• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin

Cleaning ibc tote

 
Posts: 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
May have put this in the wrong spot. Sorry. Recently purchased 2 food grade Ibc totes. one t contained molasses and one glycerine. Curious if any of you have experience cleaning these things out. Was thinking about bringing them to a car wash to rinse any residues, but would like to clean them further As I will be using the to store water for plants. Thanks
 
gardener & hugelmaster
Posts: 3694
Location: Gulf of Mexico cajun zone 8
1970
cattle hugelkultur cat dog trees hunting chicken bee woodworking homestead ungarbage
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I wash mine after each winter with a power washer similar to those at the car washes. No soap, just high pressure water. It works well. Once considered using bleach &/or hydrogen peroxide to help but never found that to be necessary. I try to avoid even trace residual amounts of chemicals in the garden. For that reason I would be hesitant to use the glycol IBC for food gardens but realistically that would probably be ok after a good power wash.

A first flush diverter or some other pre-filtering goes a long way towards keeping captured rainwater containers clean.
 
pollinator
Posts: 1781
Location: Victoria BC
315
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I've had to clean some with brown rice syrup residue, in coldish weather.

Hot water was critical, it was just futile without. I used a garden hose run straight to the landlords hotnwater tank, a sprayer, a tiny bit of dish soap and a fair bit of patience. (The pressure washer wouldn't start... I'm sure it would have helped, as long as I ran hot water through it.)

I washed them in the same area the landlord would pressure wash the heavy equipment, so didn't feel too bad about a few drops of soap in that context!
 
pollinator
Posts: 231
Location: Australia, Canberra
89
2
dog forest garden fish books bee
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Just use a mild soap and pressure washer. Even if there are residues left in crevices they wouldn't be harmful for the plants.

I cleaned a PVA glue IBC with a steel sponge and pressure washer; another with saline in it washed just with water, they are my aquaponics  right now.
 
steward
Posts: 15505
Location: Northern WI (zone 4)
4846
7
hunting trees books food preservation solar woodworking
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
How do you guys pressure wash the inside top of the IBC?  I can see how you could reach in and do the sides and bottom easily enough.  Do you reach your whole arm in so that you can shoot the water back at the top?

FYI I've heard that they make IBC tank liners that you can buy.  Might be an option if someone has a non food grade one.  I'm not sure how they work down at the outlet valve.
 
Water proof donuts! Eat them while reading this tiny ad:
GAMCOD 2025: 200 square feet; Zero degrees F or colder; calories cheap and easy
https://permies.com/wiki/270034/GAMCOD-square-feet-degrees-colder
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic