Liquid Rubber for water-proofing tanks and growbeds?

[Cai Robertson]

     I was going to use epoxy to waterproof my plywood tanks and growbeds, but I am concerned about BPA ending up in my fish and vegetables.  I found something called Liquid Rubber at Home Hardware. It's about half the cost of epoxy, doesn't off gas (Zero VOC), is water based and says it is safe for ponds.  There is no information to be found about it being foodsafe.  I even called the number on the can and I was told that it is being used fish tanks, but could not say it was food safe.  The only other product I can find is Pond Armor, which is a VOC free epoxy sealer, and is said to be safe for hydroponic use.  The Pond Armor costs about twice as much as normal epoxy.  I would really like to use the liquid rubber, but want to have some peace of mind.  Any input would be appreciated.

http://www.liquidrubber.ca/

http://www.pondarmor.com/index.htm

[TCLynx]

I know there are some epoxy and fiberglass resins that are potable water safe (food safe) but just because something is rated as "food safe" doesn't mean it is BPA free since we all know that many food containers leach BPA.  So, I'm not sure you will be able to find much piece of mind here unless some one can provide you links to something that can say the products you are interested in are not only fish safe but also food safe and additionally BPA free?????

[Cai Robertson]

The Liquid Rubber is BPA free btw.  No info on food safe though. Possibility I'm being over cautious.  How much BPA really? And would it, in fact, get into veggies and fish?

[TCLynx]

Hard to know, and you will eventually have to make your own decisions.

[Cai Robertson]

http://www.ecopoxysystemscanada.com/index.php . . . This is the best thing I have found.  It is an epoxy made from nuts and beans.  It is said to be non-toxic and zero voc but there is no mention of BPA's.  I have sent an email asking about it and am waiting for a reply.  It is marginally more expensive than regular epoxy. 

[Pices]

Cai - thanks for the info on EcoPoxy®. This appears to be a very interesting and useful product.

[Cai Robertson]

This stuff looks good too.  It is a mix of petroleum and biomass derived from pulp and paper and Biofuel.  http://http://www.entropyresins.com/ It is cheaper than the Ecopoxy. 

[Cai Robertson]

http://http://www.entropyresins.com/ This stuff looks good too. It is a mix of petroleum and biomass derived  from pulp and paper and biofuels.   It  is cheaper than the Ecopoxy.

[Cai Robertson]

Bill Barker said:

Cai - thanks for the info on EcoPoxy®. This appears to be a very interesting and useful product.

[Paul Van Lare]

The liquid rubber you are looking at is marketed internationally under that trade name. The same product is available in the USA under the moniker RubberizeIt! Due to the difficulty and cost of registration in the US, the product is not registered for use in potable water storage. It is registered in the EU, Canada, and Aus for use in potable water tanks. The EU is pretty good about keeping harmful products off the shelf... many of which are available in the US, go figure. If you are interested in receiving the MSDS on the product you can call or email me, 479-310-0160  [e-mail]. You can also purchase the product at this link http://shop.growfreshorganics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPa... There are many great videos of the product in use at www.rubberizeit.com, and If you buy some from rubberizeit.com mention the Aquaponics Community when purchasing.  

Cheers!

[TCLynx]

Paul,

     Can the Rubberizeit be used over shingle roofing for collecting rain water?

[Cai Robertson]

Maybe you could rubberize the whole roof.  I wonder how it would hold up compared to shingles?  
 
TCLynx said:

Paul,

     Can the Rubberizeit be used over shingle roofing for collecting rain water?

[TCLynx]

I've heard there are elastometric coatings you can use over asphalt shingles and I'm looking for one that would be relatively safe to collect rain water off of.  I would prefer if I could get one that is white to help reflect some of the heat but at this point I'm more interested in the water but I need to make sure this stuff would work over such a surface without requiring too much extra maintenance.