Post by angelminx on Sept 17, 2014 8:15:25 GMT -5
I've been noticing that the water in the (18 gallon) Rubbermaid Roughneck Tote that I got last week has had a tendency towards falling pH/KH, so I went online to see if maybe something about the composition of the plastic might also have something to do with this.
From the Stack Exchange, Chemistry beta site (inorganic chemistry), one question is about the chemical composition of the Roughneck: "it is made with a durable polyethylene material.... (according to Wikipedia) the chemical composition (of polyethylene is) (C2H4)nH2" [if that means anything to anyone...] On the Home Depot site it is mentioned that they are a Low Density Polyethylene.
Also (Home Depot site), the answers (from Rubbermaid) to 2 questions about holding water, and food safety for the 18 Gal. Roughneck Totes: "...Rubbermaid totes are designed to hold household items, not liquids. The pressure of the water pushing out on the sides will cause the unit to break." "...designed for storing household items under normal household conditions. They are not designed for storing liquids. Solid items would require weight support on the bottom of the container, whereas liquids apply pressure on the sides of the container. This pressure could crack or split the container."
When I finally figured out how to use the Rubbermaid website; FAQ (had to wade through a lot of questions), under "Other Questions": ONE of the answers (asked by someone who wished to store water--because of frequent hurricanes--for drinking and aquarium water changes) was "Rubbermaid does not manufacture a water container designed for long term storage. If storing water during a storm, we recommend our insulated water coolers. The largest size is the #.... 10 gallon water cooler. We do not recommend storing food or water in anything not designed for food or beverages." They also say that there is info on the labels, but unless there is supposed to be a second label (mine only has one) my label does not have any "warnings" on it about usage. It would have been nice if they warned about this on the product.
One other thing, when I searched "Rubbermaid Roughneck composition", towards the bottom of the results (I think it was on the 1st page) was a question about safety/mixing water which took me to Wet Web Media about SeaH2OMixing where Bob Fenner (and a few others) answered some questions {including "How to make sure container (i<e>, big drum) is safe?" and "Seawater mixing, storage containers"}; and on page 22 (in my Print Preview at, I think it was 60%) was the question on "Fumes from Rubbermaid container, 3/13/04" "...I am concerned about the plastic smell and if it will contaminate the water. Once the water was in and being areated it almost smells like it's chlorinated. I get my RO from the LFS so it shouldn't have any chlorine in it. ... Have you experienced this? It smells pretty strong when I take the lid off. ... <If you haven't already, I would soak the container overnight with tap water and a few teaspoons of baking soda. Drain and repeat a couple of times. ... I would try a couple of soakings and see the smell goes away. If the smell is gone, I would consider it safe. I doubt if dechlorinator would help. Best Regards. Adam>"I
I don't know if this helps anyone or not. I've always heard of people using plastic bins/trash cans for holding/mixing water for aquariums and never heard about any problems with doing this. And I always assumed going with Rubbermaid or Sterilte would be safest (I haven't checked out the Sterilite website yet). What are "you-all's" experiences/opinions
?
Angelminx
From the Stack Exchange, Chemistry beta site (inorganic chemistry), one question is about the chemical composition of the Roughneck: "it is made with a durable polyethylene material.... (according to Wikipedia) the chemical composition (of polyethylene is) (C2H4)nH2" [if that means anything to anyone...] On the Home Depot site it is mentioned that they are a Low Density Polyethylene.
Also (Home Depot site), the answers (from Rubbermaid) to 2 questions about holding water, and food safety for the 18 Gal. Roughneck Totes: "...Rubbermaid totes are designed to hold household items, not liquids. The pressure of the water pushing out on the sides will cause the unit to break." "...designed for storing household items under normal household conditions. They are not designed for storing liquids. Solid items would require weight support on the bottom of the container, whereas liquids apply pressure on the sides of the container. This pressure could crack or split the container."
When I finally figured out how to use the Rubbermaid website; FAQ (had to wade through a lot of questions), under "Other Questions": ONE of the answers (asked by someone who wished to store water--because of frequent hurricanes--for drinking and aquarium water changes) was "Rubbermaid does not manufacture a water container designed for long term storage. If storing water during a storm, we recommend our insulated water coolers. The largest size is the #.... 10 gallon water cooler. We do not recommend storing food or water in anything not designed for food or beverages." They also say that there is info on the labels, but unless there is supposed to be a second label (mine only has one) my label does not have any "warnings" on it about usage. It would have been nice if they warned about this on the product.
One other thing, when I searched "Rubbermaid Roughneck composition", towards the bottom of the results (I think it was on the 1st page) was a question about safety/mixing water which took me to Wet Web Media about SeaH2OMixing where Bob Fenner (and a few others) answered some questions {including "How to make sure container (i<e>, big drum) is safe?" and "Seawater mixing, storage containers"}; and on page 22 (in my Print Preview at, I think it was 60%) was the question on "Fumes from Rubbermaid container, 3/13/04" "...I am concerned about the plastic smell and if it will contaminate the water. Once the water was in and being areated it almost smells like it's chlorinated. I get my RO from the LFS so it shouldn't have any chlorine in it. ... Have you experienced this? It smells pretty strong when I take the lid off. ... <If you haven't already, I would soak the container overnight with tap water and a few teaspoons of baking soda. Drain and repeat a couple of times. ... I would try a couple of soakings and see the smell goes away. If the smell is gone, I would consider it safe. I doubt if dechlorinator would help. Best Regards. Adam>"I
I don't know if this helps anyone or not. I've always heard of people using plastic bins/trash cans for holding/mixing water for aquariums and never heard about any problems with doing this. And I always assumed going with Rubbermaid or Sterilte would be safest (I haven't checked out the Sterilite website yet). What are "you-all's" experiences/opinions
?Angelminx
