Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello,

I am looking to find one or two IBC's for a small system, but do not know where to look for them. Seems like the only ones I see have had some sort of chemical in them and are not food safe. What is a good place to look for food safe IBC's and how can you be certain that they have not held something poisonous?

Thanks,
Greebe

craigslist for you area is a good place to find them....

jT

Hey thanks. I have tried craigs list but unfortunately people must have a hard time figuring out how to use it here in West Virginia as there are very few adds listed on it here. In Alaska, where I am from, it was a huge method of buying and selling. I will keep looking.

All I can really suggest is to try to find any beverage companies, commercial bakeries, or other food-prep companies that are not located on rail road spurs. "Sugar totes" are generally considered the best, although I know at least one person who would dispute that, and places like big bakeries, or really any big concerns that have food-handling equipment, are going to need an ongoing supply of food-grade or at least non-toxic "safe for food-handling machinery" lubricants, which as far as I've ever seen means a high-grade, light-weight mineral oil.

I say "not located on rail road spurs" because at least in my paltry experience, places with rail road access don't need IBCs, unless they're "outgoing", i.e. being filled on-site and shipped out, which won't do you any good. This isn't a hard and fast rule, as there's probably some place that has both, so your milage may very.

The IBCs with mineral oil can be a pain in the neck to scrub out, and you've got to get it all or the fish will suffocate, but the oil isn't toxic so the IBCs will be fine once clean.

I have located another industrial source for potentially free IBC totes that might prove beneficial for anyone in the USA, and probably in other countries as well.

"Highway Paint Striping Companies". No kidding.

Now I know what you're thinking... "Paint = dangerous chemicals". That can certainly be the case, BUT it wasn't in the examples I recently found. Both the Sherwin-Williams and 3M produced paints end up essentially being non-toxic when cleaned or dried. I'll explain further since they don't start that way...

In all the cases I've seen (which would be a grand total of three, so do your homework), the health hazard issues with these paints comes in two forms: 1) Methanol, which means it is flamable and you don't want to absorb much through your skin... and 2) both Calcium Carbonate and Titanium Dioxide, which make great chalk, marble countertops, and underarm deoderant, but in this case you don't want to breathe it because inhaling those or the accompanying silicates is not a happy thing.



BUT!!! According to the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)s, that you can download from here: http://www.paintdocs.com/msds/ , that's all that is listed under "toxicology data", and those three things can be washed out of the totes. Heck, if you're patient the methanol will evaporate on its own over time, leaving you with dried paint to chip out, but it looks to me like the paint doesn't adhere very well to the tote plastic, so that might not be such a chore. Note: I'm about to find out first hand, so I'll report back if I'm wrong about that. Of course, if someone more knowledgeable on the subject knows that I've overlooked something and am headed towards tragic results, I'd really appreciate a heads-up!

As far as the end result being toxic or not, let me quote from the MSDS itself:
"ECOTOXICOLOGICAL INFORMATION
No data available.
WASTE DISPOSAL METHOD
Waste from this product is not hazardous as defined under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 40 CFR 261."

Since we have roads and highways as far as the eye can see, in all of our bountiful states, I'm hoping that someone out there who needs IBC totes will be able to contact a nearby striping company who might be grateful to unload some free of charge, just so they don't have to pay some recycler to take them off their hands. It would not surprise me if the same thing held true all over the globe.

Good luck!