[jklinck]

I've been acidifying my sparge water (RO) with very small lactic acid additions (0.1mL for 5 gallons). To get his small amount I have been putting 1mL in 5 cups of water and using a 1/2cup of the solution to achieve 0.1mL. Will keeping a lactic acid/water dilution like this for a while cause any issues (such as making the solution and then using it over a couple month period)?

I'm using Bru'n water calculations for my sparge water dilutions.

[bluesman]

It should be stable for long periods as long as you used distilled water for dilution and you store it cool.

Here's the MSDS.

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/l0522.htm

[mabrungard]

With an addition that small, do you really need it?

[denny]

With an addition that small, do you really need it?

Just what I was thinking.  How much difference could that addition really make?

[jklinck]

With an addition that small, do you really need it?

My pipette only measures in 1mL increments. So if the Bru'n water calculator says I need 1.3mL of lactic I can measure 1mL with the pipette and then use the dilution to get the other 0.3mL.

[mabrungard]

Oh, OK.  Makes sense now.

There is no problem with diluting the lactic acid.  Just be sure to use distilled water since tap water may have alkalinity that would consume some of the acid.  The diluted solution will have equivalent life.

[jklinck]

Oh, OK.  Makes sense now.

There is no problem with diluting the lactic acid.  Just be sure to use distilled water since tap water may have alkalinity that would consume some of the acid.  The diluted solution will have equivalent life.

Equivalent storage? My lactic doesn't have any date on it. Should I stote it at room temp. or in the refrigerator?

[Will's Swill]

Store the diluted solution in the fridge.  I did the same thing, but stored mine in a sealed container at room temp and I ended up with several nice mold cultures.  I actually started heating the sparge water before I noticed...