cleaning barrel; am I doing it right

A friend at a car wash gave me a white plastic barrel to store my RODI water in. I was hesitant at first because the residual soap was so thick in the bottom. But, I think I am OK now but just wanted to check and see if anyone had any other suggestions/ or input.

I rinsed, rinsed, rinsed until I got no bubbles.... took quite awhile. But then I completely filled it with tap water... let it sit a few hours.... empty..... fill again.... let it sit.... empty.... filled it again and added 2 gallons of white vinegar..... repeated that step. Then filled with plain water one last time and let sit overnight.

Now, I had plans of filling with water and testing for phosphates in 2-3 days. My question is, can I do this with tap water and see if the phosphates increase from what the tap water is, or should I use my precious RO/DI water and see if I get anything higher than 0.

Does all of this sound OK or should I not risk using this barrel. Before the vinegar, I was still getting a hint of the soap fragrance, but after the vinegar, there is no order, no bubbles, etc. I even drank some from it just to see the taste.

 

I'm sorry say if it were me I would not risk all the hard work, time and money that I've invested on my tank on trying to use that container.

 

it comes down to if that barrel is food grade or not. You may get phosphate out of the barrel itself.

 

Are there any markings that would tell me if it is food grade. It is just like the ones baytec containers online sells... they say food grade.

It is a real hard plastic with a 2 in the recycle triangle. I am not mistaking I read where the softer they are the more phosphates they may leach, and the harder they are the less they will leach. If that is the case, I am hoping to be OK!

 

Never used food grade barrels. Interesting though the are a bit pricey. I bought my barrel from home depot, and use their buckets too. I was told rain barrels are usually good res holders. If the barrel ever had a little bit of soap that's 1 thing, if it has a coating of soap on the bottom.. eh I doubt I'd use that. New is always best when trying to keep things clean.

 

I would shy away from anything that ever had soap or any other chemical in it. Many times you can find used food grade at a drum recycler or on craigslist relatively cheap.

 

Chances are if this container was used for any great length of time there will be chemicals bound to the plastic that will leach over time. Sometimes free can cost you a lot of money. I would pass.