How to disinfect plastic water barrels?

SirSlackworthy · Post by **SirSlackworthy** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:23 am

I have a 50-gal. plastic water barrel, food grade. Used it for drinking water at Burining Man years before. It has been sitting unused since. Probably has a little colony of mocroorganizims in there, though it has remained closed.

How to disinfect? I heard something about using nitric acid to disinfect, then neutralizing with baking soda, but I cant find any info on that.

What's the recipe / procedure? Anyone have info on that?

Token · Post by **Token** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:37 am

There was a big discussion on this last year or the year before that. Someone actually contacted the local MUD to get the official word.

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... t=sanitize

Bleach is the most handy method. There is a "correct" dilution ratio for bleach. Look it up.

Iodophor is an option.

Acid based oxidizers like Star-San and the likes are the best in my opinion since they foam and are effective as a foam. You don't need to waste 50 gallons to sanitize and Star-San is a no-rinse sanitizer.

Check out most brewing or wine making supply stores for good info on this since they got to sanitize fermenters and kegs all the time.

MarkM3 · Post by **MarkM3** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 2:23 pm

I've worked at a large pharmacuetical company for years and routinely deal with infectious substances (i.e. blood.) The generally accepted practice for routine decontamination is to soak the object in diluted bleach (10% by volume.)

For hard surfaces, we spray a 10% bleach-water mix, then wipe, spray denatured alcohol, then wipe again.

Bleach kills most every nasty bug and in low concentrations poses no serious health risk.

A 10% bleach-water mix is the most concentrated I would go, for general sanitizing you could use more dilute.

On a side note, RV places stock a chemical sanitizer for drinking water systems.

AKAparttime · Post by **AKAparttime** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:01 pm

Bleach is the best..... However, if you dont want your water to taste
like pool brite... use Hydrogen Peroxide, dump in, let sit for 30 min
flush with water......

~Parttime

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 6:06 pm

what concentration of h2o2?.............and, what ratio of said compound to water?
sounds like a good alternative......
thanks

AKAparttime · Post by **AKAparttime** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 7:30 pm

cleaning my 5 gal bottles I just pour it in and roll it around a little...
for a 55 gal drum maybe 3 or 4 cups just out of the bottle...

~parttime

Token · Post by **Token** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:17 pm

Folks, there has been some advancement in cleaning and sanitation in the past 100 years. Bleach is for making clothes white!

Give some of this a try:

Cleaning:

PBW - http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/tech/pbw.pdf

This stuff dissolves even the most stubborn muck. I'm talking old discarded soda kegs half filled with moldy mucky bacterial crud. An overnight soak dissolves and kills everything in there and makes it good for home brew.

Sanitizing USDA Certified and Approved:

Star San - http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/tech/starsan.pdf

Pay attention to the no-rinse and Foaming ability. This alone will save hundreds of gallons of water you would normally waste using Bleach.

And the stuff is cheap.

Disclaimer: Not affiliated with manufacturer. Just a good old brewer that has cleaned and sanitized more than he cares to remember.

Give it a shot and be amazed at how easy cleaning is.

T

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:59 pm

AKAparttime wrote:cleaning my 5 gal bottles I just pour it in and roll it around a little...
for a 55 gal drum maybe 3 or 4 cups just out of the bottle...

~parttime

so,
are you saying you use the 2% stuff off the shelf at the grocery store?
do you have water in the barrels, or, just pour 3 to 4 cups in an empty barrel?......

thanks

AKAparttime · Post by **AKAparttime** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:12 pm

Yes 2% & empty..... Then flush well.........

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:16 pm

ok, thanks.
It's those little details that get me..........
You could have been using the 25% farm stuff............

nocturnal_steve · Post by **nocturnal_steve** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:54 pm

I've used these for 5 years. If it's like mine it has a 3" plastic bung and you can't scrub the inside. First use a high pressure garden nozzle to blast out and rinse. Then pour a couple of cups of Clorax in and about 10 gallons water, roll it around on its side( so the concentrated solution coats the surface ). Than another 20 gallons or so and more rolling & rinsing. than a final rinse Let dry in the sun. Never really had a problem with chlorine after taste.

I elevate mine a coupe of feet ( keep it right on the trailer) and use a siphon hose . Use regular clear PVC hose with a good grade brass ball cock on the end (the cheap plastic ones leak air and breaks the siphon ). It will help a lot if you strap the submerged length portion of the hose (that you want to go to the bottom of the tank) to a wood dowel or something with nylon zip ties; otherwise the hose tends to coil up and its hard to keep the siphon.

I have two tanks and when the first one gets 1/2 empty I get some hardy souls to help lift it on top of the other tank, thus giving you a water tower effect and decent water pressure again.

SirSlackworthy · Post by **SirSlackworthy** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:39 pm

Ya know,

Every time I post a question here, I get numerous helpful replies pretty much immediately.

You guys rock!

See ya on the playa in a little over a week.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:57 pm

SirSlackworthy wrote:Every time I post a question here, I get numerous helpful replies pretty much immediately.

Dammit! WTF is wrong with us. We've got to step up the snark and misinformation! Now!

How to disinfect plastic water barrels?

How to disinfect plastic water barrels?

Disinfect Barrel

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