Cleaning an IBC tote

By last contents

The steps

1. Read the SDS for hazards and disposal advice.
2. Put on the gloves, eyewear and clothing it calls for.
3. Drain the tote fully through the valve.
4. Add a few inches of the cleaning liquid, close, and roll or rock the tote.
5. Drain, and repeat until the rinse runs clear.
6. Rinse the valve, the cap and the gasket separately.
7. Let it dry with the cap off.

The smell test

After cleaning, put your face a short distance from the open cap and sniff once. Any chemical, sweet or sour smell is a sign residue is still present. A bottle with a persistent smell is not suited to drinking water or to sensitive plants.

The rinse water

Rinse water carries what it removed. Collect it if the product was hazardous, and do not put it into a storm drain or on the ground. Ask the SDS and your environmental manager.

In South Florida

Heat speeds both cleaning and contamination. A tote washed in the July sun dries quickly, but a bottle left uncovered grows algae and attracts insects within days. Do cleaning in the morning, let the tote dry in shade with the cap off and a screen on, and fill or cover it the same day. Avoid washing anywhere runoff can reach a canal or a storm drain.

Tools and supplies

Gather a soft brush on a long handle, a hose with a spray head, a pump or a siphon, a bucket, a stack of clean rags, rubber gloves, safety glasses and the cleaning liquid named by the sheet. A pressure washer is handy for the cage but can drive water into valve threads; use it on the outside only. For the inside, a rotating spray nozzle on the end of a hose cuts the time. Keep a drain pan or a spill tray under the valve, and a bin of absorbent for drips. Make a checklist and tick off each rinse. When the rinse runs clear and odorless, let the tote dry with the cap off, in shade, and fit a screen before anything crawls in.