49070

55 gal iron phosphate barrels for drinking water?  

June 18, 2008

I am not knowledgeable about iron phosphate. I am looking to store long term drinking water for emergency purposes in barrels that had iron phosphate in them. Can anyone with knowledge tell me how to properly clean these barrels and whether they will be toxic or dangerous?

Thanks,

Matt Buis
amateur - Indianapolis, IN, USA

Hi, Matt. Funny thing, I noticed my county park has a couple of iron phosphate barrels used as trash containers; I guess they're pretty common. But I would not drink out of them at all, let alone store water for long periods whereby any tiny amount of residual would have months of opportunity to slowly leach into the water. Recently we've found there may be some dangers even in plastic baby bottles.

My personal philosophy is if something is designed for the purpose, such that we implicitly and automatically have a huge feedback system in place to monitor any side effects, then I consider it safe. And I consider it unsafe to use something for a purpose like this for which it wasn't intended because that feedback system is almost totally lacking.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Matt

If the container held something that was not for human consumption, I would not attempt to make it usable. When I lived in earthquake territory, we used 55-gallon drums that grape juice concentrate was sold in. When the time comes to rely on that water source, you will have enough other concerns to worry about.

Willie Alexander
- Colorado Springs, CO

If you want to store something for human consumption, get a container which is

1. new or
2. previous contents were for human consumption

I got a half-dozen 55-gal barrels at a bagel bakery. Previous contents was a very light vegetable oil used as a "release spray" on the metal screen which holds the bagels as they go through the oven. (So the bagels don't stick.)

Only problem: I didn't pick them up myself and my friend forgot to get any caps. something to keep in mind.

Frank Richardson
- Ardsley, NY, U.S.A.