Question about Waller Water chemistry.

Having made Waller Water a few days ago, I have an observation that I'm trying to understand. When the reaction first occurred, the sides of the soda water bottle caved in a bit as the magnesium bicarbonate formed. Now it's been a few days, I've used some of the concentrated Waller Water, and about 2/3 of it remains sealed in the soda water bottle. Over that time, I've noticed that the pressure in the bottle has slowly increased, so there is once again a great deal of pressure inside. No precipitate has formed however.

My question:
Does the increased pressure mean that some of the carbon is, by some mechanism, returning to it's pre-reaction state? If so, what is happening to the Mg? If not, what is happening?

Nick - that's common. The solution you've made of the concentrate is still fine. That's the way it works.

from the pdf file Hans referenced:

You may note that the sides of the bottle “cave in” when the liquid clears. This is a sign that the reaction is complete.[i/]

[www.afibbers.org]

Jackie

Since they're using Mg(OH)2 + (CO2)2 this way:
[cat.inist.fr], & it gives off energy, it is not reversible ("It was found that the reaction rate between magnesium hydroxide and CO2 follows a first-order reaction, and the activation energy was calculated to be 7700 cal/mol").

My guess is that you didn't put enough Mg(OH)2 to react with all the CO2 in the bottle since you didn't see any sediment at the bottom. After a while the unreacted CO2 comes out of solution.

Jackie,

I think you may have misunderstood my question (or did I misunderstand your reply?). I'm asking not about the initial "cave in", but the subsequent *reversal* that I've observed over the next few days.

Yes - Nick - I blew right by that. Sorry. Regardless, you're still getting benefit from the 'brew' that you did concoct. I've made many batches and some don't precipitate out and others do... in the end, they all seem to eventually go back into solution - mostly. I've made some batches that still have the crystals on the bottom, but not lately. I use the same measuring device and usually the same seltzer water.... some batches just react differently in the bottle; but definitely help in my body!

Jackie

Jackie and Nick,

Just to be on the safe side I always transfer my Waller water concentrate to a glass bottle (an old, but clean apple juice bottle) and store it in that in the refrigerator. You never know what leaches out of plastic bottles these days!

Hans

Hi Nick,

First, I'm very pleased that you were able to conquer those difficulties -- and so quickly (seven hours!). When you wrote about WW that you were "drinking it at half the concentration specified in the recipe", did you mean that you diluted the 'concentrate' with twice the amount of water specified? If so, I'm doubly impressed, and am wondering how such a small amount of Mg could be so helpful (only about 60 mg per liter!). Perhaps the alkalinity of the water has had much to do with your success? In any case, recall PC's comment about WW being a 'three-for': Mg, alkalinity, hydration. He also cautions against 'alkalosis', but that has not resulted for me -- WW has been my only drinking and cooking water for over 6 years, also my main magnesium 'supplement'.
I don't think the reaction can go backwards in the bottle, but I'm not a chemist (WW developed from basic college inorganic chemistry for engineers, plus trial and error). I've also experienced the bottle swelling a bit after pouring out some of the concentrate and recapping the bottle, most likely because the liquid, and the air above, warms and expands.

Stay well!

Erling

Erling,

Yes, I think the argument that it was the alkalinity at least as much as the Mg is a really strong possibility. I'll do some experiments so see if I can untangle the causes of my happy success.

Nick

Oh, and I forget to reply: yes, the solution is twice as diluted as specified in the recipe for Waller Water.

To everyone and Sam who asked a question about MOM.

In Australia MOM doesn't seem obtainable in pharmacists so I tried pure magnesium hydroxide which seems to work fine.

Any comments on this or am I the only one who tried this method ?

Thanks

Alex

So, if you use Waller Water, that should be your main source of magnesium? Sharon

No, Alex , you're not alone- we've had a couple other posters who used the plain magnesium hydroxide powder and it worked the same way. We also tried that in when we made the initial batches of WW. The liquid Milk of Magnesia is easy to get here, but the powder offers a perfect option.

There in Australia, you can also buy the commercial magnesium water patented by Russell Beckett... Unique Water.



Sharon - some people use only the WW, but I add it to my regular drinking water as well and figure I don't have to take as many capsules a day that way.

Jackie