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ammo2rp
10/10/2009, 05:20 PM
I found some great food grade barrels for my ro/di water storage and salt mixxing use that once contained Dr Pepper soft drink surup. Does anyone know how I could possibly disenfect and clean them out to get rid of the Dr Pepper smell and possible contaminents?

HighlandReefer
10/10/2009, 05:31 PM
I use Pepsi Barrels myself. Rinsing them well with regular water is usually enough to get them clean for reef use. If you want to go a set further, I would soak them in bleach water over night. Then use a product like Amquel in regular water to soak it in afterward to remove the bleach.

ammo2rp
10/10/2009, 05:38 PM
If they still have a smell of dr pepper afetr cleaning out, do you think they would be safe to use?

Phyxius
10/10/2009, 05:46 PM
They will be fine and the smell will go away. I get a bunch of the different flavors in the barrels from CC and they all lose the smell after some use. Just rinse really well and drain it a few times and your good to go.
I smelled a pickle barrel one time and it retains a far stronger odor for longer periods of time LOL. You could also do like HighlandReefer mentioned and try and get rid of the smell that way

HighlandReefer
10/10/2009, 05:47 PM
Yes, it will be safe. It is very difficult to get the odor out of the plastic. The odor will dissipate over time. The main concern IMHO, would be to rinse the barrel well to get rid of the syrup. If you have to much syrup remaining in the barrels, you could get bacterial blooms similar to overdosing carbon sources.

ammo2rp
10/10/2009, 05:50 PM
Thanks for the replys. I wanted to make sure I dont make a big mistake before getting started on this new reef project

HighlandReefer
10/10/2009, 06:05 PM
Your welcome. ;)

Good luck in your endeavors. :)

Flipper62
10/10/2009, 11:45 PM
Years ago I got a few plastic barrels from my brother in law who works for Pepsi. They were the barrels that hold the syrup.

I just rinced them good, but they still had the smell. I filled them with water & added a ounce of bleach. I mixed it up good & let them sit over night. The next day I rinced them a few more times. They were good to use. They did kinda have the smell for a while, but after about 2 months it was gone.

luv951
10/11/2009, 01:11 AM
I smelled a pickle barrel one time and it retains a far stronger odor for longer periods of time LOL. You could also do like HighlandReefer mentioned and try and get rid of the smell that way

In college I had an internship in accts payable at a pickle company in Portland. The worst smell I have ever encountered was the curing vats on the tarmac out back...stuck with me so bad that I still, 11 years later, cannot eat that company's pickles.

TitanTV
10/11/2009, 06:14 AM
Hmmm.. I am glad i found this thread. I bought a really nice barrel that was used to transport olives. I rinsed and let it soak in fresh water overnight and there was no smell. So I mixed a batch of salt water in it and threw a heater inside. The heater was bad and heated the water to 97 and then it kinda smelled like olives so I disposed of the water and have not been using it.

Even if it smells a little like olives it will be safe? The water doesn't smell if you take a cup out and sniff it but the barrel does a little.

Randy Holmes-Farley
10/11/2009, 06:39 AM
I would not be concerned about most food smells. :)