[mabrungard]

Other things that will degrade the solution:

-Residual alkaline detergents.  The Iodine complex and the Iodophor concentrate are acidic solutions.  Mixing into any water that has residual alkaline detergent will neutralize the solution.  I've run into people that have had issues running Iodophor through plate/counterflow chillers where there was residual alkaline detergent remaining in the system and it neutralizes the Iodophor solution.

Interesting. So if alkaline cleaners tend to neutralize iodophor solutions, it therefore suggests that highly alkaline water supplies might take a bit more of the concentrate than low alkalinity water such as rainwater, RO, or distilled? This also suggests that we can neutralize excess alkalinity in our water supply in order to make our iodophor solutions more effective.

If that's the case, the Water Acidification calculator in Bru'n Water does make it easier to figure out what a brewer's acid dose needs to be in order to neutralize most or all the water supply's alkalinity.

[denny]

Is Craftmeister Oxygen Brewery Wash considered alkaline?

I didn’t notice if you addressed spraying an Iodophor solution onto a surface.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes, Craft Meister Oxygen Brewery Wash is alkaline in solution.  In addition to the sodium percarbonate (the oxygen release chemistry), we blend in sodium metasilicate, a non-caustic alkaline agent, into the powder.  The alkaline pH promotes the break down of proteins and organic materials.

Spraying an Iodophor solution for spot sanitizing is effective, just make completely sure you hit every surface you are sanitizing.  I've heard of cellar employees at breweries keeping spray bottles of Iodophor in a holster, ready for action!

I stand corrected and will refrain from further speculation.

[denny]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

FWIW, I have been pouring mixed, active Iodophor (and StarSan) dow n the drain into myseptic system for many years without problem.  Considering that the amount I add is meant for 5 gal. And the septic system is hundreds of gal., the solution is so dilute thay it causes no problems.  Maybe your septic system is different.

[mainebrewer]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?

Same here. I've brewed 5 gal batches pretty much every 2 weeks for the past 16 years. I routinely mix up 2 gals of the sanitizer du jour (iodophor, saniclean/starsan) and at the end of the brew session pour it down the drain into my septic system. There have been no discernable negative effects as a result.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

FWIW, I have been pouring mixed, active Iodophor (and StarSan) dow n the drain into myseptic system for many years without problem.  Considering that the amount I add is meant for 5 gal. And the septic system is hundreds of gal., the solution is so dilute thay it causes no problems.  Maybe your septic system is different.

[BrewBama]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

FWIW, I have been pouring mixed, active Iodophor (and StarSan) dow n the drain into myseptic system for many years without problem.  Considering that the amount I add is meant for 5 gal. And the septic system is hundreds of gal., the solution is so dilute thay it causes no problems.  Maybe your septic system is different.

No, mine is hundreds of gallons as well. I just hate to knowingly add a substance that could kill my bio balance. Now knowing it could simply be water after 24 hours I could simply add more Iodophor to the same bucket and not pour it down the drain at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Robert]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

FWIW, I have been pouring mixed, active Iodophor (and StarSan) dow n the drain into myseptic system for many years without problem.  Considering that the amount I add is meant for 5 gal. And the septic system is hundreds of gal., the solution is so dilute thay it causes no problems.  Maybe your septic system is different.

No, mine is hundreds of gallons as well. I just hate to knowingly add a substance that could kill my bio balance. Now knowing it could simply be water after 24 hours I could simply add more Iodophor to the same bucket and not pour it down the drain at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It wouldn't be just water, it just wouldn't have iodine.  It would still contain the acids, surfactants and other ingredients that work with the iodine, so just adding more iodophor concentrate, I suspect,  would result in the wrong balance.  It's cheap, why not just dump it?

[BrewBama]

Good point. I use very little to make a solution


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[Craft Meister]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere and you are clear to dump that water into your septic.  The worst thing you could do is dump a bottle of Iodophor concentrate into your septic, that would be bad. 

[Craft Meister]

Is Craftmeister Oxygen Brewery Wash considered alkaline?

I didn’t notice if you addressed spraying an Iodophor solution onto a surface.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes, Craft Meister Oxygen Brewery Wash is alkaline in solution.  In addition to the sodium percarbonate (the oxygen release chemistry), we blend in sodium metasilicate, a non-caustic alkaline agent, into the powder.  The alkaline pH promotes the break down of proteins and organic materials.

Spraying an Iodophor solution for spot sanitizing is effective, just make completely sure you hit every surface you are sanitizing.  I've heard of cellar employees at breweries keeping spray bottles of Iodophor in a holster, ready for action!

I stand corrected and will refrain from further speculation.

It is confusing, a bit, on our part to have two types of cleaners.  Both the Oxygen and the Alkaline Brewery Wash have an alkaline pH in solution, the difference is the Oxygen wash has sodium percarbonate for the “oxi clean” effect and the Alkaline Wash doesn’t.  The advantage to the Alakline Wash is that without percarbonate, Alkaline Wash can be used in cold water, whereas hot water is required to dissolve and activate percarbonate.

[Robert]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere and you are clear to dump that water into your septic.  The worst thing you could do is dump a bottle of Iodophor concentrate into your septic, that would be bad.

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere

Really just water?  Surely there are other ingredients that remain?  These would affect any possible use of the water other than dumping it down the drain, right? 

[Craft Meister]

Other things that will degrade the solution:

-Residual alkaline detergents.  The Iodine complex and the Iodophor concentrate are acidic solutions.  Mixing into any water that has residual alkaline detergent will neutralize the solution.  I've run into people that have had issues running Iodophor through plate/counterflow chillers where there was residual alkaline detergent remaining in the system and it neutralizes the Iodophor solution.

Interesting. So if alkaline cleaners tend to neutralize iodophor solutions, it therefore suggests that highly alkaline water supplies might take a bit more of the concentrate than low alkalinity water such as rainwater, RO, or distilled? This also suggests that we can neutralize excess alkalinity in our water supply in order to make our iodophor solutions more effective.

If that's the case, the Water Acidification calculator in Bru'n Water does make it easier to figure out what a brewer's acid dose needs to be in order to neutralize most or all the water supply's alkalinity.

Marty, this is an excellent question.  I will dig into specific water pH thresholds where Iodophor solutions become difficult to maintain.  We did develop the product in Winona, MN, which has tremendously hard water right on the Mississippi River - however hardness and pH are slightly different discussions.  I recall a client that had municipal water coming out at a pH of 9 that had difficulty mixing Iodophor solutions.

With an RO system at home myself, I usually use my RO water for small batches of Iodophor solutions when I brew. 

I will run this up the chain to Dr. Landman, the developer of the product, for his input and post back with a more specific answer.

[Craft Meister]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere and you are clear to dump that water into your septic.  The worst thing you could do is dump a bottle of Iodophor concentrate into your septic, that would be bad.

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere

Really just water?  Surely there are other ingredients that remain?  These would affect any possible use of the water other than dumping it down the drain, right?

For the purposes of disposing of spent solution, I would consider it just water (free of Iodine).  I wouldn’t personally use it for anything else other than dumping it down the drain.  This is why I make very small volumes of solution at a time - 1 tsp of concentrate for 1.5 gallons of water will do the trick for just about anything for home brewing related.

[Robert]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere and you are clear to dump that water into your septic.  The worst thing you could do is dump a bottle of Iodophor concentrate into your septic, that would be bad.

Valid concern, however, once it is clear water it’s just that - water.  The Iodine has returned to gas in the atmosphere

Really just water?  Surely there are other ingredients that remain?  These would affect any possible use of the water other than dumping it down the drain, right?

For the purposes of disposing of spent solution, I would consider it just water (free of Iodine).  I wouldn’t personally use it for anything else other than dumping it down the drain.  This is why I make very small volumes of solution at a time - 1 tsp of concentrate for 1.5 gallons of water will do the trick for just about anything for home brewing related.

Thanks for the clarification.

[goose]

“Typically the Iodine mixed into solution will gas back into the atmosphere in roughly 12-24 hours, turning back to clear water.”

How should this ‘water’ be disposed of after the 12-24 hr off gassing?  I don’t dare pour an Iodophor solution down the drain lest it kill my biological balance in my septic system but can this ‘water’ be poured into a septic system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

FWIW, I have been pouring mixed, active Iodophor (and StarSan) dow n the drain into my septic system for many years without problem.  Considering that the amount I add is meant for 5 gal. And the septic system is hundreds of gal., the solution is so dilute thay it causes no problems.  Maybe your septic system is different.

No, mine is hundreds of gallons as well. I just hate to knowingly add a substance that could kill my bio balance. Now knowing it could simply be water after 24 hours I could simply add more Iodophor to the same bucket and not pour it down the drain at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It wouldn't be just water, it just wouldn't have iodine.  It would still contain the acids, surfactants and other ingredients that work with the iodine, so just adding more iodophor concentrate, I suspect,  would result in the wrong balance.  It's cheap, why not just dump it?

Back when i first started brewing (back in the dark ages ), I kept Iodophor in a closed keg before I knew all the particulars of the product.  When it turned clear, I just dumped some more concentrate into the keg.  The beers started tasting like crap using this method since I used that same keg for the batch of beer.  I stopped doing that and started making up a new solution every time I needed it since, as Rob said, it's cheap.  Problem solved.  I now use SaniClean for sanitizing because it doesn't foam and will keep for a month or two when mixed with R.O. water (I keep it in a Gott Cooler and check the pH of it every time I brew) (apologies to Craft Meister).

I also just dumped it down the drain to my septic system, along with other cleaning and sanitizing products and have not seen any adverse impact.

Thanks for all of the input from Craft Meister!

[lupulus]

@ Jonathan - thanks for taking the time
@ Denny - thanks for finding Jonathan
Glad to get confirmation of what I once knew.