I just picked up a 275 gallon water tank to use as part of a rain catchment system. I was told it had only contained "salt water." After a bit of research, I find out that it's an Aqueous solution used for cleaning, and the salt probably wasn't sodium chloride. Any idea what is in those containers? Thanks.
It could have been sodium hydroxide solution (caustic), which is an aqueous salt. But it could have been anything else, too. Got any labeling? CAS# or RTK? If so, I might be able to figure something out.
I'd be worried about any other chems - general rule on used container re-use is to stay 100% away from "cleaning fluids" >>> just because the cleaning agent is used for food grade cleaning doesn't mean the cleaning agent container hasn't been compromised by the concentration of the chems ....
You can always let rain fill it and drain it a bunch of times. Once it passes the sniff and look test, water plants for a few months, then cats and squirrels, then use it in an emergency if you still have cats and squirrels after a while. It'll probably be safer than drinking out of a ditch full of dead zombies by then.
I picked up a used 330 gallon water container (IBC tote) about 10 years ago that was said to contain food grade silica (basically, sand). I washed it out with a pressure washer and soap, filled it and drained it a few times. It's been the water tank for my well and I ain't dead yet. I looked up silica (read the list of ingredients on a Mars bar, it's in there) and found that it's harmless if ingested, but you don't want to inhale it. Since I don't make a habit of inhaling water I figure it was ok. Just the same, there's a charcoal filter on the outlet before the booster pump, a 5 micron filter before it enters my travel trailer and drinking water goes through a Berkey filter as well.
When I had a house, I had a couple of whole house filters paper one for particles and one for charcoal (taste). There was a lot of sand in that water. Though I'm on a good well my drinking water now, I still go through a Britta filter. (I carry my water to the camper.)
