Thanks on the info about the acid burn. First time hearing it though it does make sense. Double bonus with it disinfecting at the same time!
One of my first factory gigs was making a way to keep plastic bottles of cleaning supplies and automotive fluid from sucking in the bottles if they sat on retail shelves too long. One of several ways we tried was the acid burn to help move the surface molecules closer together. We eventually went with a process that worked much better but deadly hazardous and way beyond what a DIY person could ever do. But the acid wash helped to a measurable degree. It also hardens the plastic a tiny bit, so that plastic taste isn't as pronounced. And it sanitizes as well in a food safe way.
I trust that is so. But I don't see the need for it. Potable water doesn't turn to undrinkable very quickly, just because you didn't add the CDC recommended dose. I'm a little more invested in keeping the micro biome healthy in my gut, than making sure the water doesn't taste "green" or off. I don't like drinking water that has any kind of chlorine smell/taste.
With as thick as the Jerry cans are, in a cool spot, I suspect the bleach would last quite a bit longer. I do have a larger container that I keep mainly for washing water. I added a small amount of bleach to it, but as it sits on the basement floor, and is dark plastic; the bleach lasts awhile. IIRC it was about 3 years later when I opened it to check, and I could still smell it.
For my own drinking water, I'll leave it 6 months before dumping it and refilling with fresh. Probably be more like 3 for better water, but likely as of right now, longer than 6 months.
I'd just dump it rather than expend energy looking for a place to use it. It'll head back to an aquifer in time, and in the grand scheme of my water usage, it wouldn't amount to much.
Thickness of the container doesn't change the degradation rate. Chlorine is energetic and if not locked in a stable formula it will fall apart. Once it was diluted and put in the store jug the process started. If a store bought a bottle of Clorox and it didn't sell for a year it would end up as salty water without ever being bought and opened.
A healthy biome includes small amounts of chlorine. Chlorides are absolutely necessary to contraction of muscles. Because your body uses it, you have to metabolize it. Ergo, you have internal processes to deal with minor excess.
If you ever have a mixed drink in a bar, the very last step the bartender does when washing his glasses is dip them into a diluted bleach bath.
When you intake salt your body splits it and you end up with small amounts for free chlorides going through your system.
The diluted amount recommended by the CDC bears in mind natural body processes.
Am I not always talking about toxins risks around here? So I'm not casual about the bleach additive either. When asked how to treat the water a few posts back, I rounded the amount down. It's just my habit to be mindful of toxin risks. But I'm also worried about the many thousands of kinds of mold and algae too. Most perfectly harmless, but some truly nasty. A water jug accidentally contaminated and left for years can turn into a large petri dish. A small extra amount of chlorine that your body is fully prepared to process so that growth is blocked is worth it in my opinion.
