emergency! help! contaminated water!

[Lord Zombiac]

I'm posting this here because I have all too often found that watchers are 90% more knowledgeable than anyone else. Here's my problem: I put a steel water tank on my house so I could borrow well water from my parents and collect rain rather than share a well that is contaminated with sewerage. Now I find that the tank had been used 20 years ago to store gasoline.
Two people have told me it is impossible to clean this tank and remove all the gasoline. another person says they do this in the navy all the time and advises me to contact the EPA and ask them how it is done.
Search engines are useless. I've used Boolean operators such as minus to exclude certain terms, I have tried, with and without quotes "neutralize gasoline" "gasoline contaminated water, etc.,
Google is now the worst search engine in the universe, giving me results on how to remove water from a gas tank!!!!!
I need to know how this can be done; buying a new water tank would be much higher price than I can afford!
Any petroleum chemists out there?

[I'm Murrin]

Seems to be a problem that comes up for boaters fairly often based on the google resuls:

www.sailnet.com/forums/general-discussi ... -help.html

www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/2768 ... k-gas.html

Flushing with bleach seems the recommended solution.

At least it's a steel tank, as it seems plastic tanks are irredeemable.


PS: Putting 'remove gasoline from "water tank"' with the last bit in quotation marks brought all these to the first page of results.

[DukkhaWaynhim]

I second that - a stainless steel tank can be cleaned for re-use, even after gasoline. It isn't the gasonline that you need to watch out for, though, it's any organic impurities / tars that you want to thoroughly clean out.

Here's what I would do: I would use a dish detergent like Dawn to thoroughly scrub the tank along with hot water, paying special attention to clean openings/lips/joints. Rinse very well several times with warm water. Then sanitize the tank with a solution of bleach in warm water, letting it stand for at least an hour, and rinse well several times with water, and then allow to dry completely
I would then perform one final step -- fill the tank completely with water, let it stand for at least an hour, and then drain it all out before use, performing a taste-test to see if additional rinsing is needed.

Better safe than sorry.

dw

[Lord Zombiac]

Thanks! I don't know how I could scrub this tank though, short of getting a welder to cut it open-- other than a few bungs, this thing is completely sealed!

[DukkhaWaynhim]

What size tank is it? Can you shake it when it's full? The more agitation you can provide while it is holding hot detergent or warm sanitizer solution, the more cleaning/sanitizing you get out of it. The less agitation you can provide, the longer you want your soaking times to be.

For a situation where you pretty much have to fill and wait, I would wait at least 4hrs at a time, do at least two detergent rinses, and start with very hot water for each detergent rinse. You can stick to a single sanitize rinse, however.
What material is your bung made out of? If it is hard rubber or all metal, you should be able to clean and sanitize it. If it is a plastic cap, or a metal cap with some sort of seal-liner, check the seal-liner to see what material it is made out of. Anything plastic, remove it and replace with a new one, whether it is the seal or the entire cap.

dw

[Lord Zombiac]

500 gallons, low carbon steel, all fitting are steel or brass (I installed brass fittings to go to my plumbing). We're going to try the "shock treatment."
I will also install a wall switch to prevent the pump from running dry, which it did yesterday-- but we caught it soon enough to prevent damage.
My lines are pvc, but it my hope that the minimal amount of gasoline in the water might not have ruined them... thanks, I knew I could count on you folks!

[Vraith]

The thing is: can you see inside it with a flashlight?
If there is sludge or "gas varnish" in there, it might never get clean.
If there isn't, you should be ok. If it's possible, when rinsing, just shove a hose in there so the end is sitting on the bottom of the tank, and just let it flow let it flow let it flow.
The other thing is: was it ever used to store leaded gas? [if there's no sludge, lead is the only real hazard after thorough wash/rinse] Once you're done cleaning/rinsing thoroughly use one of the lead tester kits from any hardware store...they're cheap...and swab inside the openings.

[Vader]

You would drink rain water?

[Lord Zombiac]

The thing is: can you see inside it with a flashlight?
If there is sludge or "gas varnish" in there, it might never get clean.
If there isn't, you should be ok. If it's possible, when rinsing, just shove a hose in there so the end is sitting on the bottom of the tank, and just let it flow let it flow let it flow.
The other thing is: was it ever used to store leaded gas? [if there's no sludge, lead is the only real hazard after thorough wash/rinse] Once you're done cleaning/rinsing thoroughly use one of the lead tester kits from any hardware store...they're cheap...and swab inside the openings.

thanks, I will definately get it tested. I will ask my friend to ask her brother about lead.

[Morning]

Rinse heavily with water, bleach and vinegar.

Apply high temperature (in excess of 400ºC) until dry.

Use.

[deer of the dawn]

I am not sure I would use bleach, I would think it would corrode the stainless steel, unless it's super-high grade (and I have discovered there is a big variation). A couple of thoughts:

1. People can ingest a small amount of gasoline and not die. People do it every day when they siphon gas from other people's cars. Doesn't mean you want to, but why not use a few tankfuls for washing, and after water has gone through it a few times, then the levels should be tolerable.

2. To shake it, just put the sucker on the back of a pickup truck, fill with water (and/or liquid soap) and take it for an hour's drive. Drain, fill with clean water and repeat.

[Lord Zombiac]

Rinse heavily with water, bleach and vinegar.

Apply high temperature (in excess of 400ºC) until dry.

Use.

how do I apply high temperature to a 500 gallon steel tank?

[Lord Zombiac]

second chlorine treatment-- still smell gas.
Google "water treatment" and gasoline (no quotes STILL results mostly in "water in gas tank" BS
One page refers to "using chemicals to treat water contaminated with gasoline" but the damned page doesn't tell me what those chemicals are!

[Lord Zombiac]

more fun google facts: if I use the search term "decontamination" I have to use the boolean operator "-" to assure I don't get results for "contamination." I have also used scirus search engine. this is really ridiculous.

[Morning]

Rinse heavily with water, bleach and vinegar.

Apply high temperature (in excess of 400ºC) until dry.

Use.

how do I apply high temperature to a 500 gallon steel tank?

Take it outside and build a bonfire around it?

[Lord Zombiac]

We don't build bonfires out here. We tend to have forest fires. I'm probably going to replace the tank. The water is good enough to wash dishes and clothes for now. I might be able to get a 1000 gallon job for pretty cheap. I'm calling Lincoln County Mercantile to get a quote tomorrow.

[Vader]

Fill the tank with gasoline and set it on fire. 400°C will be easily reached this way no problem.

[Lord Zombiac]

Fill the tank with gasoline and set it on fire. 400°C will be easily reached this way no problem.

to save the village we must destroy the village!

[Vader]

Now here's the solution: use the power of WILD MAGIC - WHITE GOLD is the answer.

[Ananda]

Now here's the solution: use the power of WILD MAGIC - WHITE GOLD is the answer.

I think you will need the staff, too. Better get both. And some ur-Viles for good measure.

You could also use squirrels. They can do most anything.