Effects of Ammonia & Muriatic Acid in Water
Ammonia and muriatic acid are common household chemicals. Ammonia is typically used as a cleaning agent and muriatic acid lowers the pH of swimming pools and hot tubs. When mixed, they produce an acid-base reaction.
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pH
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The pH of a water-based solution indicates whether the solution is acidic, basic or neutral. The scale runs from 1 to 14, where 7 is neutral, less than 7 is acidic and greater than 7 is basic.
Ammonia
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The ammonia purchased in stores as a cleaning agent is not “pure” ammonia. Pure ammonia (chemical formula: NH?) is a gas at room temperature and pressure. The cleaning solutions actually contain ammonia dissolved is water, more commonly called “ammonium hydroxide,” or NH?OH. It is a strongly alkaline solution (pH greater than 7), or what chemists refer to as a “base.”
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Muriatic Acid
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Muriatic acid is the common name of hydrochloric acid (chemical formula: HCl). As its name implies, it is acidic (pH less than 7).
Acid-Base Chemistry
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The mixing of acids and bases results in neutralization, which produces a salt and water. In this particular case, NH?OH + HCl ? NH?Cl + H?O<br /><br />The products of this reaction are neutral, meaning they are neither acidic nor basic. The resulting solution will only be pH neutral, however, if the ammonia and muriatic acid have been mixed in the proper proportions. After mixing, the solution should be tested with pH test paper to verify whether it is neutral.
Caution
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Mixing muriatic acid and ammonia is not particularly dangerous, but muriatic acid should not be confused with sodium hypochlorite (the active ingredient in bleach). Mixing ammonia with bleach produces chloramine, a severe respiratory irritant.
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