Need to Dump Lye Tank

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Adam_R.

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So I've recently moved and my old house is going to be listed this week. Still need to dispose of the water in my lye tank. It's roughly 5 gallons with 1 pound of lye disssovled in it. It's in my basement and would be ideal if I could dump it out the back door with out killing the grass or anything harmful. If I would dump some vinegar in it could it be neutralized to the point it wouldn't hurt anything. Or anyway other way to achieve my goal?

PS: I don't have a hose out back for dilution.
 
dump it down all your drains and let it sit for an hour or so and flush with hot water

It's in my basement and in a container that the liquid mostly fills. The lid won't keep the liquid in if it sloshes around. Carrying up a set of stairs and over carpet isn't an option for me. I wish I could dump it down a drain...
 
I see no reason to let it sit or to use hot water. Dump it down a drain, a gallon or so at a time, with cool water running as you do. No vinegar required.

Gloves, old towel, gallon milk jug with screw cap. Fill jug and wipe off outside if you immersed to fill. Screw on cap. Proceed to nearest drain or commode. Run water or flush as you empty jug. Repeat. Dilute what little is left in bottom of container that you can't get out with some plain water. (Use the gallon milk jug.) Pour that out the back door, along the fence, or wherever you think appropriate.
 
Not so sure I would suggest that to anyone (dumping in the grass). I have an area behind my shop and have dumped my tank several times and each and every time it kills the grass there. I have a burn pile near by that I have started dumping it on and don't worry about killing grass anymore. All the crud that is in the lye solution will therefore be burned.
 
People are over complicating this process. All you need to do is neutralize the lye solution with some vinegar (I forget the exact ratio but a quick Google search should suffice). After that you can dump it anywhere without any worries.
 
I see no reason to let it sit or to use hot water. Dump it down a drain, a gallon or so at a time, with cool water running as you do. No vinegar required.



Why are you always so negative? Whenever someone says something, you have to say the opposite is true or its way I do it.


The reason is to dissolve all the crap stuck to the pipes. Then flush with hot water. Is that a good enough reason for you?

Please stop with the negativity. Your a grown man? There is no need to always get your way
 
The question was how to dispose of a lye bath solution, not how to clean a drain. It's not being negative to point out that which is unnecessary to the task. And it's certainly not about someone having their way. The amount of vinegar required to neutralize the lye solution is not worth the cost or trouble when simple dilution with plenty of water will achieve the same thing.
 
Apparently, you've been stewing on this for a while. Perhaps the problem lays in that some people tend to recommend things that the collecting community in general does not consider appropriate. Cleaning with gasoline, etching a vintage skillet with vinegar to make seasoning stick more easily are a couple of examples I can recall. If that's what you want to do with your CI, fine. But I am always going to opt to go with accepted practices for properly dealing with and preserving the value of collectible vintage CI, on both the site and forum, because it would be reckless to do otherwise. So, if you are one to advise contrary to accepted practices, then, yes, you can expect me to respond. If you consider that being negative, you should probably find another venue.
 
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