Jay:

In a previous life I was a chemistry major, and in fact went to graduate
school and worked as an chemist before moving on.

Your premise regarding the alka seltzer doesn't make much sense chemically.
In fact, the addition of the ethanol may increase the solubility of water in
the mix, since it is more polar than the normal hydrocarbons contained in
gasoline. However, it's been a long time, but if I find some Alka Seltzer we
can try it in my lab.

JN