Cannot get 55g Barrels Clean (Smell)

What does it smell like? Maybe completely fill the barrel let it sit for a few days or a week. Then drain 》smell 》repeat?

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Oh boy... after reading this I'm wondering what I just got myself into as well. I happened upon some inexpensive previously used foodsafe lemonade concentrate barrels. I got them sitting on the porch full at the moment with a 1:9 bleach soak. My plan was just too disinfect the mold/ mildew inside from them sitting in the sun with the little residual concentrate amounts remaining. At least it still smelled like lemons ... well until the anticipated and now hopefully bleach smell. I plan on draining them tomorrow and then air drying for the week.

For those of you who use these polypropylene barrles, do you just use the small 3" screw openings to add your salt or have you come up with some other fashioning for a larger resealable opening. If so please share because i would love to be able to get inside these and put a little elbow grease into the cleaning.

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Ditch them and invest in better water storage containers. Brute cans are fine. Poly tanks are better. If you are buying used barrels they need to be food grade and have contained food product. Muriatic acid is a good way to get them clean, but, you shouldn't be mixing chemicals.

Pickle barrels are the best if you can find them since they are mostly vinegar already. That said, I love my ace roto mold tanks with large ~14" openings. I highly recommend going that route.
 
What does it smell like? Maybe completely fill the barrel let it sit for a few days or a week. Then drain 》smell 》repeat?

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hard to describe the smell... :/

I'm going to clean the threads of the bungs, I just realized I never cleaned THAT so maybe I'm smelling residue?
 
Ditch them and invest in better water storage containers. Brute cans are fine. Poly tanks are better. If you are buying used barrels they need to be food grade and have contained food product. Muriatic acid is a good way to get them clean, but, you shouldn't be mixing chemicals.

Pickle barrels are the best if you can find them since they are mostly vinegar already. That said, I love my ace roto mold tanks with large ~14" openings. I highly recommend going that route.

My brute cans keep inviting all sorts of unwanted particles. Never going Brute again.
 
...my brute garbage cans are obviously not keeping the water completely isolated.

Stuff making it past the lid into the can? I can't see that being an issue. any amount that would cause concern would be a health problem long before a water problem.




They said it was laundry detergent,..However it was formic acid.

...Just for safety sake I filled it up with bleach...

However, there's still a noxious smell that also burns...

I have no suggestions for fixing the cans. I've left your quote as a cautionary tale. a slightly funny cautionary tale.

Good luck.
 
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Reporting back, both of my barrels are clean and appear to be in ready working order.

This is what I have and did. I have food grade 55g barrels previously used for lemonade concentrate. First I simply gave them a quick rinse, maybe a gallon inside slosh around and emptied. Then i filled barrel one with 5.5g of straight bleach. Then I topped it with tap water and sealed back both plugs. I rocked the container really good for about a minute. Then again about a few more times maybe 4x over the next several hours. I let it sit capped for 24hrs soaking. Next day I opened barrel number 2 and gave it the same 1g rinse. This time I added 2g straight bleach in it (this was to help add potency back). I then transfered the fluid from barrel 1 til topped via pump. Capped and let barrel2 sit 24hrs and rinsed barrel 1 with tap water about 3x and left upside down and vented to do my initial air drying. I now have barrel2 emptied and drying as well and have moved barrel1 into my garage to ensure complete air drying over the next week uncapped despite no longer having any lemon or bleach smell. Ill be moving barrel 2 into the garage as well tomorrow to do the same.

Hope that helps!


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