Repurposing plastic gas cans

[BaseCampAnne]

Hi,

When I travelled to Desolation Sound a couple of years ago with the Tugnuts I purchased two vinyl 5 gallon cans to carry extra gas, but did not need them. I am curious if I might be able to repurpose them by cleaning them with ? for water even though I had gas in them once?

It sounds crazy, but thought I would ask just in case. The pooch and I use more water than gas🙂

Anne

 

[Nellie Too]

Anne,
Not a good idea. Its best to buy some approved potable water containers. We have three (3 gallon) containers we take with us on the boat for making coffee and consuming and we clean then often when we are home with bleach and hot water, make sure and rinse many times.
Bob

 

[tlkenyon]

Once a plastic container has been used for gasoline, it should never be utilized for anything else except other petroleum products. The benzene in the gasoline will be absorbed by the walls of the container and then leach back into any other type of fluids placed in the container - again, except of course other petroleum liquids. The amount of benzene that could be leached into water would probably exceed an odor/taste threshold and would almost certainly exceed the drinking water standard of 5 parts per billion. Not a good idea.

 

[GulfSailor]

Hi,

When I travelled to Desolation Sound a couple of years ago with the Tugnuts I purchased two vinyl 5 gallon cans to carry extra gas, but did not need them. I am curious if I might be able to repurpose them by cleaning them with ? for water even though I had gas in them once?

It sounds crazy, but thought I would ask just in case. The pooch and I use more water than gas🙂

Anne

As others have said, don't use them for potable water.
However, as long as they've been fully emptied of gas it's perfectly ok to use them for diesel; a spare ten gallons is always handy!

 

[walldog]

Hi,

When I travelled to Desolation Sound a couple of years ago with the Tugnuts I purchased two vinyl 5 gallon cans to carry extra gas, but did not need them. I am curious if I might be able to repurpose them by cleaning them with ? for water even though I had gas in them once?

It sounds crazy, but thought I would ask just in case. The pooch and I use more water than gas🙂

Anne

As others have said, don't use them for potable water.
However, as long as they've been fully emptied of gas it's perfectly ok to use them for diesel; a spare ten gallons is always handy!

Anne, we found a couple of 5 gallon cans made for drinking water at Fred Meyers....thanks for reminding me to put them in the truck to bring with us. We also had a solar shower to supplement our fresh water. We only used the solar shower for its novelty....gets really hot. And we brought the 5 gallon cans back still full. Of course this year may be different.

 

[RProffer]

Besides not being a good idea to reuse a gas/diesel container for water, it may be illegal. Some areas have laws that require appropriate colored and marked containers be used for flammables (e.g. red for gasoline, yellow for diesel, blue for kerosene). Putting something in the container other than what it is designed for could be illegal, and be confusing for firefighters and others. Also, I would not want to be the person who forgot what they put in the red container, and pour 5 gal of water in a gas tank.

Also, water containers must/should be made from certain materials. Other materials which may be in a flammables container may be bad for a water container.

 

[BaseCampAnne]

Thanks for the unanimous opinion 😀

Now that that is settled, I am wondering if you carry spare containers with diesel when traveling somewhat remote, and if so, where do you keep the containers?

Also, is there much of a chance of getting contaminated diesel similar to gasoline?

Thanks :!:

Anne

 

[GulfSailor]

Thanks for the unanimous opinion 😀

Now that that is settled, I am wondering if you carry spare containers with diesel when traveling somewhat remote, and if so, where do you keep the containers?

Also, is there much of a chance of getting contaminated diesel similar to gasoline?

Thanks :!:

Anne

The swim platform is a handy place to locate spare fuel containers, and the chance of getting bad fuel is probably pretty much the same for diesel as it is for gas. However, although it can happen it's not a common occurance.
The larger and more frequently used fuel docks are the most likely to have good fuel because it's always fresh due to the constant turnover.

 

[RProffer]

I believe you would have a good chance of getting good diesel at a busy gas station. I usually put diesel in my boat and diesel cans from a gas station on the way to the boat ramp to launch my boat. Diesel is usually cheaper at a gas station compared to a marina.