[gpm]

What's the concentration of that vs the concentration here. Note that we also use chlorine to treat drinking water (e.g. on canoe trips), but you don't want to be drinking that unless it's very low concentration.

A quick google search suggests that they are used to "improve water clarity" [0], so at a guess you don't use enough of it to turn the water pink.

There's also the fact that they think it's concentrated enough that you should avoid bathing in it if you have sensitive skin. That certainly doesn't inspire confidence that you should drink it (exposing some very important skin, that's usually more sensitive).

[0] http://www.livestrong.com/article/71333-use-potassium-perman...

[stagbeetle]

I would not use livestrong as a source.

If the pictures are true to the situation, the concentrations are tiny. You can look up videos of people putting less than a teaspoon into water to get the same result.

IIRC, PP can be a precursor to chlorine. But, you're comparing two different chemicals here and what applies to one likely doesn't apply to another.

There is a chance your skin will feel like it's burning if it's not fully dissolved in water. I wouldn't advise touching the dry powder. The shards will embed into your skin and it will feel like an open wound filled with Tabasco for a long time.

Fun-fact: If you mix it with glycerol it combusts, so don't use any lotions with it if you get some on your skin.

ETA: I don't know what's going on, but there's a lot of low-effort responses in this thread. Is it the hours?

[jcranmer]

> IIRC, PP can be a precursor to chlorine.

Converting KMnO₄ to Cl¯ would require a nuclear reaction. Chlorides are generally soluble, so it's not going to cause an insoluble salt to slowly dissolve as a permanganate salt precipitates instead. It does appear to be a stronger oxidizing agent than Cl₂ (and Cl¯ and ClO¯ and ClO₂¯), but there are likely better reducing agents in most water than dissolved chlorine ions.

[zzazzdsa]

For what it's worth, permanganate is an extremely strong oxidizer (probably the second strongest stable solid oxidant known, after persulfate), but at neutral pH it is unable to oxidize chloride to hypochlorite and beyond. (The electrode potentials are too close, and anyways the maganese dioxide byproduct turns hypochlorite to chloride and oxygen.) Instead of reacting with a reducing agent in water, (the main possibilities are simple organics and ferrous iron, and these turn to carbon dioxide or insoluble ferric oxide [sidenote: this is why permanganate is added to water in the first place]) permanganate tends to break down to oxygen and manganese dioxide, which settles out.

[stagbeetle]

My wording was vague, you'll have to excuse me.

[mulmen]

I wish I knew enough about chemistry to know if you are providing valuable commentary or pulling our collective leg. I will give you the benefit of the doubt.

[throwaway2048]

>IIRC, PP can be a precursor to chlorine

potassium permanganate does not contain chlorine

[stagbeetle]

No, but muriatic acid does. I'm pretty sure it's a redox reaction.

[lqdc13]

How is HCl related to KMnO4? And why would one combine them?

Why not just add a hypochlorite to water if the end goal is to disinfect with chlorine?

[jcranmer]

The allegation is that KMnO₄ is undergoing a redox reaction with HCl to produce Cl₂ gas (which is a plausible redox reaction, given the half-reaction potentials).

But yeah, in practice you're going to disinfect with Cl₂ gas or NaClO. The water plant I worked at switched from Cl₂ to ClO¯ as primary disinfectant, and the operators were all for it. No more need to manually switch out Cl₂ tanks, no more Cl₂ venting issues (spilling NaClO is nowhere near as bad a Cl₂ leak). (The plant also used O₃ for bonus disinfection as well. The operators hated it at first, but now would throw a conniption fit were it broken).

[stagbeetle]

It was a comparison on par with the parent comment's argument. Looking back, it wasn't well constructed on my end and probably led to confusion.

What I was going for was: just because they do the same thing doesn't mean they're the same at all.

HCl + KMnO4 -> KCl + MnCl2 + Cl2 + H2O

[norswap]

Most drinking water in the US reeks of chlorine. Feels like drinking pool water to me.

[Jaruzel]

The chlorine in water will evaporate into the air if left in an open container; Pour yourself a glass of water, and let it stand for 30-60 minutes. It should then taste a LOT less Chlorine-y. Even in a sealed container you shouldn't be able to taste it after about 3 days. This is why water from a mains pipe tastes of chlorine, but the same water pumped into a water tank (for heating etc), doesn't.

[ollie87]

In my house if you leave a glass of water on the side a cat will jump up and start drinking it/playing with it.

I use a Brita filter instead.

[Jaruzel]

Brita filter for the win. We do too, and then we boil it, then use it for tea/coffee and cooking.

For cold drinks; bottled water. We go through a ton of it.

The joys of living in London (UK) and it's crappy water :(

[Ntrails]

The water is completely fine here. I'd not blame anyone for using a brita filter or something to save the kettle - but you're just throwing away water and energy on bottled water...

[noir_lord]

I'm up in Yorkshire, our water is so hard it beats up the kettle, pipes, taps and washing machines on the way through.

[logfromblammo]

YM2: Our water is so hard, it beats up little old ladies for their grocery money.

YM3: Our water is so hard, it beats up the cops that come 'round to take the report from the little old lady.

YM4: Our water is so hard, I once got arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, by a bunch of beaten-up cops, for holdin' a hose in me own garden.

YM1: I used to carry a chisel round in my pocket, in case I got thirsty.

YM2: I once forgot my chisel, had a drink anyway, and broke all my teeth off.

YM3: We only 'ad one chisel for all of us, and we had to trade it off between the kitchen faucet, and breaking up the toilet water into pieces small enough to flush.

YM4: We had to rent our chisel, and on days when we couldn't afford it, we had to follow cops around and drink their broken-off teeth when they got beaten up.

All: Aye, but we were 'appy in those days....

[senorjazz]

I used to live in Leeds and used the water for a few gardening projects were the PH of the water was very important so was also testing it, it was always perfect, never had to modify.

Now, when I lived in Hull, terrible water

[omegaham]

Water softeners are pretty cheap these days, although the water still tastes funny afterward.

[joncrocks]

It's hard water, yes, but otherwise OK.

Having lived in London most of my life, and spent a few years in the US (MI), I can tell you we've got it good. I used to use bottled water in the US as I didn't enjoy drinking chlorine flavour/smelling water...

[maxerickson]

I'd be pretty reluctant to drink that water, but the article makes it clear enough that it isn't going to be a persistent situation.