local barrels

[JNye]

i had a rare weekday off today and i was calling around and found reconditioned HDPE 55gal barrels for $28. New was $45. they also carry many other sizes but i did not get quotes. i can if we get some interest(they carry 5s,20s,30 gallons square and barrells) we may get a little discount too. They said the reconditioned was not food grade, but they clean these things professionally and since it is HDPE they do not absorb anything. They siad its more of a government regulation just to be safe. I feel comfortable using these. Does anyone know of a local source(no shipping) that is cheaper. would anyone be interested in trying to buy a quantity and try to get them a little cheaper. I looking at getting 1-55gallon barrel (RO storage), and possibly a square 30 for WCs too.

 

[Patterson117]

I'm interested. Probably 55g for ro/di storage. Thanks for checking around and letting us know.

 

[JNye]

quick update, i found some for FREE! waiting for an email, this guy is going to tell me what exactly he stores in them, he said corrosive chemicals, so i am hoping its mag, ca, or something dry like that, that is actually not a problem. not sure how i feel about experimenting with these on my reef, i could just pick a few up and throw some freshwater fish in one and see what happens?

 

[JNye]

another update, i talked to the guy and he said he has 4-8 a month. He's up by Wisconsin border but he said we can meet in the city. He uses them for brick washing(acid) not as bad as muratic acid but still strong stuff. He said he also has high dosage vinegar ones, still not ideal but may work. If someone can pickup in the city i would be willing to test a one out with guppies or whatever, i still think they should work. He has a job going by the art institute. these could also be used for rain barrels, keg, garbage cans, they are closed tops so Imay have to cut the tops off to get a bulkhead on in the bottom, but either way i am curious to experiment with these as the are FREE.

 

[Otto2]

I am downtown alot during the week, but I will have to make sure I can borrow a work truck to grab them.

 

[JNye]

Scott that is perfect, He said he'll be there Monday for sure, if we can't get them then we'll have other opportunities just not exactly sure when. If you can/want to do this Monday PM me and I'll call you and we'll work it out.
joe.

 

[Otto2]

I wont be going downtown on Monday with Presidents day, my customers have the day off. Probably wont know till Tuesday what days I will be headed down.

 

[pescadero]

thanks for posting this. i've been looking for local barrels too, though i haven't had much luck finding them. i'd like to get a 55g barrel and i'd be happy to do testing if that helps any. like you said, i think that HDPE would make them safe regardless of what's in them. with that said, i'd love to get my hands on anything, with an old vinegar barrel being preferred if one is available.

if its possible for me to leech my way into this deal, lemme know!

 

[JNye]

everyone is welcome as this guy is really nice, he just doesn't want them to go to waste. He said he goes thru 4-8 a month so there is plenty available if not now thenin the near future. I will keep this updated. Scott it sounds like you are willing to pick these up, as far as i know he has 4 or 5 available now. I want to get one for now and Pescadera want one and i imagine you want one too. I don't know how many you can carry in one trip but hopefully three, if not all 5, I'll be willing to take and store extra for people who may want them in the future. I'll be downtown on Tuesday around 4 pm, he does construction so I am not sure if this works for him, if I can get them then I will get as many as I can.

 

[Fuppets]

I could swap someone my truck for their car for a day in exchange for one or two of these. Couldn't we just full them up with ro di water and see what the TDs is. Compare the tds with the measurement from a container we know is clean?

 

[JNye]

TDS is not a safe way to check. Apparently you could dump a quart of oil in RO and still get TDS of zero. Though I know these are being used for acid(water soluble) and not oil based, I think. I wouldn't personally trust TDS.

 

[Fuppets]

I guess I can see that oil doesn't desolve in water.

 

[Glove]

I have found some good ole muiratic (spelled right) added TO THE barrels FILLED with water is a good way to clean about anything out....(dont add water to acid- add the acid to the water!!!!
maybe do a couple washes then just rinse em out w/ tap water real good.
I found some nice black ones labeled for glycol stuff, not sure that what was in therethough! Cleaned out this way with no probs. 1 gallon acid added to the almost full barrels. I let em cook in the hot summer sun and would shake em every day for a week then dumped the stuff out into the drive and repeated.

 

[pescadero]

i remember reading somewhere about how to remove leachates from plastic containers. there's actually an established method for how to do this. it involved a) acid washing, b) base washing, c) acid washing, and d) base washing.

the idea was that a strong acid would take out one class of chemicals left behind by the manufacturing process that might be leaching onto the plastic. there are some chemicals that acid won't help to remove -- like strong acids. using an acid to wash out an acid makes it less soluble than it would be in pure water or in a basic solution. so the second step is to do a base wash with something like sodium hydroxide/lye/liquid plumber. strong bases turn acids into soluble ions. then repeat teh whole process of an acid wash and another base wash, then a good rinse.

i wish i remembered exactly where i had seen the method, but IIRC it was at a site that manufactures plastic containers. it had a faq about how they remove residual chemicals (from the manufacturing process) from the containers before they get used for product storage.

so if these containers were used to hold acids, i'd start off with a base wash with some NaOH. then do a muriatic acid wash. then rince it out with baking soda to quench the acid with a mild/harmless base when you're done. then a final set of rinses with tap water and RODI water and you should be good to go.

 

[pescadero]

oh, i might add -- if you want to be environmentally friendly, its better to neutralize the gallon of acid that's in the 55 gallon drum before duping it out on the street.

36% muriatic acid is 10-molar hydrochloric acid. that's a really STRONG acid and that much acid can do a lot of damage when it hits the runoff, even when diluted. a gallon of that, even if diluted, is still a huge amount of environemntal poison.

i live across the street from a lake, and my street runoff goes right into the lake. if i dumped a gallon muriatic acid into the street, it would run right into the lake and kill a bunch of fish.

before dumping it, i'd neutralize the 10-Molar HCl with an equivalent amount of strong base, like NaOH, lye, or liquid plumber type of sodium hydroxide drain cleaner. you could even use a box of arm and hammer baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), or better yet, arm & hammer washing soda (sodium carbonate). it will neutralize twice as much acid. you can find it in the laundry aisle.

by neutralizing the acid with an equivalent amount of base like sodium hydroxide, you'll convert the muriatic acid into water and sodium chloride -- plain old table salt. instead of providing a huge negative environmental impact with an acid dump, you'll just be dumping out plain old saltwater. much better for the environment.

 

[JNye]

Glove-thats interesting you mention glycol, I forgot all about this but I have about 5-5gallon buckets i got about 2 years ago and simply washed them out, i got them from work and they were used to ship glycol. I am not sure but i think glycol is some sort of anti-freeze type liquid, at least that is its consistency/viscosity. They are plain old 5 gallon buckets, i don't even know if they are HDPE. I have had no issue with using them for 1 1/2 years now.

 

[Glove]

pescadero- I didnt think to much about dumping my mixture onto my drive because I am a few miles from any bodies of water (unless ya count the field that floods and gives me lake-front views once a year). I figured it wasnt much worse than a backwash on a pool and would help knock off some of the weeds and clean a few oil spots.

poo-tang- Glycol is a product that is found in many things and in a few different forms. It used in lots of things from toothpaste to the stuff you put in your radiator of your car- I dont think your supposed to consume it internally in any form, but I do know its used in lots of soaps, make-up, and stuff you wipe into your skin as well as putting in your radiator.

Sorry to jump the thread- just thought I would share my 2 cents on how I cleaned a couple barrels. I didnt know what or how to clean what-ever was in there out, so I just took a shot in the dark w/ the acid soak and rinse.

 

[Fuppets]

Any update on these? My truck is still available and I'm off today. I have to work tomorrow but could swap vehicles with someone.

 

[Otto2]

Doesnt look like I will be able to get a trunk any time soon. I will let you know when I do. Hopefully Fuppets can grab them.

 

[Fuppets]

I should be off next sunday/monday as well if this guy is available then.