Hi Folks,
Where does one buy plastic 55 gallon drums? Lowes and our co-op do not have them.
thanks...sharon
Where does one buy plastic 55 gallon drums? Lowes and our co-op do not have them.
thanks...sharon
55 gallon drums...where?
- Thread starter sharonf239
- Start date
I have not tried this, but Craigs List is where I would both look and post a wanted ad.
Hi Sharon,
Try your local soda bottling plant for a freebie before paying for one.
A friend asked Pepsi (hmmm, or was it Coke?) for one or two to make rain barrels with and they offered him 9. Woo hoo! Absolutely free of charge.
They even have pipes on the top (where liquid was pumped in and then out again) so all you'd have to do for a bottom drain is flip the barrel over and saw the top off. Fairly easily done.
Good luck!
Try your local soda bottling plant for a freebie before paying for one.
A friend asked Pepsi (hmmm, or was it Coke?) for one or two to make rain barrels with and they offered him 9. Woo hoo! Absolutely free of charge.
They even have pipes on the top (where liquid was pumped in and then out again) so all you'd have to do for a bottom drain is flip the barrel over and saw the top off. Fairly easily done.
Good luck!
Thanks DrDave & Kelli....will see what I can find :>)!
Great idea kelli.
kelli said:
Hey, that's a good idea. Now got me thinking again... What size fitting did you require for the hole? I picked up 4 more blue barrels (I'm probably use a few as rain barrels) on the way home from flea/junk shop along the highway. Guy wanted $10 each... That's fair enough.
PP'ing them right now.
You will want a 2" ball valve near the bottom for the flush to clean. With a Beckett W1150 lifting the water 6' then into the barrell, I have a 1 1/4" overflow. I recommend going to the next size up.
Thanks DrDave & Kelli....will see what I can find :>)!
I honestly don't remember what size the drain pipe was on those. I myself opted away from using the (soda) barrel for our pond filter, but a stock tank instead. ONLY because where I'll need to landscape around the waterfall, the stock tank will work better & be easier for me.
I may end up using one for a rain barrel, though, next time the bottler has some they want to part with.
Blue barrels I'm not familiar with, but for $10, sounds like a great deal!
I may end up using one for a rain barrel, though, next time the bottler has some they want to part with.
Blue barrels I'm not familiar with, but for $10, sounds like a great deal!
News Update: 55 gallon Sources Drying Up!
We have a Pepsi plant in our town. They said they now 'have to return' the empties to the main plant for recycling. Contacted our City Water Treatment plant, secretary hasn't called back after a couple of hours. She said they did have several of the barrels but would have to 'check with her boss.' May be some recycling regulations involved now... i dunno, have one more lead...
Pictures at Ten! :fingersx:
We have a Pepsi plant in our town. They said they now 'have to return' the empties to the main plant for recycling. Contacted our City Water Treatment plant, secretary hasn't called back after a couple of hours. She said they did have several of the barrels but would have to 'check with her boss.' May be some recycling regulations involved now... i dunno, have one more lead...
Pictures at Ten! :fingersx:
taherrmann4
Tmann
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Could try car washes. You would have to clean them out very well but their soap comes in them a lot of times.
HTH
Howard
At least here the car washes get their soap as powder in boxes. You may run into that.
Thanks for all the suggestions. No luck, so far. Found the last source asking me to let him know if I find any! 
I suspect that some of the government health/EPA regulations have created a need to account for these empty containers. That's great for helping keep them out of land fills for 953.5 years (give or take a thousand!). But it's making it more difficult for some of us to get these barrels. So far, every facility I've contacted claims they have to recycle them with either a contractor or the corporate owners. There are several web sites selling these things for as little as $10 a piece, unfortunately, none are within driving distance and the shipping costs make it pretty expensive. I think it might be cheaper to buy a very large 3-d printer and 'print' my own!
My main reason for these things is to make water changes easier. I've gone through two inflatable 'kiddy pools' in two years, the last one lasted only one inflation before springing an air leak! Any suggestions on finding and repairing these things?
It's 'fun' trying to balance cost/time/energy/space for something I simply want to enjoy. Having a grand-dog that likes to chew/claw everything she can find in the yard adds a bit of a challenge, also. She loves the pond because of the frogs it provides for her to chase! LOL!
I suspect that some of the government health/EPA regulations have created a need to account for these empty containers. That's great for helping keep them out of land fills for 953.5 years (give or take a thousand!). But it's making it more difficult for some of us to get these barrels. So far, every facility I've contacted claims they have to recycle them with either a contractor or the corporate owners. There are several web sites selling these things for as little as $10 a piece, unfortunately, none are within driving distance and the shipping costs make it pretty expensive. I think it might be cheaper to buy a very large 3-d printer and 'print' my own!
My main reason for these things is to make water changes easier. I've gone through two inflatable 'kiddy pools' in two years, the last one lasted only one inflation before springing an air leak! Any suggestions on finding and repairing these things?
It's 'fun' trying to balance cost/time/energy/space for something I simply want to enjoy. Having a grand-dog that likes to chew/claw everything she can find in the yard adds a bit of a challenge, also. She loves the pond because of the frogs it provides for her to chase! LOL!
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
i've gotten several from carwashes... the automated "drive thru" ones. never paid more than $10.00...craigslist usually has some as well $30.00 average, fleamarkets too.