Cleaning out blue barrels

[brokedownbiker]

I just picked up a couple of 30 gallon blue barrels (they were used for transporting DR. Pepper syrup). The Dr. Pepper aroma is still pretty strong in them, can anyone suggest a good method for cleaning them out for water storage?

As much as I like Dr. Pepper, I don't want the flavor in my drinking water.

Thanks

[610Alpha]

try bleach and some sunlight...others have used that for pickle buckets

[Matt In Oklahoma]

1/3 bag of pool shock. let it sit for around 2hrs in the sunlight rinse thoroughly and you are GTG

[sjhopkins]

Well it would take a large amount, but baking soda mixed with water and then allowed to sit in the sun would help. I've used this on pickle buckets and other "smelly" items.

[brokedownbiker]

Thanks for the info, I'll start filling them in the morning.

[Grinnan Barrett]

I agree with the Baking soda idea. At least you got real food grade stuff. Don't ever use any barrel that was used for chemicals of any kind. I work with chemicals on a daily basis and this comes from our lab folks. Plastic barrels hold onto the stuff that was stored in them. it is absorbed into the plastic itself. Hope you got a good deal. thirty gallon barrels are expensive. I was without water for a couple of days now and had to get into my storage stuff. Good thing it was there. My wife has a new understanding of how much water she uses.