Wash/sanitize in plastic drums?

[snapz007]

I'm about to become the recipient of a couple of 55-gallon plastic drums, of the sort in which water treatment plants receive liquid chlorine.

I'm wondering if these drums (which I'd guess are PVC, or maybe - probably not - but maybe a nylon?) would be okay to use for building a two-basin outdoor washing/sanitizing sink for my homebrew gear. I'd just cut the tops out of them, cut them down to 35-gallon height, and mount them on a frame of pressure-treated lumber. I'd only use them for wash-water and for Star San, and they'd only be "wet" for a couple of hours each brew day - at the end of the day, they'd be drained and turned upside-down to dry. In other words, I wouldn't be storing sanitizer in the drums, just using them as basins. Only other mod to the drums would be drilling out and fitting drains in the bottoms, with cut-off valves - probably all in PVC as well.

I'm not at all concerned about using one as a wash-water tub, but does anyone think I'd have any problems using one as a sanitizing basin with standard-strength Star San?

Thanks!
Lee

 

[dbeer22]

They are probably polyethylene, most drums are if so you should be fine

 

[mpcluever]

That's A LOT of Star San. Only have to get stuff wet for a couple minutes. 1 gallon is PLENTY to sanitize a fermenter.

 

[snapz007]

LOL - I see what you mean, my post wasn't very clear. I'm not going to be making 35-gallon batches of StarSan - just 5 gallons at a time. The deep basin is there to prevent ME from getting soaked with sanitizer from sloshover and splashing. Also, it'd be nice to be able to (if the need were to arise) make a 15-gallon batch and sanitize 6-8 cases of bottles at the same time.

Thanks for the reply about the drums - glad to know I won't be liberating chlorine gas or leaching PCB's onto my beer gear!

L

 

[TyTanium]

Most of those drums or HDPE...should work great for wash/cleaning bins. Or bottle label removing bins. They do scratch easily though, so might not be the best for sanitation.

5g of StarSan? Overkill. Again, it's wet contact, not soaking. I usually brew with 1/2 to 1 gallon, and even that seems like overkill.