55 Gallon Water Barrels & Plastic Taste

[Gazmatron]

Hey guys, I’m looking at using 55 gallon water barrels for the first time this year (the blue HDPE water storage type). I found a disaster/preparedness store in the Bay area that has new ones for $55 each, which seems reasonable (though I don’t have much to compare to other than they are much more at HomeDepot).

When I’ve purchased jerrycan style water storage containers in the past I have had issues with the slight plastic smell/taste that comes from the factory – apparently even HDPE can have residue from the manufacturing process.

Can anyone who has purchased new 55 gallon drums comment on whether there was any issue with water taste, or if they needed a significant amount of washing first?

Also, any recommendations for places to buy them in San Francisco and a rough guide as to what’s a reasonable price? Any wisdom much appreciated!
G.

[Captain Goddammit]

I let mine soak for days with vinegar and then bleach solutions. I'm not sure if its necessary but its cheap and easy to do.

[Gazmatron]

I let mine soak for days with vinegar and then bleach solutions. I'm not sure if its necessary but its cheap and easy to do.

Thanks Cap. Do you recall if they had a noticeable smell when they were new, before you soaked them? My dilemma is that due to transport logistics I'm having to pick them up just a couple of days before the burn so am hoping to pre-empt any problems, or at least have a backup plan.

I was wondering if a carbon filter would remove plastic odours, but despite a lot of searching online I have yet to find any information that can confirm or deny the possibility.

I've emailed the manufacturer so hopefully I've covered all bases!

[2WheelGuy]

I've used 60 gallon AQUA TANK 2 water bags with great success the past 5 years...about $100 online.. 60 gallon size is 3'x 4' and has male and female 3/4 plastic connections on either end. When empty, they roll up into the size of a yoga mat. Very durable. I place on my RV roof, fill with a RV filter and use gravity feed. Diluted bleach rinse does the trick and no plastic taste

[FlyingMonkey]

I know it's too late for the OP but anyone who needs 5 gallon drums may want to check out Craig's list. I know it's hit & miss depending on what's in your area but I typically can find several people selling 55 gallon plastic drums for anywhere from $9 - $60. Many of the ones available were used for soda syrup & clean easily. The last one I bought was Mt Dew

I'm getting 2 for my shower set-up. One for fresh & one for gray water. (pack in/pack out).

If I have time I may work on some way to evap the gray water but I doubt I will have time.

[SouthernExposure]

Have you checked with local soft drink canning companies? I bought (3) 17.5 gallon food grade barrels for a few dollars each that was originally used to transport soft drink syrup. I rinsed them repeatedly, but there was still the unmistakable smell of Dr. Pepper in the plastic. The good news was that the water did not pick up the flavor at all. They also had 55 gallon barrels, if I remember correctly and at a much more attractive price. Check it out.

SE

[GreyCoyote]

There is an old sailors trick that might work for you. Dump a jug of the cheapest vodka in, fill to the brim and cap enough to keep bugs out but not airtight. Let it stand outside in full sun for a couple of days. Drain and rinse.

This works wonders on pvc and aluminum tanks. Dunno about poly, but it wont hurt to try and the chance of toxic residue (ie bleach) is nil.

[Captain Goddammit]

Oh one year I had plastic 30-gallon ex-Dr Pepper jugs... I could never get the Dr Pepper smell out and when I took a shower I smelled like Dr Pepper. To this day I don't like Dr Pepper anymore! I still have 'em, now I use them as gray water jugs.

[andy]

Just keep the weight of the full barrel in mind. 440 lbs of water and the weight of the empty container. One person can easily unload 55 gallons of water from a truck in 5 gallon bottles, but an almost 500 lb drum needs a lot of folks.

[Gazmatron]

Thanks for all the feedback. I daren't buy used drums. I'd be paranoid about whether any harmful chemicals had been in them, and If there was any residual taste I wouldn't have enough time to source an alternative, and I have very limited time to do extra washing as I only arrive in the US a few days before the Burn.

Sounds like Dr Pepper is evil… I feel the same way about tequila!

I'm not worried about moving them. The drums will be filled on the back of the pickup I'm hiring. There they'll stay until empty.

I'm thinking my best option is to get the new 55 gal drums, give em a good clean using one of the recommended methods and see how the water tastes after an overnight in San Fran. If there's any hint of plastic, as a backup plan we could either buy a gravity water filter with good VOC removal, or purchase additional water en route.

The extra expense of either backup plan would be unfortunate, but better that than unhappy campers!

I’m currently researching water filters to see if that’s a viable backup plan… Does anyone have experience of using water filters on the Playa? Pur seem reputable for cheaper pitcher type, and Berkey or ProPur at the expensive end of the spectrum. If a $25 pitcher filter would do the job then no problem, but the extent of VOC removal seems much less than the more expensive ones, so it’s a tricky one…

[FlyingMonkey]

Last time I took way too much drinking water & not enough shower water (yes, I had separate supplies). For drinking water It's much easier to use smaller containers since you only need 1.5 gallons/day. But that's for personal use, if this is the water supply for a camp & it's for drinking/shower/kitchen that's entirely different. For showers & kitchen use I found that 30 gallons (for 2 people) would have been enough if others weren't sneaking showers when I wasn't around. Since I was also using 2 liter jugs for ice I always had a nice cold supply of drinking water.

I'm curious, do most people have separate supplies for drinking/showers or am I alone in that train of thought?

[Gazmatron]

At least it's better to run out of shower-grade water than drinking water

As all of my camp travel from overseas, in previous years we've purchased bottled water in containers ranging from 2 to 5 gallons for speed/convenience. With a smaller group this was fine, although it would have been nice to have more shower water.

We're up to 10 people this year so I did some rough numbers and we're past the tipping point at which it becomes more economical and practical to use bigger barrels. Probably more environmentally friendly as well... Plus we're building 3 evap coolers, so I’m taking 4 barrels in total. This way we have a decent amount for showers and cooling and it still works out cheaper.

I have considered the option of taking one 5 gallon bottle per person (strictly for drinking), and 3 x 55 gallon barrels for everything else. That may yet happen, but I'll probably wait and see how things look/smell when I buy the barrels before making a final call.

One could argue that there's some sense in having some drinking water in multiple sealed containers in case of a barrel accidentally became contaminated or damaged... not sure how that would happen, but never say never ...Personally I'd feel better if all of my water wasn't in a single container so if I was going with a small group I'd probably switch back to 5 gallon bottles, and I'd use drinking quality water for everything so if I lost/punctured a bottle it wouldn't be a too much of a problem.

What is it about your shower water/containers that make it non-drinkable?

[FIGJAM]

[The Rod]

I drink well water at home. Its delicious. I only use glass for storage and drinking. That being said I have come to terms with the fact that for the almost two weeks I'm on playa the water I drink will taste like crap.

The water we've ever have had delivered or filled in Gerlach has always had that barely-potable 'municipal' water taste already...Whatever all the chemicals they dump in there.... Then that water goes into a plastic barrel, where it'll sit for over a week then go into a plastic bladder for my pack. It tastes like crap by the time it hits my lips.

I'm on playa for 13 days this year, with my girlfriend. That's 32 gallons of just drinking water, pulse we like to take a couple showers. At this point a barrel starts to make sense, but I'm not gonna drive over the mountains with 440 lbs of water in my load, so I'll get it delivered or fill in Gerlach.

I have not looked into filters, but I bet something like a brita or a backpacking pump-type wouldn't get much of the 'ick' out of the water and anything beyond that would be costly and a large PITA for drinking water 2 weeks out of the year...

[Gazmatron]

I also concluded that most filters would be too much hassle. Most 'proper' filters require at least 20 to 40 psi, and I don't really fancy rigging up a pressure pump and the extra power... In addition to the pump & power, RO would waste too much water, so that's also out of the question.

For a good level of purification, to my knowledge, that only really leaves gravity systems like the Berkey and Propur, but they're expensive. If I lived in the US and had one at home I'd take it, but I can't really justify it to use once a year.

I always assumed the pitcher-based filters like Brita were pretty useless, but (on paper at least) the standard does seem to have improved a bit since I last looked a few years ago... As they're not too expensive I'm considering taking one as an experiment to just see if there is any noticeable difference.

[GreyCoyote]

What you are looking for is really a taste & odor filter: ie, a carbon block filter. These run about $25 from any RV supply store. They have hose-ends for easy connections and you can use them in gravity flow situations with a little patience. They make a BIG difference in taste, last for about 500 gallons or so, and can be tossed in the trash safely when they are spent.

Link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/15552335?wmls ... 90&veh=sem