Water finding paste is a specialized product used to determine the presence and depth/level of water within petroleum, oil, and chemical storage tanks. In 1945, Joseph H. McCabe patented his McCabe Water Level Indicator Paste to assist in accurate inventory measurement of petroleum products.

With over 80 years of experience, McCabe has become known for its innovative products, including McCabe H2O Plus+ Water Level Indicator Paste.

How Do You Determine the Presence of Water?

Since water is heavier or denser than most oils, petroleum products, and petrochemicals, it will eventually settle to the bottom of a storage tank. It will also remain there unless agitated or removed. This water is referred to as “free water” since it is devoid of product and product contaminants.

Our original water-finding paste was designed to measure and find free water by a distinct color change of the paste from green to red when it came into contact with water.

The Advent of Reformulated Gasoline (RFG)

Most gasoline in the United States and certain other countries is blended with ethanol, a corn-based additive. It is technically referred to as E-10, E-15, and E-85. For example, E-10 would indicate a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline.

Unfortunately, the adage “oil and water do not mix” is no longer accurate. This is because the ethanol suspended in the gasoline has a stronger attraction to water than the gasoline itself. This attraction, referred to as a polar attraction, causes ethanol to bond with water and settle to the bottom of the tank.

This is no longer considered free water but a water/alcohol mixture. If enough water is introduced into the tank, it will eventually pull all the ethanol out of the suspension into the bottom of the tank with the water!

This conundrum led to redesigning our original water paste to our McCabe H2O Plus+ Water Level Indicator Paste. This improved version of our original water-finding paste has the added benefit of measuring water/alcohol bottoms in RFG. The advantage of our paste is that the color indicator shows the user different color reactions based on the water/alcohol concentration on the tank bottom.If predominately water, the reaction is a normal deep purple color change. After that, the color changes range from shades of purple/blue to off-white as the ethanol percentage in the water/alcohol bottom increases.

As a result, there is no need to stock or handle both an ethanol/modified water paste and a traditional water-finding paste, as McCabe H2O Plus+ Water Level Indicator Paste accomplishes the tasks of two pastes in one.

McCabe & Sons: Your Trusted Source of High-Quality Indicator Pastes

McCabe & Sons specializes in producing top-of-the-line indicator pastes that optimize the inventory management of petroleum products! With a long-standing reputation for excellence, we have gained a strong presence in multiple industries. These include fuel dealers, inspection sectors, petroleum terminals, pipeline companies, refining facilities, and barge and shipping industries.

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Get in touch with us today to learn more about our high-quality indicator pastes!