Car Wash HDPE 2 barrels

[Martingale]

delete

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The HDPE is fine. My concern are the detergents. I’d rinse it really well, and be sure no foaming is possible. Use warm water if possible.

 

[Martingale]

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[Dkeller_nc]

Xylene sulfonate is another surfactant. The main consideration is whether any of these detergents are sufficiently hydrophobic to absorb into the barrel walls. As Randy notes, I'd rinse the snot out of them with hot water. Then fill them with RODI, cover them, and let them set for a week. If the RODI in them doesn't foam after a week, you're probably good to go.

 

[Brian_68]

If you believe this article plastics including HDPE 2 absorb chemicals so if they were stored in the tank for a period of time in high concentrations it may be suspect you could ever get them out enough for a reef tank.

Plastics and chemicals they absorb pose double threat to marine life

Marine creatures that ingest plastics in the ocean might suffer from a double whammy of the plastic itself and the pollutants those plastics have absorbed while floating in the open seas, according to research led by doctoral student Chelsea Rochman of the University of California, Davis.

www.ucdavis.edu

 

[Martingale]

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[HOOPDEEZ]

I guess you could risk it, but is it worth it when you can buy used barrels that had only food products in them for dirt cheap? Got some 55gal HDPE drums for $12 a pop at a drum recycling place that only had cooking wine in them. They had many different sizes to choose from

 

[Martingale]

delete

 

[Dkeller_nc]

If you believe this article plastics including HDPE 2 absorb chemicals so if they were stored in the tank for a period of time in high concentrations it may be suspect you could ever get them out enough for a reef tank.

Plastics and chemicals they absorb pose double threat to marine life

Marine creatures that ingest plastics in the ocean might suffer from a double whammy of the plastic itself and the pollutants those plastics have absorbed while floating in the open seas, according to research led by doctoral student Chelsea Rochman of the University of California, Davis.

www.ucdavis.edu

I'd be cautious about reading too much into that article. Specifically, the article doesn't mention what sort of contaminants they were analyzing for other than that they were organic, and doesn't explain what levels they found (i.e., was it parts per thousand or parts per trillion? Big difference!).

That's not a knock on the original science, just the popular science summary article. One would have to read the original paper to decide whether what they were measuring and what levels they found would be of concern to us.

 

[Martingale]

delete

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you believe this article plastics including HDPE 2 absorb chemicals so if they were stored in the tank for a period of time in high concentrations it may be suspect you could ever get them out enough for a reef tank.

Plastics and chemicals they absorb pose double threat to marine life

Marine creatures that ingest plastics in the ocean might suffer from a double whammy of the plastic itself and the pollutants those plastics have absorbed while floating in the open seas, according to research led by doctoral student Chelsea Rochman of the University of California, Davis.

www.ucdavis.edu

I don’t think any of the chemicals in the recipe posted will soak into HDPE. They will just bind to the surface. They are much too hydrophilic to dissolve into it.

 

[Martingale]

I don’t think any of the chemicals in the recipe posted will soak into HDPE. They will just bind to the surface. They are much too hydrophilic to dissolve into it.

I appreciate the insight!

 

[Brian_68]

Fill it with clean RO water starting with 0 tds and measure it a few days later. My guess is it won't be near zero.

 

[Martingale]

Fill it with clean RO water starting with 0 tds and measure it a few days later. My guess is it won't be near zero.

This is true for most RODI storage, especially the Brute trashcans everyone recommends, as they're often not sealed 24/7.

 

[Brian_68]

I suspected there was a similar issue with Brute when I used them, and have since moved to glass storage with a lid with what I think are better results although I certainly cannot pinpoint it exactly. It pretty much defeats the purpose trying to get 0 TDS out of your RO unit then put it in a container that does the opposite, and who knows what that TDS actually is. I bet it will climb even with a lid, I don't see that with glass.