i have been wanting to get one of these, to put in the garage to store water. they seem like a good deal. here is my question.

       a local guy has them, for 75 bucks each. it seems like a good deal. UNFORTUNATELY............. the guy claims they used to have " round up", ( weed killer), in them. i have serious doubts about using one of these, as round up, is obviously a poison, designed to kill plants. the guy selling them, claims they are safe, claims this kind of plastic will not absorb chemicals and can be safely cleaned out. you just have to clean them really well, and claims to have drank a lot of water from his. he has several set up, as a rain water collection system.

                             he uses the water from the totes, to water his plants. i personally say the set up, and he is definately watering the plants with water from the totes. he has a lot ( greenhouse operation), and uses the water for his plants. if the water was contaminated, it would obviously kill the plants right?? since it is designed to kill plants.     so..... if i were to get one, clean it out with soapy water, scrub it with a brush, then fill it with water, with a high concentration of baking soda, and then let it set a week, and drain it, then do this a few times,........ think it would be safe to use?    OBVIOUSLY i would much rather get one that has had something non toxic in it.  im already thinking this might be a bad idea, go ahead and blast me, so i will forget it, or try to find another source for these totes. what kind of tote can i get, that is safe to use.. ( other than buy a new one)

Maybe keep it for a non potable water source ie flushing toilets etc.

Personally I wouldn't drink out of it esp considering you can't get in there and scrub it down with a brush.

i thinking the same thing....... try to find one that had something a little less......lethal in it.

I wouldn't drink water from that mofo on a bet.

we have thease ar work and lets just say they have a lot of "nooks and cranies" I WOULD NOT store potable water to drink in them, period.
diesel fuel, or tolet water OK.
bruce

im hunting for one that has syrup or something in it............ sent a e mail to a guy on craigslist who is about a hour from me.

Ammonia will clean it out better.  I wouldnt be worried about it if they had been rinsed a bunch of times.  You will NOT be able to scrub it all from the little lid on the top.

Glyposate (roundup) really isnt that bad. If it comes into contact with the soil it is deactivated.  Even if you try to spray using water with soil particles in it it will deactivate..

I would scrub whatever I could reach and then rinse it out multiple times (more than 10) and call it good.

This is coming from a guy who used to sell and spray glyposate for years and I used 100's of those totes.

If you don't know the history of this thing, don't use it for much more than gray (secondary ) water use.  We use these for everything from ASTM water to some really nasty ass hydroflouric acid mixtures, so there really is no way to know unless you're directly involved just how safe these totes are.

Not to drink out of!! No way

I would not drink from that. I have several of those at work that have some nasty things in them. I have a 35gal roundup container that I use for toilet water. It works well for that.

No way for drinking water.

no

You are kidding, right? Probably safer to drink out of a toilet than a used roundup container.

Did any of his 3 eyes blink while he was telling you it was safe?

he was in a wheelchair...... seriously.... i was thinking..

roundup will absorb into HDPE,  cut open a barrel used to store the stuff, its stained yellow.

No way in hell would I drink from it, non-pot H2O only

1st, Round-up is actually not much of a problem for humans. Unless you're green and get your energy from the sun by photosynthesis (you're a plant) you'll be fine. All the people saying "Hell No" and stuff like that need to do a little research first.

That being said, I'd still try to find another one. That container may have been used for a different chemical prior to the round-up and that could be a problem. Try to find a different one. But in an emergency situation, that one would certainly be better than nothing.

im looking.... there is a guy close to lexington on craigslist, who appears to have a warehouse filled with used buckets, barrels, ( plastic and steel), and the 275 gallon totes. he claimes everything had a food product in it, and has been triple rinsed.....  looking into it...

This/\/\/\

Maybe so but I think instead of spending time researching the subject I'll just maintain my opinion.

Every day the list of things "that won't hurt you" that are found to kill you gets longer.I'm not saying it will make your leaves fall off over night, I'm more concerned about 10 or 15 years down the road.If I had to choose to trust either Obama or a chemical manufacturer I'm afraid it would be Obama that I trusted.

I bought one and after rinsing it out by catching water from the gutter for a long time, I use it to water the garden now.   Mine originally had fabric softener in it, and it was water soluble.  

I would not use it for potable water though.

I don't trust that any plastic much less much less these relatively soft nalgene-type tanks with any chemicals.  There has to be "absorbtion" or residue that is bound to that tank.  I wouldn't drink out of it.  Please repost if you find any other examples of deals like this.

You can find these same totes in food grade form.

Check distillers, food processors, bottlers.

Even if roundup won't kill you straight out what are the risks of cancer or birth defects?

I remember studies saying asbestos was perfectly safe...

Not No but Hell No

None
I'll list the worst case in all of the categories. Those studies not listed are "Not Toxic" or "Not Listed"
Acute Toxicity:
U.S. NTP Acute Toxicity Studies: Not Acutely Toxic to Slightly Toxic
Cancer:
U.S. EPA Carcinogens: Not Likely
Endocrine Disruptions: Not listed
Reproductive and Developmental: Not Listed

I believe "Not Listed" means that it isn't even a concern.

Water Standards and Criteria (listed in microgram/L)
Max Contaminant Level: 700
Max Contaminant Level Goal: 700
One Day Exposure: 20,000
Ten Day Exposure: 20,000
Lifetime Exposure: 700
Rfd: 100 (microgram/kg/day)
U.S. Drinking Water Equivalent Level: 4,000

Drinking Water Equivalent Level (DWEL)

The drinking water equivalent level (DWEL) is the concentration of a contaminant in water (in mg/L) for which no adverse, noncarcinogenic health effects are anticipated if a person is exposed over a lifetime. The formula for calculating the DWEL is:

DWEL = RfD (mg/kg/day) X Body Weight (kg) / Drinking Water Consumption (L/day)

The U.S. EPA makes the following assumptions when calculating DWELs:

   * Body weight is 70 kg (154 pounds)
   * Daily average drinking water intake is 2 liters.
   * DWELs assume all exposure to a contaminant is from drinking water.

Thus, a DWEL of 2 ug/L indicates that if the chemical concentration is less than 2 ug/Liter in drinking water, then a 70 kg adult can consume 2 liters of water each day for a lifetime without adverse effects. To make this data directly comparable to other data we have converted the units from mg/L to ug/L. To convert back to mg/L simply divide by 1000.

Basically, your drinking water is going to have to contain 100 microgram/L and you'll have to drink 2 L of that water per day for your entire life to cause 1 case of cancer in 1,000,000 people. There are much more harmful things in the air that you breath every day. I wouldn't sweat it, especially in a survival situation. BTW, that is about .0001% concentration. For the 10 day exposure it is .002% In ag applications it is normally applied at a .5% concentration.

The max ten day exposure would mean that 20 grams of glyphosate would have to be absorbed into the water from the tank for each full tank. There can't be that much in there, so fill the tank up, let it soak a few months, drain it, and then do the same a couple more times.

I'm fairly conservative, but my basic process is this:
A) Is it made of food grade materials?
 No.
B) Is it never used (new)?
 No.
 B1) If no, was that something capable of feeding germs?
   No.
 B2) If no, was that something whose residue, diluted, is likely to be damaging to me?
   See above thread for opinions.
 B3) If no, was that something I'd want to drink?
   No.
C) Is the size convenient to me?
 Yes, for static home storage.

Personally, I look for three Yes's.  Many people here are OK with food grade that has food residue (soda syrup).

For $75, you can find a good 55 gallon food grade drum (new, though shipping isn't included).  55 gallons/2 gallons/person*person = 27.5 person*days even if you're bathing.  I'd say 27.5 days is sufficient for a budget that small, but you need to make your own choice.

Personally, I wouldn't drink from it on a bet, either.  I'd try very hard to find some source of water that I might think I could make safe by filtering and then bleaching or boiling, instead.

I pretty much use Garonda's above reasoning for prepping.

I was entertaining the idea of using the  s/s totes that are available; for bulk storage (wheat, rice, sugar, etc.) rodent proof and a lifetime purchase.  I might consider a used HDPE tote (used for a foodgrade item) like that to store bulk salt in though.

I bought one used for syrup for $150. What syrup remained weighed about 75 lbs. Heavy stuff.



It had a liner in it (plastic bag that held the syrup), so the inside stayed very clean.



I had my doubts about the valve on it, but it seems completely watertight.



$15 of the cost was an adapter from the large metric threads down to 2" standard threads, and I'll put a ball valve & hose on that.
 

Better living through chemistry. Ask the Vietnam vets who were involved with Agent Orange.

you can buy brand new ones for around $175 to $250

Glyphosate isn't as bad as people think, in disposal it is biologically degraded then runs through the normal wastewater treatment process. But, I'd search for another container for potable (drinking) use - save this one for back-up water or "grey" water needs.

Search for a container that used "food-grade" products - the syrups, potable water treatment products, or even chlorine!  regardless of new or used, rinse, rinse, and rinse!

O75

This^.....Clay type soil particles will deactivate it, and even if it didn't, Roundup is so benign, it would not hurt you.  I was told back when I used to an ag chemical sales rep, that you could drink Roundup and it would not hurt you.  I still did not want to drink it, but it made me feel better about the product.  Just be sure to get the rinse spray into all the little nooks, and clean out the bottom valve really well, as it could be hiding there.  The other thing about Roundup is, it does a good job of cleaning out a tank and spray system of other impurities.  If anything else had been in that tank, the Roundup will clean it out, leaving only the Roundup residue.  You still want to make sure that the only thing that has been in the tank is Roundup.  Other things could be nasty, and the Roundup may not clean it 100%.  Also, consider painting the tank a dark color to inhibit algae from growing inside.  All the storage tanks we buy for the farm now are black, because the older translucent poly tanks would grow algae really fast.  Either way, plan to treat for algae.