Why did Epstein order soo fucking much Sulfuric Acid? Joe Rogan tried to gaslight its for desalting.. But I beg the difference.. Not that quantity, and why at that time...?
In 2018, federal authorities in the Southern District of New York were building the case that ultimately led to Epstein’s arrest in July 2019. Orders placed during this period naturally attract scrutiny because investigators often examine whether subjects changed behaviors, acquired unusual materials, or altered infrastructure.
The timing is considered “interesting” because the sulfuric acid order reportedly occurred
around the same period federal investigators were re-examining or escalating their case against Jeffrey Epstein,
the acid order was listed alongside reverse-osmosis system components such as probes and sensors, which is consistent with legitimate desalination maintenance. This creates ambiguity.
Sulfuric acid is used in desalination plants to prevent scaling and protect membranes, but it does not remove salt itself—the actual desalination is performed by physical separation methods like reverse osmosis.
330 US gallons = 1,249 liters (exactly 1,249.2 L).
Now, how much seawater that could treat depends on the dosing rate.
Industrial sulfuric acid is typically ~98% and has a density of about
1.84 kg per liter, so:
1,249 L × 1.84 kg/L = 2,298 kg of sulfuric acid
=
2,298,000 grams
=
2,298,000,000 mg
Water treatment capacity based on typical desalination dosing
Typical dosing:
0.5 to 5 mg per liter of seawater
At 0.5 mg/L (very efficient dosing):
2,298,000,000 mg ÷ 0.5 mg/L =
4,596,000,000 liters of water
=
4.6 billion liters
At 5 mg/L (conservative dosing):
2,298,000,000 mg ÷ 5 mg/L =
459,600,000 liters
=
460 million liters
Practical real-world equivalent
460 million to 4.6 billion liters equals:
- 460,000 to 4,600,000 cubic meters
- Enough drinking water for roughly 6,000 to 60,000 people for an entire year
(based on ~200 L per person per day total usage)
Bottom line
330 gallons of sulfuric acid could support desalination of roughly 460 million to 4.6 billion liters of seawater, depending on dosing efficiency.
Yes — for “a tiny island with only a couple of households,”
330 gallons every two years would be wildly disproportionate if it’s only for desalination pretreatment.
Let’s quantify it.
You have:
330 US gallons ≈ 1,249 liters of concentrated (~98%) sulfuric acid
≈
2,298 kg of acid
Even using the
high dosing rate (5 mg/L):
2,298,000,000 mg ÷ 5 mg/L ≈
460 million liters of seawater treated
Now compare that to realistic household demand.
Assume:
• 4 households
• 3 people per household
• 150–200 liters per person per day
That’s roughly:
12 people × 200 L/day =
2,400 L/day
Per year:
2,400 × 365 ≈
876,000 liters
Over two years:
≈
1.75 million liters
Now compare:
Acid supply capacity at conservative dosing:
460 million liters
Island need over 2 years:
~1.75 million liters
That’s a difference of about
260× more acid than necessary.
If dosing were 1 mg/L (common), the mismatch becomes over
1,000× too much.
So yes — strictly from an engineering standpoint,
that volume makes no sense for a micro-scale desalination system serving only a few homes.
For a setup that small, acid usage would likely be:
• Measured in tens of liters per year
• Possibly replaced by cartridge antiscalants instead
• Or even not required at all depending on source water chemistry
The only ways 330 gallons might make sense:
• It’s servicing a much larger facility (hotel, military site, industrial use)
• It’s shared storage for multiple years beyond two
• It’s being used for other industrial or cleaning purposes
• It’s not actually for desalination
But for “a couple of households every two years”?
Technically speaking — that volume is grossly oversized.
Yes — for a very small desalination plant serving only a few households,
smaller containers are the normal and rational choice, not large drums or bulk storage.
Here’s how scale typically determines container size:
Micro-scale systems (homes, small islands, boats)
Typical acid use:
5 to 50 liters per year
Common container sizes:
- 5-liter containers
- 10-liter containers
- 20-liter containers (most common)
- Occasionally 25-liter jerrycans
These are easier to:
- Handle safely
- Store securely
- Replace before contamination
- Avoid excess hazardous inventory
Buying 1,249 liters would represent
decades of supply at that scale.
Small commercial systems (small hotels, communities)
Typical use:
50 to 500 liters per year
Common containers:
- 20-liter containers
- 200-liter drums (only when justified)
Drums start to make sense when consumption is steady and predictable.
Large municipal or industrial plants
Typical use:
thousands to millions of liters per year
Common storage:
- 200-liter drums
- 1,000-liter IBC tanks
- Bulk tanker deliveries
- Permanent storage tanks
Why oversizing is avoided
Large excess storage creates real disadvantages:
Safety risk
Sulfuric acid is highly corrosive and dangerous
Regulatory burden
Many jurisdictions require permits above certain volumes
Material degradation risk
More exposure time increases contamination or dilution risk
Cost inefficiency
Capital tied up in unused chemicals
Handling difficulty
Large drums require special equipment
Engineering reality for “a couple households”
A rational setup would typically keep:
20 to 100 liters on site maximum
Possibly less if supply access is easy.
Anything near
1,249 liters is industrial-scale storage, not residential-scale support.
Bottom line
For a micro desalination system serving a few homes, buying sulfuric acid in small containers (5–25 liters) is standard practice, and storing drum-level volumes would be operationally unnecessary and atypical.