acid flush disposal question

[Jim Booth]

My A4 runs at about 180 once it warms up, which it does pretty quickly. I'm thinking of doing the acid flush since I'll be adding a T to do the winterizing anyway. Can I do the acid flush with the boat in the water? The description is a little vague about whether you have to catch the outflow in a bucket for disposal or not. It seems it would only change the pH of the lake/harbor a little in a small region for a short time, but shouldn't be pollution problem. What's the general practice?

Thanks,
Jim Booth

[Don Moyer]

Jim,

The "household variety" of acid we recommend in our acid flushing procedure is very diluted. It starts out being a 30% concentration and we then mix it with almost 5 gallons of water, so that by the time it reacts with the crud in the engine and exhaust system and gets discharged, it is neutralized to the point that it would not likely affect the chemistry of the outside water in any measurable way. That being said, you should always comply with any local regulations that spell out what can and cannot be discharged in your local waters.

Don