55 gallon drum cleaning questions

RJSchaefer · #1 05/23/13, 04:48 PM

I purchased 7 55 gallon drums (white) from someone on Craigslist. I'm going to be using them to mix planting media. I was going to retain one or two to use as water holders for the barn if possible. He was really up front that they were NOT food grade because they hadn't been properly washed. I mentioned the compost and asked what was in them. He said vegetable oil.

Seems legit. They're quite dirty, but have a dried yellow film on the inside. My only question is, any way to know for sure it was veggie oil? I guess I'm concerned if it was something more nefarious it might be bad for the compost. Things I should have thought of ahead of time. They're just plain, white drums with the two holes on the top.

Bearfootfarm · #2 05/23/13, 04:53 PM

I'd clean them with a pressure washer and not worry about the MINUTE amount of any residues that would be left

fishhead · #3 05/23/13, 05:41 PM

Take them to the car wash and blast them clean. Then if you're still concerned fill them with rain water and let them sit for a couple of weeks to let anything in the plastic time to leach into the water.

Fire-Man · #4 05/23/13, 08:27 PM

I clean the tanks as good as I can then I mix enough of this http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/stor...b?cm_vc=-10005 to fill the tank then let it sit over night, pump the contents into another barrel and let it sit etc. I then reclean the tanks with soapy water and rince good.

luvrulz · #5 05/23/13, 08:47 PM

There should be a number molded into the bottom of the drum to let you know what grade they are....#2 is food grade....I am sure the other grades are listed somewhere on Google.

sdnapier · #6 05/24/13, 08:25 AM

Food grade doesn't depend on whether the container was washed or not. It is a matter of what chemicals it is made with. Look on the bottom for a #2 or triangle. This is a food grade barrel. If you are going to store water in them then paint them a color that does not let the sun in. The white ones will let the sun in which will then grow interesting things in your barrel. Food grade ones are often gray or blue which allows no sun.

Wis Bang 2 · #7 05/24/13, 04:23 PM

yellow coating may mean the veg oil was used cooking oil like what you would collect & filter to make Bio-Diesel. Hot water should cut that.

RJSchaefer · #8 05/26/13, 10:31 AM

Thanks, all! We scrubbed the first one clean, dried it then just went ahead with the compost mixing. It was the cleanest of them all. Once we got all the junk off the outside, the inside actually looked next to pristine since there weren't specks showing through.

The problem I'm having with cleaning them is the lid doesn't come off. It just has two hose fittings at the top and I'm not sure what to use to fill/pump.

@sdnapier, I was thinking about weird stuff growing. I hadn't realized how much compost one would hold, so I don't think I need to use them all. Since it seems to let in the sun in - and gets the contents quite warm - I'm going to experiment with slicing it in half vertically and using them as greenhouse toppers.

If nothing else, now I have a few to experiment with aquaponics when I eventually get around to that project...