r/Homesteading • u/Moist-Ant6720 • 3d ago
Ibc tote
Probably a dumb question but is it true that this tote can be used to store water for showering and dishes when cleaned out
It had a chlorine solution
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u/TheWorldNeedsDornep 3d ago
I would use it with little concern. The "other ingredients" are likely surfactants to help the solution "stick" to the item being sanitized. Once you clean it, it might smell like bleach but otherwise I think it will be fine.
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u/Shanelomein79 3d ago
Seems it would be fine. Whatever residual will be soooo diluted.
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u/Moist-Ant6720 3d ago
So you’d think I should be fine to use it for showering and washing dishes, I cleaned it out and it has little to no smell of chlorine
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u/Informal_Victory6134 2d ago
I’d say super bleach is a better tote for a shower supply than a tote with fish fertilizer
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u/meadowprincess23 2d ago
Sodium hypochlorite is a component of chlorine dioxide which regardless of the different opinions on taking it internally would likely be safe at what little concentrations would be left within the container. It was used widely within healthcare and hospital settings when the pandemic happened and within different health circles has gained its own respect If anything this container is already super disinfected and imo is totally fine for what you’re looking to use it for. It is also used within large public water systems to kill bacteria but leaves no harmful metabolites as standard bleach would.
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u/erie11973ohio 1d ago
Thats the same as liquid chlorine that is put into swimming pools.
Rinse well, it'll be fine.
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u/Anxious_Smoke9536 1d ago
The main concern you should have is if this tote was fluorinated. A fluorine gas is used on the tank to create an impermeable layer on the inside of the tank to store harsh chemicals. The problem is that when fluorine interacts with HDPE it can create PFAS which are known endocrine disrupters and are also called “forever chemicals” bc they do not degrade in nature(takes a looooot of energy to break their bonds). If you have water sitting in this tote and you plan to use it to drink, shower or garden, then you will be drinking, showering with or watering and eating the PFAS that have leached into the tote. To make sure your tote doesn’t have PFAS you need to get a tote that is food safe and has an fda green sticker on it.
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u/Moist-Ant6720 1d ago
I ordered some food grade liner off Amazon for it, you think it should be fine like that since it won’t be incontac with the actual tote plastic?
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u/Anxious_Smoke9536 1d ago
Eh idk. Most of Amazon is just dropshipped Chinese stuff which I wouldn’t trust. Also what kind of liner? I’ve never heard of someone buying one of those. You can get used icb totes with fda stickers for like 100 bucks on fb marketplace
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u/Henrik-Powers 1d ago
I’ve got some off grid land and one of neighbors out there used a bunch of these for various projects, he took two and stacked them and cut in a door and made a shower. I think as long as it’s a water soluble solution I would feel comfortable using. If it’s an oil based then I would skip.
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u/IronSlanginRed 11h ago
It's VERY sanitized. Hahaha.
Considering to make water potable, thats what you add in small concentrations. It's more than fine if rinsed out well. If you can still smell the chlorine then keep rinsing out the water unless you want basically municipal water levels of chlorination.
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u/Forward_Scheme5033 1h ago
It's really a non issue. It'd be the same concern if you bought the tote with some other thing previously stored in it, then cleaned it out with bleach. A tiny amount of bleach residue isn't an issue in shower water or for cleaning dishes.
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u/JimmyTheDog 2d ago
Rinse it out well. Put an acid in there, citric or acetic acid, and then tumble the tote around. You should be good after another rinse of clean water.
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u/sikkimensis 2d ago
Mixing bleach and acid makes chlorine gas. Don't fucking do this.
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u/JimmyTheDog 2d ago
Please calm down over exaggeration person. The person said there is a smell of bleach left in the tote. The acids reacts with the remaining bleach, you are technically correct, the amount is extremely small. Totally safe as long as your head in not in the tank. So, your hyper emotional response is un-called for when a person replies with the correct info.
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u/Illustrious_Cash1325 3d ago
So that had basically household bleach but double the normal strength. I don't know if you will be able to get the taste/smell out of it very well, but like, the worst case scenario is you will be making ultra low strength bleach. The real question is, what were the other "inactive ingredients".