Sciencemadness Discussion Board

saving water

chemrox - 23-3-2010 at 12:58

If you haven't already done this- find some little plastic balls-air filled-and put them in your rotary evaporator bath. It's like a swimming pool cover- it has reduced evaporation in my lab by over 90%. They move out of the way to accommodate the flask and fill the top when you're done.

hissingnoise - 23-3-2010 at 14:35

Is water very expensive where you live, chemrox?

not_important - 23-3-2010 at 18:55

Cutting down on evaporation increases the time between refills of the bath. I swear that in the winter the contents of a hot water batch just up and walks out of the room.

BromicAcid - 23-3-2010 at 19:23

Not to mention that it decreases the amount of scale you get in the bath. If you use DI water you avoid this but usually you just use tap so you get that white film on everything after some time. At least this can be a problem for the large rotovaps where draining the bath is a pain in the rear.

JohnWW - 23-3-2010 at 19:28

In my part of New Zealand, right now water is in short supply due to an unprecedented summer drought! So we are looking out for ways to save the stuff. It is still as HOT and dry here as at any time during summer, and long-term forecasts are that it will not get appreciably cooler or wetter until the end of April.

Phosphor-ing - 24-3-2010 at 03:50

what like ping pong balls?