Home depot orange buckets, safe? who uses?

[Liam]

Yeah I don't know, is orange coloring more toxic that white coloring? It's not like plastic is naturally white. Me thinks to be food grade means passing certain tests and having to maintain an extra level of control over the manufacturing processes. All of that are expenses an HD bucket wouldn't need. That doesn't necessarily mean they buckets are made from something different. They just aren't certified. But the good thing is that there are plenty of alternatives.

you are likely correct, but there also may be a bullet in the next chamber there may not

 

[somewhereinri]

I've been using the HD buckets, nothing seems out of whack so far. My biggest concern with the HD buckets was any residue or dust of harmful stuff. I found a stack of clean ones, rinsed them well with tap water, and they're working out fine for me.

 

[JohnK]

I guess the wise thing to do is to avoid using the orange buckets, but I doubt there's any reason to panic if you have been using them and seen no problems.

Heck, maybe the only risk is that your corals will turn HD orange

 

[cyannotater]

long term DI water storage

I've been using HD buckets (both white and orange) to store DI water I take home from the lab I work in. I regularly store water in these for weeks to months with no apparent ill effects. One more for the "not an issue" tally.

 

[Aquaman_68]

I got an idea for ya..

Buy your next batch of salt in a bucket....(Than you don't have to worry bout paying too much for the bucket) & you will also have a white extruded bucket...

FWIW.....I've left straight ro/di water in a orange HD bucket way way back... (close to 9 years ago) The tds ended up at six when it when in a clean bucket at 0 ...(after a few days) Rinsed it tried again...same thing...


could have been dust etc...but IDK...that was enough to make me stop using it!!


The reason for the test originally...I read something on RC about those buckets not being reef safe...


If you don't feel they are a problem....continue to use them....It's your tank!!

 

[marine mike]

I do use a couple orange ones also, but just for draining purposes. I use salt buckets for any water that matters or is going into my system. Storage is all done in food grade (or close) containers such as rubbermaid etc. If anyone has had an issue or the manufacturer says there could be one, why risk it for a $3 bucket?

 

[soglf]

"food" for thought...
Plumbing for systems that must be "clean" (i.e. food grade, or better than food grade in some cases) like many lab grade RO/DI systems, is done with CPVC. This is because PVC can leach unwanteds into the water, and CPVC doesn't....
...sooooo if you are super worried about things being food grade, you should worry about all that PVC plumbing.

I use 5g poland spring jugs (but plumb with good ole' PVC)

 

[LosingSleep]

"food" for thought...
Plumbing for systems that must be "clean" (i.e. food grade, or better than food grade in some cases) like many lab grade RO/DI systems, is done with CPVC. This is because PVC can leach unwanteds into the water, and CPVC doesn't....
...sooooo if you are super worried about things being food grade, you should worry about all that PVC plumbing.

I use 5g poland spring jugs (but plumb with good ole' PVC)

Clearly you are a genius.

Can CPVC be purchased in ...orange?

 

[JayM]

The CPVC only needs to go on returns, right? The drains are just waste.

The drains just drain to the sump, so.....oh, never mind.

 

[Aquaman_68]

It's more of an issue with straight ro/di water...Cause this water is so stripped it acts like a solvent... Just think of a dry sponge...dropped in a bucket of water...


FWIW Using anything to store ro/di water that can leach is the issue...I wouldn't worry too much if it has been saturated with saltwater mix. The issue with makewater sitting too long ...... bacteria can begin to form in it if it sits too long... (like more than four or 5 days)

My suggestion..(though off topic in this regard) Mix ro/di water with your synthetic ss mix & use it within a couple days.. (if your using non- chelated salt you can almost plug & play..ie: Tropic marin reg mix...when you mix this up it dissolves in like 15 mins if it is stirred up slightly....I don't think you can do this with the TM pro though... & I know you can't do it with the cheaper brand like IO...That stuff takes forever to dissolve...(maybe it is due to the fact that it is chelated)

So pretty much...those orange buckets this thread is actually about...I wouldn't suggest using them to store ro/di water... If you feel it is ok.....Rock on with your bad self!!

 

[tubsy3]

Dont Use These For Ato!!

Been curious about this for some time now. Esp since I jsut started using an orange bucket for my osmolator. For the hell of it just now I took one of the probes from my inline tds meters and stuck it in the bucket of ato (which was 0 tds when it went in). To my suprise......it read 26 on the tds meter. I will def just use my other IO bucket now. Just a heads up for anyone who doesnt have a tds meter.

Now I am not sure if the water had to be flowing through the small pipe or not, since that is how they work for the inline model but I dont see why that would be a problem. I am going to switch to the IO bucket and ill test again the same way later and post what I find.

Now my question is I have been pumping this junk for ATO water for like a week or 2. Will this cause me any problems? Also will this bucket somehow contaminate my salt that I have stored in another home depot bucket??? My suggestion is to jsut use these buckets for acclimating or something. That is not going into your tank.

 

[afboundguy]

I use white buckets for my water but I store them in red and yellow gas/diesal containers... Now I'm wondering if I should test the TDS after they've sat in the containers for a week Anyone have a TDS meter on the north shore I could borrow? I could even bring the water to get it tested at your home

 

[tubsy3]

Ok just switched to the IO bucket and we will see how that turns out. I started to wonder what all the other containers i use produce for tds and I was suprised. I normally use a poland spring 5gal bottle when I create rodi and then pour that to where ever I need it. Today the bottle was 1/4 full and I filled it up with new rodi (0 tds out). I stuck the probe in there and came out with a reading of 1. This was only after leaving the bottle out for a few hrs. Is this normal. I didn't have the bottle capped so I dont know if that is why.

What do you guys use to store water that will not contaminate rodi?

I also wanted to see what the brute i use to mix new salt water would show up. and it kept going up and up until it gave an error. Is testing saltwater with a tds meter not valid?

 

[tubsy3]

I use white buckets for my water but I store them in red and yellow gas/diesal containers... Now I'm wondering if I should test the TDS after they've sat in the containers for a week Anyone have a TDS meter on the north shore I could borrow? I could even bring the water to get it tested at your home

You are welcome to try my inline and see haha, but I am still waiting to see what others say if my method is valid or if the water has to actually be flowing through the small tubing for it to be correct.

 

[Aquaman_68]

Been curious about this for some time now. Esp since I jsut started using an orange bucket for my osmolator. For the hell of it just now I took one of the probes from my inline tds meters and stuck it in the bucket of ato (which was 0 tds when it went in). To my suprise......it read 26 on the tds meter. I will def just use my other IO bucket now. Just a heads up for anyone who doesnt have a tds meter.

Now I am not sure if the water had to be flowing through the small pipe or not, since that is how they work for the inline model but I dont see why that would be a problem. I am going to switch to the IO bucket and ill test again the same way later and post what I find.

Now my question is I have been pumping this junk for ATO water for like a week or 2. Will this cause me any problems? Also will this bucket somehow contaminate my salt that I have stored in another home depot bucket??? My suggestion is to jsut use these buckets for acclimating or something. That is not going into your tank.

Two weeks isn't gonna be an issue..Like I said above...I wouldn't store any make up SW in any container for more than 3 days or so...Once you get past that amount of time the water starts to make a film on the edge of the bucket..(white ones as well) This can start to form a bad bacteria in the right enviroment....

Ok just switched to the IO bucket and we will see how that turns out. I started to wonder what all the other containers i use produce for tds and I was suprised. I normally use a poland spring 5gal bottle when I create rodi and then pour that to where ever I need it. Today the bottle was 1/4 full and I filled it up with new rodi (0 tds out). I stuck the probe in there and came out with a reading of 1. This was only after leaving the bottle out for a few hrs. Is this normal. I didn't have the bottle capped so I dont know if that is why.

What do you guys use to store water that will not contaminate rodi?

I also wanted to see what the brute i use to mix new salt water would show up. and it kept going up and up until it gave an error. Is testing saltwater with a tds meter not valid?

This can be caused by residual solids in the container...as I said above....ro/di water is nasty... It's like a dry sponge looking to soak up any liquid it can. This holds true for ro/di water...but what it looks to extract is disolved solids

You don't test SW with tds...Tds is "total disolved solids" Salt mix has solids...

BTW...just the ones our reef tanks demand & in the right amounts that are optimal

You are welcome to try my inline and see haha, but I am still waiting to see what others say if my method is valid or if the water has to actually be flowing through the small tubing for it to be correct.

I don't beleive it matters with flow....But I'm not sure what type of meter you have....If it is saturated in the water for about 3 to 5 mins you should be at your target level that the water is... (provided the tds meter has been calibrated recently & is still operational)


HTH answers all your questions, Chris.....If you have any more you can pm me or call me....


B