Jim Elbrecht wrote:

"Dave" wrote:

We have some kind of clearish, gel-like stuff growing in our drip line, and
I really don't think bleach is the best thing to be dumping in my yard.
Thinking if I just change the Ph a little for a while, like with vinegar or
maybe even a couple pots of (cooled) tea, it might eliminate the problem.
What do others use?


Just for fun, pour 1/2 cup bleach on some grass where it won't bother
you. Pour 1/2 cup vinegar on a nearby spot. I don't *know* what
will happen, but my money is on neither will kill the grass-- but I
think it is more likely that the vinegar will.

Chlorine kills real simple organisms like algae-- it isn't so bad for
more complex things like grass.

To be fair, the guy who works on our unit says he uses bleach every couple
months, but his drip line goes to the sewer and mine doesn't. My wife
mentioned the bleach idea to a building engineer where she works (40 story
block-wide building in downtown Houston) and he got really serious, saying
don't ever put chlorine bleacn in anything like a drip line. It will eat up
anything it comes in contact with. Now, I know that chlorine is highly
reactive, but is schedule 40 PVC really that fragile? If I had to I could
catch the drip for a couple days...

If what you have is PVC, the 'building engineer' is nuts. [or every
bottle of bleach would say 'don't use if your drain is PVC] If
there is rubber somewhere he *might* have a point, but I doubt it.

Agree. The real problem is if someone pours undiluted bleach into a
galvanized steel condensate pan, it will corrode and eat the galvanizing
(zinc) and start the pan rusting badly.