Who needs sulphuric acid?
By Fleur
@Fleura (34927)
United Kingdom
September 1, 2017 4:10am CST
The other day I decided to clear out the drains from the kitchen sink. The water seemed to be going down more slowly than it should be and sometimes I caught a rather unpleasant whiff.
Of course this isn’t exactly the sort of job that makes you skip with joy at the thought of it, but it’s easy enough; the hardest part was clearing all the stuff out of the cupboard before starting. Then all I needed was a bucket and an old toothbrush.
It was literally the work of a few moments to unscrew each U-bend, scrub out the gunk under the tap into a bucket, then put it all back together again and check for leaks.
It was while I was doing this that I started to wonder – is lack of knowledge of how to do these simple jobs driving the supply of dangerous chemicals in the high street?
In the last couple of years there has been a huge rise in the number of acid attacks in the UK. People have been attacking others by squirting acid in their faces for a range of reasons – theft, revenge of jilted lovers, attacks on school rivals or jealous spouses. And the resulting injuries last for life – not to mention costing the National Health Service (and therefore all of us) millions in treatment costs. The perpetrators get a few years in prison at best but the victims may have to undergo a lifetime of surgeries, skin grafts and rehabilitation. And of course reports of these crimes give other people the idea, and the acid seems to be easy and cheap to get hold of and is not in itself an offence, unlike carrying a gun or knife.
I read these stories and couldn’t understand where all this acid was coming from. When I used to work in a lab., strong acids were carefully controlled and only used in tiny amounts in a fume cupboard with appropriate protective clothing. But now it seems the public can buy products such as drain cleaner containing more than 90% sulphuric acid and just splash it about willy-nilly!
I was really taken-aback. Why would anyone need this stuff at home? I have certainly never used anything of the kind nor ever known of anyone using it, and I believe it isn’t necessary, and these products should not be on sale.
What do you think?
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2017.
12 people like this
11 responses
@topffer (42155)
• France
1 Sep 17
I had a look, and the max concentration you can get in France for sulphuric acid out of a lab is 37%, but as H2SO4 is not volatile under 385°C, it is not difficult to obtain a 90% concentration by just warming the mix gently to remove the water.
Your method is good for a sink but what would you do if you had a pipe blocked ? If the pipe is large a mechanical process is possible. If it is small, you start with hot vinegar and salt, you continue with lye, and if it still does not work you end with HCl. I am passed through that. Indeed the solution to not throw acid in the drain would have been to destroy the floor in concrete to reach the pipe, disassemble, locate the block and clean it, but would you do that ?
2 people like this
@Fleura (34927)
• United Kingdom
1 Sep 17
It depends where you live I guess. If it is your own house, then the first thing is always to be careful of what you put down the drain in the first place! No wet wipes, nappies or other unsuitable waste, no grease. Use traps to catch hair in the shower or bath. There shouldn't be anything to cause a blockage. Then I would use drain rods in the first instance, and try to work out exactly where the problem was by tracing it from the house. If that didn't work I guess we would have to ask for a plumber.
Of course if you live in a shared building such as a block of apartments then things are more difficult because the problem could be caused by someone else.
2 people like this
@topffer (42155)
• France
1 Sep 17
@Fleura The main problem was that the pipe was too narrow for what plumbers are calling a "ferret" here (a small rotating brush with a cable that you push inside the pipe to unblock it). So I had the choice between a 2000 Euros bill for changing the pipe + masonry and tile laying or investing 5 Euros in a bottle of diluted hydrochloric acid to check if it would work. And it worked. I know it is not good for the environment, but I have not an unlimited budget. Although the pipe was in plastic, I would have never used sulphuric acid, I am not completely irresponsible.
2 people like this
@RasmaSandra (97912)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
1 Sep 17
I think that is very dangerous stuff and I certainly don't have it at home.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21845)
• Canada
1 Sep 17
I won't be taking my sinks apart to clean them, I use drain cleaner and toilet cleaner and never thought about it. Yes I know they are strong and could be dangerous but I'm lazy when it comes to cleaning so I use whatever is available to shorten my chore.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34927)
• United Kingdom
1 Sep 17
The best cleaning method of all is to avoid the problem in the first place, by taking precautions so that inappropriate things do not go down the drain. And always be careful with strong cleaning products, especially about mixing different things!
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34927)
• United Kingdom
2 Sep 17
@PainsOnSlate Glad all is fixed. I think I'd rather have the trees than the psychopaths!
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21845)
• Canada
1 Sep 17
@Fleura it's just us two so only what is supposed to go down the drain is all that goes down the drain, even our children live on the boonies so nothing unhealthy goes down our drains when they visit.. I don't mix anything so we are golden. I can understand what you are talking about with chemicals and crazy people...it is scary but I live in small town Canada, and hopefully no crazies will be in my neighbourhood. When we first moved to this place we had to have our toilets checked and the problem was tree roots climbing into our pipes, ...fixed and happily ever after.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
1 Sep 17
If it is available anywhere, those who want it will find it and buy it. Even common grocery store cleaning agents can be turned into direct weapons or little bombs. I do not clean my drains with acid, nor as you describe. I put baking soda in the drains, follow it with vinegar, and rinse it out with hot water. Done regularly the drains stay clean and fresh.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
1 Sep 17
Thank you for this post. For starters, yes, all schools should teach simple things so that acids and stuff like that can be kept out of reach of common man. Today it is throwing acid, tomorrow they could make explosives out of what is there right at home. There was a movie in which Pierce Brosnan acted as explosive expert and did something like that. Yes, we need better standards also ..that drain looks fairly neat, but at our end it is not that well designed. So mandatory standards also need to improve. Simultaneously, punishments for acid throwers should be more serious.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
1 Sep 17
I don't pour stuff down my kitchen sink that would cause it go get yucked up and if it does once in a blue moon a good plunger takes care of it followed by a running hot water.
1 person likes this
