Seeking IBC tote contents advice...

[Pat Quigley]

Alright, finding IBC totes in my area that the previous content was a food product is proving more difficult than I initially thought. We've called around, answered Craigslist ads, checked ebay and even questioned about a few totes we saw sitting outside at a storage facility. All of them contained transmission fluid, Roundup or other chemicals that I'm not willing to try and work with.

 

Then I got a response from a gentleman very close-by that offered a better price than I have seen and willing to deliver (nice bonus since I don't have a truck). When I asked what the totes had in them, he responded "alcohol based de-icer". I looked into it a little and found this to be better than other options I've explored so far. So I sent him a message back (apologizing for being a pain) asking if he knew the chemical or trade name for the product. I hadn't heard back from him for a couple days so I figured I was asking too much of this good 'ol boy and just blew it off.

 

Much to my surprise I had another response from him this morning, saying this...

"Hey Pat  I found this on the tank. It says it is UCAR(TM) PG aircraft
deicing fluid. Made by Dow chemical company I hope it helps you."

 

Instantly I googled "UCAR(TM) PG aircraft deicing fluid" and quickly found this page...

http://www.dow.com/aircraft/products/pg.htm which then links to a .pdf file in the "WARNING" section, that gives a 36 page break down of the product in question.

 

I also looked up "Propylene glycol" and came across this page...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol

 

So I've read all the information and I'm not ruling out the fact that I may be able to adequately clean these tanks. What I'm asking here, is for more sets of eyes to read over this documentation and offer some opinions and/or advice. I'm not looking to be criticized, this isn't my first choice either but like I said I'm having a tough time locating totes that contained a food product! 

 

I know it's a lot to read over and I greatly appreciate those that may take the time to help me out here.

Thanks for your time in advance!

Quigs

 

[David Waite]

Pat I have seen aircraft glycol sprayed on grass runways and the grass had no effects at all. If these are the best you can find I would clean with soapy water and drain. Then fill with bleach or ammonia and water solution and let sit for a week. Make it strong . Then drain and fill with water and let sit in the sun. If it grows algae you are safe. Not the first choice but I think you could make it work.

[brian s carter]

here in waycross i found a plant that makes dog food and gets a binding agent for the dog food in them it seems to work ok and have had no adverse effects as to date over 2 years now

 

[Chris McMahon]

You can clean out pretty much anything if your willing to invest the time to do it. If you clean the tank and fill it with water, wait until algae starts to grow and your ready to use it.

I was lucky enough to find containers that were non toxic. It took me a week or so to do it. My guy has more. He is located in los Angeles CA.

[Nick Rizzo]

Pat check out Pepsi or Coke plants that's where we got ours from incuding the blue barrels

[Pat Quigley]

Chris McMahon said:

My guy has more. He is located in los Angeles CA.

I'm in Missouri, that might be a tad far!

[Pat Quigley]

Nick Rizzo said:

Pat check out Pepsi or Coke plants that's where we got ours from incuding the blue barrels

Hey Nick, nice to see a familiar face here!  There is a Coca-Cola plant in St. Louis. My wife tried to connect with them but never got a reply. Who or what department would you suggest trying to get a hold of? 7-Up used to be local too but I'm not sure if they still are or not.

[Nick Rizzo]

shipping and receiving

 

 

[Pat Quigley]

I'm fairly confident that is the avenue my wife approached with them. I'll check with her and perhaps try again. Thanks!