Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Plastic barrel decon...

I already asked this in another discussion about lilies but I tthough I might make a new topic for everyone to see/advise/post in.
I found a local source to get a handful of the plastic 55 gallon drums for free. They are supposed to be great for cutting in half and planting water plants in.
The question is, they are from a crop dusting place, some had herbicides inside, CAN they be cleaned? How?
Some are blue and some are white. I could pick either color. Does the color of the barrel tell if it had the actual herbicide or just the surficant/wetter?
Thanks everybody!

Jeff-

Jeff I also get my drums from a crop dusting place. I have not put them in my ponds yet. But I have cut them in half and used them to water livestock. I just wash them with water or soap and water, let them dry, and rense them with just water. I dont know how much chemical is left in them but once filled with water the PPM for the livestock would be much greater than in an entire pond. The livestock have not showed any adverse effects either.

Hope this helps,
JakeB

Those drums are polyethylene, which is slick, non-porous, and easy to clean.

Problem with cutting them in half is, they curl up in a very short time. I haven't had any luck cutting them across the diameter or splitting them lengthwise. I suppose you could brace them somehow, but I haven't tried it.

Thanks guys! Good info.

bobad, that's exactly why I'm trying to get a couple now and fiddle with them before spring planting. Thanks to you, it won't be such a surprise. I let you know after I've conducted a few redneck experiments, how I solve the curl .

They make good dock floats too... provided you space them correctly and use the proper number of them based on the amount of displacement needed.

Maybe you could get the MSDS sheets for the chemical that was inside. There may be some info in there on how to neutralize the chemicals.

Get the blue barrels over the white. They will hold up better to sunlight exposure.

My experience seconds that position.

When I went through a pesticide/herbicide application class we always cleaned our equipment with soap & water. Then triple rinsed to avoid any cross contamination. Homeowners might not be appreciate it if you are spraying pesticide and kill their shrubs with herbicide contaimination. Hope that helps some.

Also, if in doubt a little bleach added to the first rinse cycle helps break things down. Or so I was taught.

Triple rinsing is the way to go with these barrels. Make sure you put the rinsate where it belongs though, especially the first rinse. Otherwise you're good to go

I use them for heavy duty garbage cans (construction waste), just cut the lid off, then two ovals near the top for handles. If you want to make a lid, take the bottom 1/4 of one, make a 6" slice from the open end up, then the "lid" slides over another barrel just right.

Thanks for the responses!
I haven't picked up any barrels yet but I am keeping an eye out.


Jeff-