RO water storage questions.

levicash · Jun 7, 2015

I have 4 55g blue food grade barrels that have been pressure washed and sanitized on the inside. My question is the use to contain a 10% solution of Sodium Hypochlorite are the safe to use to store Ro/di water in.

gtbarsi · Jun 7, 2015

Best thing you can do is fill one with RO/DI, check the TDS of the source water and note the TDS. Check the TDS of the water in the barrel after 3 days to a week (be sure to cover the barrel).

If it has increased they are leaching something or it was not completely clean.

Try washing with vinegar, rinse, then rinse with RO/DI a couple of times and run the test again, this time let the water sit in the barrel at least one week. If your TDS is elevated a second time then the barrels are probably no good for RO/DI storage.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 8, 2015

Sodium hypochlorite is bleach. I think they need to be aired for a long time before use to make sure there's none still leaching out of the plastic.

gtbarsi · Jun 8, 2015

0 TDS RO/DI water will practically pull anything in the container out, and it will show as increased TDS. The TDS test is the only way to know if the.containers are any good.

If they were storing bleach do you know if it was in liquid or powder form? If powder then it was likely bagged inside of the barrel.

AZDesertRat · Jun 8, 2015

Sodium hypochlorite is liquid bleach. Calcium hypochlorite would be granular chlorine. Regardless, the hypochlorite shouldn't have penetrated the plastic much if any, do a good rinse with water then fill it with a sodium thiosulfate or ascorbic acid and water solution for a day or so and they should be fine. Your TDS meter or a low range chlorine test kit will tell you the real story. Sodium hypochlorite is liquid bleach. Calcium hypochlorite would be granular chlorine and not necessarily in plastic or bags and rarely in 55G drums. Regardless, the hypochlorite shouldn't have penetrated the plastic much if at all, a low range chlorine test kit will tell the story