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Saltwater in milk jug for stock water tank
Posted by lc at 2015-02-26 21:35:38
I heard this but have never tried it. Take an empty gallon milk jug and fill it 1/2 to 2/3's full of salt water and put it in your stock water tank. The gallon jug should float and the water around it will freeze but the saltwater will not so animals can push the mild jug down to get a drink. Saltwater has a lower freezing temperature than potable water. The more salt that is added lowers the freeze temperature. Has anyone every heard of this or tried it? I expect my horses or mule would bite the cap off and contaminate the water hole. lol
Response by Vince Mautino at 2015-02-27 09:59:45
It would probably work where the temps are not real cold, but here, my entire 130 gallon tank would freeze solid. My mules tend to try to pull anything out of the tank.
I welded up a steel cage to captivate the floating tank heater and that cures the problem. The heaters that insert into the drain plug or the ones that sit on the bottom of the tank won't keep mine from freezing.
I learned a long time ago with a costly vet bill, that it doesn't pay to scrimp on keeping a tank clear so livestock can get water. One vet bill cost more than running a tank heater all winter.
Response by Dale Wagner at 2015-02-27 10:35:15
It is true that adding more salt to it lowers the freezing point but only to a certain point. More salt will then make it get hot.
Response by Flying G Ranch at 2015-02-27 18:08:04
Salt can only be added to the point that the salt water is 10.2 - 10.3 pounds per gallon. After that point the water is said to be "saturated" and the salt will fall out of solution and be on the bottom of the jug. 10.2 ppg salt water will actually freeze easier than say 9.9 ppg salt water, so there is no benefit in saturating it. 10.0 ppg salt water will freeze at about -8F. I say about because there are other factors involved (barometric pressure, elevation, direct sunlight, etc.) Not sure this really helps anybody, just had to comment when there was a topic I actually know something about.
Response by Klaus Karbaumer at 2015-02-27 20:55:41
Is "10.2-10.3 pounds" per gallon a typo? It seems like a lot of salt per gallon?
Response by Neal in Iowa at 2015-02-28 12:11:40
The 9.9 pounds per gallon is total weight of water and salt. Fresh water is about 8.34 ponds per gallon. So about 1.6 pounds of salt in one gallon to get to 9.9 ppg.

Neal
Response by Flying G Ranch at 2015-02-28 17:45:43
Neal is right. You ad salt until a gallon of water weighs about 9.9 lbs. That is about a frost free as you can get.

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