Soap is an effective cleaning agent for 55 gallon plastic barrels but should only be used when necessary because it requires repeated rinsing to get rid of the soap residue.
Cleaning 55 gallon drums for water storage.
This has been a common question and i ve written about it a number of times over the years.
Blue 55 gallon water storage tank by waterprepared emergency water barrel container with spigot for emergency disaster preparedness stackable space saving bpa free 4 7 out of 5 stars 195 184 00 184.
Storing water is an absolutely essential part of preparing for any emergency.
Oil barrels can be particularly well suited for storing other petroleum products such as diesel fuel as both types of fuel require the same precautions in terms of preventing spilling and leaking.
One effective way to store a lot of water is by cleaning and filling a 55 gallon water bucket.
If you are storing water in containers 55 gallon drums or any bulk size tank as a reserve for just in case how much regular chlorine bleach if any should you add for purification.
The basic rule of thumb for storing water in 55 gallon drums or any other size container is to make sure they are clean first.
High density polyethylene hdpe is the plastic commonly used to make the popular blue 55 gallon water storage drums.
Cleaning your water storage containers.
To begin let s talk about how to first clean out one of these massive plastic barrels.
Dish detergents cut through grease and oil making them a natural choice for cleaning barrels that were used to store vegetable oil for example.
How to clean a 55 gallon plastic water barrels.
Oil drums or barrels can be a useful storage container for many materials particularly other liquids.
Three barrels filled to the brim with water gives me 165 of clean water for drinking cooking sanitation or whatever else i need.
A standard 55 gallon water barrel measures 36 high x 24 wide.
The barrel must be made out of a food grade plastic.
The barrel weighs roughly 22 pounds and 55 gallons of water weighs 460 pounds for a grand total of 482 pounds.