Large scale acid application

Big Mike

Big Mike

Member
I posted this over at TGS as well.

I am working on a large bid for a townhome assoc. for sidewalks, curbs, and entry walkways (25,000 sq ft or so). This is REAL heavy with irrigation rust. I tested citric, oxalic, and super rust out, side-by-side and oxalic came out the clear winner hands down. My question is do I need to worry about runoff after I apply and it dries? The whole area drains into a holding pond, and I don't want to end up in the paper..... What are my options??
 
Capture as much runoff as you can. wait for the a hot day so it can evaporate. plug the drains and pump into a tank and discharge elswhere. or pass
 
I experimented with oxalic on my drive way. I may have used tooooo much. The grass around the edges died and where the runoff went through my yard doesn't look so good either. Drive way brightened up.
 
using chems on sidewalks can suck because of the runoff and landscaping issues, we have a similar ongoing job. As far as the holding pond, all it takes is a phone call from a board member (or resident) that's pissed off at another board member or any other political issue that could be going on within the community, and your on the news.
BE Careful! don't use the word acid around anybody, scares them IMO
 
They BOD knows the scoop here, and I'm not worried about them. I would like some real world information on how Ox breaks down after applied. I refuse to let a good paying job slide to some hack, just because there's some difficulty involved. This could lead to a very large scale rust abatement in several other adjoining associations, so I want to get this right, and have documentation to back me up.
 
Big Mike said:
They BOD knows the scoop here, and I'm not worried about them. I would like some real world information on how Ox breaks down after applied. I refuse to let a good paying job slide to some hack, just because there's some difficulty involved. This could lead to a very large scale rust abatement in several other adjoining associations, so I want to get this right, and have documentation to back me up.
Click to expand...

Could you neutralize it before rinsing? I've heard that Baking Soda will bring the PH to 5.5 and higher. Lol, not that I'm suggesting using BS :) Something else of course.

I was thinking you could apply your Oxalic Solution, let it work, add the neutralizer spot check PH with Litimus strip and then rinse...
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Mike View Post
They BOD knows the scoop here, and I'm not worried about them. I would like some real world information on how Ox breaks down after applied. I refuse to let a good paying job slide to some hack, just because there's some difficulty involved. This could lead to a very large scale rust abatement in several other adjoining associations, so I want to get this right, and have documentation to back me up.
Could you neutralize it before rinsing? I've heard that Baking Soda will bring the PH to 5.5 and higher. Lol, not that I'm suggesting using BS Something else of course.

I was thinking you could apply your Oxalic Solution, let it work, add the neutralizer spot check PH with Litimus strip and then rinse...
Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestion. I was leaning towards neutralization through dilution vs. using another chemical. I also thought about doing small sections between rain events to lessen the total amount of low ph runoff. The biggest question is how active does oxalic remain after applied and left to dry?
 
We just did a job, exactly like you are talking about. A large community with irrigation problems.
1. Make them turn off the irrigation system before you start.
2. Get them to sign off on daily sections that you oxed.
3. When they turn the irr. back on it will get rusty again, no doubt about it. Its not your fault.
4. If you dont get the signatures on the small little daily sections, at the end of the job they will try to make you do it again.
This isnt BS, it happened to us. We didnt get paid for 2 months after a 1 month job. We got taken off their vendor list that we have been on for 5 years. Lenny had to email the big boss of the PM company to get our money and we found out about the list a month later when we had a job for a different guy in the same company. We email the big boss again and got back on.
I would suggest dont do it. Or have them know if they dont fix the irrigation system it will come right back. And cut the job into small sections and get signatures and money.


(PS I just read the size you said, it will probably take a couple days to clean. Then spary the oxalic and let it sit. Dont rinse. Our job was a lot bigger than that.)
 
good idea on passing
 
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