agree with Jim.
 
Sod it Jim, I just read too many books with chapters that have another chapter three times as thick saying "proofs of the other chapter" - I never did understand them by the way.

Not at all a chemist and my first thought was faint pink, but my knowledge is from washing vegetables in distant lands 50+ years ago. I assumed that a more scientific answer was called for.

Besides, it sounds like the water source might not readily show the colour. I don't know if Frisbee takes a tumbler down the field and whether it might be tainted by a bit of cheeky red. :)
 
Thanks for the replies, including the humorous ones :)

I carry any water in a white bucket so can see the pink tinge, it's the colour I went on in the past which brought me to my 1.5 teaspoons. The pink goes brown after a few weeks.

I have a proper teaspoon measure and always wear gloves and am really careful when handling it Hombre thanks.

Frisbee
 

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