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Organic Gardening

Possible Rain Barrel source are these ok?

18 years ago

I have a source for a lot of 55 gallon plastic barrels for a rain collection system I am devising. the problem is the chemical that was stored in them is labled caustic. as in basic. or Alkeline... anyway, the chemical is 50% strength Hydrogen peroxide. now I know that it is chemically just H2O2, but I don't want to have any problems arise from using theese in my garden if any Professional chemists or previous users of H2O2 in a garden can chime in with a forseeable problem.

I am only going to be dealing with any residue that may still be in the barrells diluted with nearly 2000 gallons of water first use, and subsequent use...

ya see, last year I had a single 350 Gallon tank piped into my rain gutters and when summer hit, I did not have any stored for use, so I figured it with 27- 30 gallon barrels and 12- 55 gallon barrels would certainly leave me with enough storage for daily, or needed watering duties.

yeah, I know that is a lot of barrels, but I figure the more the merrier. and 140.00/month or more water bills SUCK! not to mention the water restrictions that get imposed here about July and august.

the other barrels just had soda syrup, so other than a few ants enjoying the watering day, I see no problem with those barrels.

Just designing the header pipes and drain system to hook all theese barrels together is quite difficult.

something on the order of 64 3x3x2 tees and 24 or so 2x2x2 tees and tons of 1" tees and 1x1x3/4 tees and valves and fittings etc etc etc... mind numbing. I have been drawing and planning for DAYS!J*@(#(

but 140.00/month is worse!

John

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Comments (6)

squeeze
18 years ago
hydrogen peroxide isn't terrible, and the traces left shouldn't present much problem - some hydroponics formulations include it actually - not like plastic will absorb it - make sure you paint the outside of those barrels so they don't react w/ ultraviolet to get brittle

Bill

Here is a link that might be useful: about hydrogen peroxide
username_5
18 years ago
It makes little to no difference what was in the barrel to begin with. They are plastic and don't absorb much of anything. If they are well rinsed, they are free of whatever was in them.
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I've been harvesting rainwater for about 14 years now. Recently I joined the City of Los Angeles Rainwater Harvesting Program and they gave me a free rainwater barrel and put it into place beneath my downspout. They're also providing a free 1 hour consult w a landscape architect to consult on how to get the water to where I need (so I don't have to continue carrying it in a watering can). The barrel they gave us is black, has a net at the top to catch debris so it won't fall into your harvested water and has 2 spouts - one near the top & one near the bottom - for outflow of the harvested water. I want more! I got it from Erika: Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. Attn: Erika Kennelly 888 West 6th Street, 3rd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017 Fax- (213) 614-9003 (562) 597-0231 ekennelley@pirnie.com Right now this is a test program in my general area (WLA) and the city is trying to figure out if they can afford to continue to support this effort. I urge anyone living in the LA City area to call or e Erika and ask her about their program. There's also a few current listing for various barrels on craigslist, here's a sample one, this barrel is bright blue w no holes/spouts: http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/grd/1558852085.html
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Kimmsr
18 years ago
Theoretically any barrel used to transport any material must be well cleaned before it is to be allowed off the users premises to be recycled and that is why many companies simply do not allow that. If these barrels are coming from someplace that cleans barrels, around here DeWitt is one, they should have no residue of whatever was shipped in them. If the come directly from the end user they may still have some residue, even though before they alloow that barrel off premises to be used by someone not a licensed barrel recycler it must, by law, be cleaned.
pablo_nh
18 years ago
Hydrogen peroxide is ENTIRELY harmless in this case. This stuff is very unstable, and assuming the barrels were rinsed at all, the residue will decompose into water and oxygen very quickly. Leave the top open for a few days if worried.

Sounds like a good score

(yes, I am a "professional chemist" :)
vstech
Original Author
18 years ago
Yeah, I figured HP would be harmless, but just wanted a good response from you guys first.
thanks,
and I am not worried about any law that the end user is ignoring, they were FREE! I bet the law applies only to SELLING the barrels.
John
Kimmsr
18 years ago
Nope John, that law, federal, applies to any barrel.

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