Rain Barrel Safety

[Raidra]

I've been watching Freecycle, hoping to get a free barrel to use to collect rain off the roof. Someone posted today offering several steel barrels, and when I asked him if they were food safe (we'll be watering the veggie garden), he said, "The yellow barrels had an isocyanate thing in them (basically a superglue on steroids) it reacts with water by hardening and is therefore quite easy to rinse out of the barrel and the white barrels had a black resin (kind of a rubber base) and they are all as empty as humanly possible since the stuff is so expensive." He said he knows people have used them to make BBQs without obvious problems.

Do you think that sounds safe? Or should I keep looking?

[RVcook]

I'd definitely keep looking.

We have someone two towns over that sells food-grade plastic barrels that were previously used for the food industry. They contain 'apple essence' and smell like cider. Also, we pay .75 for 5 gal buckets and $8 for the 55 gal barrels.

I think if you keep looking, you can do better.

RVcook

[Big Dave]

Where ya at?
Keep looking. I picked up my two for $45 each and they hold about 275 gallons. If you are close I will tell ya where to get some of them.

[JIL]

do you have a bottling co near by or a food factory? ie lil' debbie's is where the man i got mine from got them from. Pepsi or coke has them dometimes they sell them or just give them. Hey Big dave I paid $60 for mine and they are 275 gal you got a real good deal!

[Lizza]

I'd keep looking for sure. Like others said, check food factories or big wholesale places that carry food. A place near us sells food grade 55 gallon barrels for $15 each.

[Wis Bang]

Isocyanate is reacted to make foam rubber, like in your car seats.

It is related to the stuff Union Carbide released in Bopal, India. Do you feel lucky?

[rambler]

You know, it would probably be ok.

But, plastic would be a lot better for your use to start with, and some of that stuff kinda hangs around in metal, and will slowly release over the next 10 years. In such small amounts, it likely isn't any problem at all.

Probably.

--->Paul

[grannygardner]

We get plastic barrels from the local car wash.

[pheasantplucker]

I have five barrels (plastic) I'm going to be using this year. One held windshield washer fluid, which I think would be easy to remove all traces. The others held Sodium Bisulfite. I know that sounds scary, but that chemical is actually used to sterilize stuff and is used in the wine making industry. I actually have more reservations about collecting the water off the asphalt shingles from the roofs. I would guess those chemicals might be more of a concern. I'd opt for plastic over metal any day.

[Beeman]

Isn't it ironic how people are afraid of the hardened chemical in a metal barrel but then recommend a hardened chemical(plastic) barrel?

[suitcase_sally]

My thoughts exactly.

[WisJim]

I get metal ones that had molasses in them, and plastic ones that had vanilla (from a cookie factory). I have also gotten ones that had detergent (for washing buses or trucks) from a city bus garage or from a large truck wash near the interstate. Also coke/pepsi bottling plants might have drums that syrup came in.

[o&itw]

.
If you have a dairy nearby, check with them. Most of them get sodium hypochlorite in plastic barrels to sanitize their tanks and pipes after every use. (a 5% sodium hypochlorite solution is household bleach).

.

[DKR82]

I found 55 gallon food grade barrels on craigslist for $10 each, then got 5 gallon buckets with lids fo $0.50 each from the same guy. Check craigslist.

DK in KS

[Common Tator]

I get plastic barrels from the local feed store. And I only buy the ones that had been used for food products. They run about $15.00 for a 55 gallon barrel here.

[VERN in IL]

Why not just buy new barrels from places like Emergency Essentials and be done with it?

[wy_white_wolf]

I'd pay a visit to the local pepsi/coke dealer. They should be able to hook you up.

Boy that sounds like I'm setting up a drug deal.

[Wis Bang]

Originally Posted by Beeman

Isn't it ironic how people are afraid of the hardened chemical in a metal barrel but then recommend a hardened chemical(plastic) barrel?

I had the 'joy' of bringing a driver from West VA to the hospital [as a precaution] after he inhalled a wiff of the fumes from Methyl Isocyanate. Our corporate safety people had called ahead and the ER thought he was physically contaminated.

I would have not transported him in my car if he was physically contaminated; he had brought his truck to a safe place [our terminal in NJ] and sought medical treatment because he had been highly trained and understood why he ws dizy and had bloodshot eyes.

We parked in the garage and entered the ER from the main part of the hospital and saw, outside the ER ambulance entrance the county Haz Mat team setting up their chemical decontamination unit waiting for this guy to arrive...

Toluene Isocyanate & Methyl Isocyanate is deadly enough to kill you 5 or 6 times VRS the stuff in Bopal would do it 20 times over...

Can you be sure that there would not be some fumes in the drum?

We used to clean out tankers. I always taught my trainees to always use their Chem resistant gloves whenever they made contact w/ the valves, ladder and manway 'cause you never know if the exterior was cleaned as good as the interior...

Wash water from an Isocyanate ends up as an EPA 'P' list waste; every drop of the initial tripple rinse goes out to be burned under strict controls...

Stick to food grade products for any drum you want to use 'cept maybe a solvent drum to make a burn barrel...There is alot of nasty stuff where the fumes or a few drops WILL kill you!