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Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

cdc.gov

61–70 of 99 posts

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#62

This is great, but what happens to the sachets? Are the biodegradable? When I was in India a few years ago I was struck by all the newly introduced non biodegradable packing strewn about EVERYWHERE. The old unfired clay cups used by road-side tea vendors were great, but they were rapidly being replaced by little white plastic cups. Plastic is a scourge on the land and water resources.

I wonder how long it'll take for a plastic-eating microorganism to evolve. Apparently trees evolved hundreds of millions of years before the bacteria that can make wood rot arrived, so you probably had piles of dead trees everywhere for such a long time.

how did new trees grow when the ground was covered in piles of dead trees?

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#63
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how long it'll take for a plastic-eating microorganism to evolve. Apparently trees evolved hundreds of millions of years before the bacteria that can make wood rot arrived, so you probably had piles of dead trees everywhere for such a long time.

how did new trees grow when the ground was covered in piles of dead trees?

Trees are capable of growing in and on other trees. Also, most of the tree comes from air, not the ground.

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#64
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how long it'll take for a plastic-eating microorganism to evolve. Apparently trees evolved hundreds of millions of years before the bacteria that can make wood rot arrived, so you probably had piles of dead trees everywhere for such a long time.

how did new trees grow when the ground was covered in piles of dead trees?

I’m no ancient tree expert, but I imagine they’d eventually be buried under layers of new soil, washed away, or be swept along with geological movements

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#65
post #63
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how did new trees grow when the ground was covered in piles of dead trees?

Trees are capable of growing in and on other trees. Also, most of the tree comes from air, not the ground.

Do you happen to know what percentage of trees are from CO2 and what from the soil? I’ve always wondered how much carbon is captured in, say, a book, or a dresser

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#67

3.5 cents per sachet seems very expensive in bulk. A sachet probably only contains a gram or so, meaning these ingredients are being sold at $35/kilo. $3/kilo sounds far more reasonable, and it should be sold in 1kg containers and users instructed to use a teaspoon per large bucket.

$0.035 to clean 10 liters of water is very good. $35/kilo doesn't seem unreasonable given that chlorine itself is $16-$22 a kilo through consumer stores.

Given that these are pretty gnarly chemicals in bulk, I don't think you want users handling them. Training users on PPE and procedure and supplying the PPE is a whole mess.

I have no idea where you got $3 from.

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#68
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trees are capable of growing in and on other trees. Also, most of the tree comes from air, not the ground.

Do you happen to know what percentage of trees are from CO2 and what from the soil? I’ve always wondered how much carbon is captured in, say, a book, or a dresser

I don’t know the exact number, but came across a wild thought experiment a while ago that drove it home. Look at a big tree. There’s 3 things that could have gone into making it: water, air, and earth. If you look at the ground around it, there’s no hole where the tree grew. Sure, there’s the root system, but there’s nowhere near enough dirt missing to have made both the root system and the 50’ above-ground portion of the tree. That only leaves air and water.

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#70
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trees are capable of growing in and on other trees. Also, most of the tree comes from air, not the ground.

Do you happen to know what percentage of trees are from CO2 and what from the soil? I’ve always wondered how much carbon is captured in, say, a book, or a dresser

Dry wood is about 50% carbon, 41% oxygen, 6% hydrogen, and 3% trace minerals, so it's probably safe to say that over 50% of it comes from CO2, and the rest from water and soil.
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