Live data from Hacker News

Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

cdc.gov

31–40 of 99 posts

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#31

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.

"By 1kg bucket" sounds good but it is probably very unstable outside of the sachet (hygroscopic, could dissociate, could clump up, etc)

(probably more than 1g per sachet, 4g as it says in the picture)

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#38

I worked as an extraction metallurgist in semi desert mines and we used an aluminium based flocculant (alum) to clarify water in dams with rotating stirrers. Quite an old concept and not expensive.

Yes - many years ago when I lived and worked in South Asia, it was common knowledge that swishing a lump of alum around in your bucket of dirty water would help to settle the sediment.

Obviously it doesn't provide total purity, but it was a lot better than doing nothing.

Apparently even the ancient Egyptians knew about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_alum#In_antiquity

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#39
Great idea. What are the sachets made of though? Lined with plastic and destined to be burned on cooking fires and ditches along with all the other single use, single serving P&G product plastic packaging formats targeted at the developing world I'd wager.

Re: Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder

#40
post #29

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.

There seem to be two main use cases for this stuff. One is everyday disinfection of drinking water. For that purpose a large container might be more economical, provided that it can be kept reasonably watertight through three years of daily use. (1 gram per day per family means a 1kg container will last 2-3 years.) The other is emergency use in disaster zones for a limited amount of time. For this purpose a bunch of…

At least for sodium hypochlorite in solution it loses its disinfection properties quickly as I understand it.

I wonder if it would have to stay in the packets or smaller containers to maintain its efficacy?

Post reply on HN