MAJOR SCORE--patting myself on the back extensively

[TIK]

I just scored SIX 55 gallon food grade barrels that I will be using for water storage. That's right. SIX. For 3 measely little dollars each!! For 18 bucks, I know have well over 300 gallons of water for emergency preparedness. That would last a family of 4 at one gallon a day about...just shy of 3 months worth of water. I'm sooooooooo dang proud of myself.

Now I just have to clean out the soy sauce!!!!

BUT STILL!!!!

 

[Cardinal]

Great score Tik. Where did you find them? Restaurant supply dealer?

 

[BREWER]

BREWER

Hey TIK...congratulations on your purchase. Now you are going to need to really clean those bad boys out. I assume you have a closed head drum barrel with the two bungs on opposite sides of the top of the barrel...which means you cannot get your hands down in there to scrub out the residue of the soy sauce. Correct? You are going to have one heck of a time getting the 'soy' flavors out. Here are two products that I believe will help. The first one is Powdered Brewery Wash. This is about as good as it gets for getting out tough sediments and other nasties we encounter in the cleaning of our brewing equipment. It is effective as it is enviro frendly and easy to use. I know you're thinking given enough Clorox and fresh water flushing you will get the job done. Good Luck, my friend. The next product is One Step. I recommend you use this after the PBW as it will really get into those mico scratches down in those barrels and do a very nice job of sanitizing without leaving an aftertaste. It is the 'aftertast' that is really tough to get out of soy sauce barrels. If the water you're storing is for flushing toilets, cleaning, washing then ignore all the above. If I read your thread correctly you and your family will be using this for your drinking water. If there is a residual flavor of soy left in your potable water it won't be long until the complains surface as to..."Why do we have to keep drinking this AWFUL tasting water, DAD!!!" Been there, done that. I trust this was helpful. Next you will want this product called Ion [Stabilized Oxygen] to add to your water to make it last until you need to 'tap' it. I've got water I put up in 55 gallon barrels in 11/99 and it is still 'good'. Yes, I'll probably run this water through my Big Burkey just to be on the safe side. PM me if you need more assistance. PS Don't forget to get the bung wrench, too. Since you've 'saved' all that money on the barrels put some of those savings into doing it 'right ' the first time. When you go to your family water supply due to an EMERGENCY there can be no doubt as to the quality. Otherwise everyone will have diarrhea or worse.

http://www.nitro-pak.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=+bung+wrench&image.x=14&image.y=11

Go here to see the hand water pump.Yep, you will want one of these, too.
http://waltonfeed.com/drums.html scroll down and you will read a little about our own Alan Hagan who posts here on TB2K.

http://www.countrylivinggrainmills.com/Ion.html

http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbst...12E5C194CA987CBB8066?searchTerm=pbw&x=32&y=15

http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=one+step&x=41&y=13

 

[Karnie]

TIK, I'm not trying to "one up" ya, but I got ten of those from our local Pepsi bottling plant not long ago. I had five already, so I'm sitting here with 15 of them bad boys now! LOL

Brewer, thanks for the tips on how to clean them well!! I've been working on that, though at least Pepsi-water is going to taste better than Soy Sauce-water. LOL

Okay.... while we're on this topic, I need some help!

I posted this in homesteading, but didn't get any response yet as of the last time I'd looked. I'm currently living 30 minutes from my farm. On the farm, I have three ponds, but I don't currently have running water. So, I'm hauling water to water the garden and my newly-planted fruit trees. I can fill two of the barrels in the back of my pickup and then use the siphon pump to siphon water out to water my fruit trees since I can drive right up to each tree. However, I can't do that as easily in the garden. I really need a hose & and pump. (Hopefully, I'll be moved soon and have running water.... but if TSHTF, I may be doing this a LONG while!)

Do any of you handy-dandy guys have some advice to offer on hooking up some sort of battery powered pump - or an electric pump that would run off a small inverter in my pickup?

Thanks ever so much!!

 

[maric]

Good for you! I love a good deal. I scored big myself today. Got chicken legs in 10 pound bags for 20 cents a pound. Thats right. No typo. 20 CENTS! Thats 2 bucks a bag!

 

[LC]

Karnie, you might want to check the farm supply stores for a solar water pump. They are available these days. Don't know about$$. That could be an issue. And don't forget to invest in some of that ugly black soaker hose. It doesn't need a lot of pressure to work. Happy gardening.

 

[ofuzzy1]

Good score TIK,

I got some large mouth screw top barrels at a Greek wholesale vendor along time ago. ~$5 each and five gallon jugs for $3 each.
They had olives in them -- on the same scale of a bear to clean as the Soy Sauce.

I have not cleaned them yet. I turned one in to a compost bin, but it didn't work that well. need to refin that a whole bunch.

I'll have to try the stuff Brewer mentioned, someone else suggested using muraitic acid -- I was hoping for a better way -- thanks Brewer!

 

[Shooting Star]

Congratulations TIK - You got a good deal!! We got some barrels a few months back that had Vanilla Flavoring stored in them - We tried everything to clean them - will have to try Brewers tip.....

 

[TIK]

Not discounting anything Brewer said (as a matter of fact I'm grateful for the help) but does anyone have any similar stories of frustration with getting out tastes and smells of 55 gallon food barrels?

It's my wife asking...really...it is...

 

[TIK]

I'm being rude and self bumping this to see if I could get a little more discussion re: cleaning the barrels. Thanks...this will be the only bump.

 

[Bird Guano]

I'm being rude and self bumping this to see if I could get a little more discussion re: cleaning the barrels. Thanks...this will be the only bump.

Pressure washer. That's what I used.

NO soap in the pressure washer dispenser. Just HOT water.

Make your own wand out of copper tubing in a J shape to fit in the 2" bung opening.
This makes it easier to clean the top of the drum head.

SMALL amount of mild dish soap, pressure rinse, weak acid, rinse, baking soda, rinse, rinse, rinse, bleach, rinse, rinse, rinse.

That should do it.

I got mine from a soda bottling plant.

Pressure washer is the answer.

Rotate treated water every 6 months if kept indoors in the dark. Sooner otherwise.

Oh, and pressure wash in between fillings.

My 2 cents from experience.

 

[ferret]

Found this:

Preparing PEP-C Water Barrels for Emergency Water Storage

PEP-C sells food-grade poly barrels that have been previously used for such things as Coke syrup, soy sauce, vinegar or pickles. To use them for water storage you will need to thoroughly clean them before filling them with fresh water. To clean the barrels, simply rinse them out with a solution of 1/2 cup household unscented liquid bleach for every 2 gallons of HOT water. Close the top of the barrel and shake it, roll it and swish the solution around in the barrel until it has been well rinsed.

Make sure that the bungs and threads of the barrel are also thoroughly rinsed in this bleach solution. Open the barrel and pour the solution into the next barrel or water storage container. Repeat rinsing action. This solution will clean several containers. Dispose of the bleach solution into a white wash in your washing machine. Make it do double duty for you!

DO NOT DISCARD BLEACH SOLUTION INTO LAWN OR PLANTS
it will kill them
Once you have thoroughly rinsed your barrels, place them where you are going to store them and fill them with a garden hose. Then add measured unscented liquid chlorine bleach to sanitize:

4 1/2 teaspoons unscented liquid chlorine bleach
with 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite as the active ingredient /
per 55 gallon barrel

and seal the barrel. Every 6 months, empty the barrel(s), rinse the containers again as above, refill and add sanitizer.

http://www.pep-c.org/cleaning/

 

[TIK]

Thank you everyone--I appreciate the additional information...

DOH!! I just bumped this again didn't I?

Sorry....heeee eheee

 

[ferret]

BTW. I just saw this picture. I had never thought of using a barrel like this!

http://www.pep-c.org/faq1/

 

[Karnie]

The barrel on the rack is a good idea if you don't plan to move the barrel. Filling a barrel on that stand is going to be challenging, but trying to get a full one on the stand even moreso.

IIRC, water weighs something like 8.345 lbs per gallon. 55 gal x 8.345 lbs = roughly 460 lbs.

All I'm saying is plan ahead.

 

[Roadkill]

I scored an Excalibur 9 rack dehydrator (w/thermostat & timer) for $3.75 (yes 375 pennies) at the local Goodwill store last week. I don't think this thing has ever been used. There are absolutely no stains on the racks or sheets in it! Now I have 2 Excaliburs & 6 total.