55 gallon Drum / Barrel residue liquids

You need to tailor your cleaning actions to what the actual chemical is/was. For example, you will probably do things differently between a barrel that contained concentrated sulfuric acid and a barrel that contained canola oil.

Jon.

local fire dept. will take it, they use it to start control burns

First thread blues.. I was wondering why "Funny" was appearing next to my thread. Also learned how to use the "Multi-quote" option.

Originally Posted by sawmilleng

You need to tailor your cleaning actions to what the actual chemical is/was. For example, you will probably do things differently between a barrel that contained concentrated sulfuric acid and a barrel that contained canola oil.

Jon.

That's my plan but the majority of barrels that I come across contain enough hazardous waste to fill around 2-4 16oz bottles and each barrel has a different liquid.

Originally Posted by brandon

Does your county/city have a place that you can take chemicals.

Yes, the county has a hazardous waste acceptance program but strictly prohibits commercial hazardous waste. This is simply because the chemical residues are contained in barrels and are concentrated compounds that are not readily available to the public (meaning that I can't pour this stuff in a bottle/canister and have them accept it because it needs to contain a label for the chemical).

Originally Posted by valleyscrapping

local fire dept. will take it, they use it to start control burns

I'll call the local FD and see if that have any connections to safely dump this stuff and then donate. Donating always helps the bottom line, as long as you itemize that is.



On another not, I read somewhere that 1 liter of oil can contaminate 1 million liters of water. Of course, I wasn't the the person who conducted the study or experiment but oil or not its not an option to let this stuff simply run down any drain.

It's hard to do things the right way, but so easy to do it the wrong way. Guess, I'm just a big "green" tree hugging softy. I just can't stand the idea of having this stuff run into the ground in any kind of way because I know people who use well water at their houses.

OMG I'm scared.ahhhhhhhhh O_o°

Lupin,

That's probably why you can get the barrels cheap or free...the company that empties the product out of them doesn't want to pay for the (proper) disposal or cleaning of them so they fob it off on unsuspecting people who may not know any better. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually is against the law for them to do that, as they are liable for properly disposing of their own waste!!

You still have to deal with the right cleaning procedure....just asking the fire department to "burn it" only works with a few products, oils likely being one of them. Wanna try burning concentrated sulfuric?

The other question that we scrappies always ask, "Is there any resale value for the product?". Maybe 16 oz. of concentrated industrial cleaner might be worth a lot to a home shop guy who needs to clean an engine block or something... Also, if you could come up with a way of reliably removing the remnants out of a barrel you might be able to accumulate this stuff and sell it back to the original user!!

Just some ideas to consider.

Jon.

What's in the barrels?
Any single sources barrells will all tend to be similar in nature.

The residue of some drums may be worth money too.

when you pour it into bottles be sure to label it with a permanent marker exactly what's in it

I would walk away from that deal. Dealing with unknown chemicals can put you in the hospital or six feet under.

Originally Posted by olddude

Most of us wouldn't last an hour on the gold forum.

Ain't that the truth. Their a good bunch over there, but they take it very serious, as they should. I imagine they have a hidden section where they all get silly. They just don't let the general public see it. ha ha.

Sirscrapalot - When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, 'Did you sleep good?' I said 'No, I made a few mistakes.' - Steven Wright