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It’s believed the Alexandra man mixed the chlorine and water in the wrong order, sparking a chemical reaction. Photo / Thinkstock
A Central Otago man has suffered a minor burn during a mishap mixing his swimming pool chemicals.
Fire crews were called to the Alexandra property this morning after reports of an explosion.
On arrival, emergency services found a man had suffered a minor burn.
Southern Fire and Emergency communication shift manager Andrew Norris said the man had been mixing the chemicals to clean his pool and got it wrong.
While it was still being investigated, Norris believed the man had likely put the chlorine into a vessel, possibly a bucket, before putting in the water.
If that happened, it would cause a chemical reaction, akin to a “boof”, and leave the person slightly injured.
“We’ve got somebody at home who has mixed some pool chemicals incorrectly, so they’ve had a bit of an oopsy.
“The chlorine reacts if you mix it wrong so he’s had a small chemical burn.”
He said incidents of people mixing their pool chemicals in the wrong order was quite common.
“It’s pretty common actually … you’ve got to put your chemicals in your water because it relies on a dilution process.
“If you put your water in your chemicals it can cause a reaction before you’ve got enough water in it.
“I’m pretty certain that is what he has done.”
Norris said ideally you would have a bucket of water and then put your chemicals in it otherwise the concentration is too strong, “and you end up with a problem”.
The man was being treated by St John Ambulance staff, and fire crews were tidying up the scene.
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