Can a used tote hold drinking water?

01Why a used tote is not a drinking-water tote

High-density polyethylene is among the olefin polymers U.S. food-contact rules list as safe in articles that touch food (21 CFR 177.1520). That is a statement about the material. A used tote has a past, and its past is what the rules and the people who audit them care about. A bottle that once held a pesticide, an acid or a solvent can keep traces in the plastic through a rinse.

The CDC advises storing emergency drinking water in FDA-approved food-grade containers and says not to store it in containers that previously held toxic chemicals, such as bleach or pesticides. A used tote with an unknown or chemical history is on the wrong side of that advice, and a used tote with a documented food-safe history is still a tote the desk will not sell for drinking.

02What a tote can hold instead

03Rainwater is not drinking water either

University of Florida extension says stored rainwater is not for drinking and that openings should be screened against mosquitoes. A roof collects dust, droppings and leaves, and a tote is not a treatment system. Use it on the garden.

This guide is general information. For drinking water, follow your water utility or your health department.

04What the desk does with a request

A ticket that says a tote is for drinking water gets this page back, and no quote. A ticket for the garden or for a farm gets the grade that fits. The food-grade history page explains the record, and the uses hub lists the uses the desk does match.

+More in Guides

• Food-grade historyWhat a food-grade history is, the paperwork that proves it, and how to ask for totes that only ever held food-safe contents.
• Rowhouse rainwaterHow much roof runoff a 275 gallon tote catches on a Philadelphia rowhouse, how it fits with Rain Check's free barrels, and which totes are fit for it.
• UsesRainwater, irrigation, spray mix, aquaponics and farm water: which grade each use needs and which last contents rule a tote out.
• Last contents and the SDSWhy a tote's last contents and its safety data sheet decide where it can go next, and how to find them on a used tote.
• RCRA emptyWhat 40 CFR 261.7 says about empty totes over 119 gallons, when a triple rinse is required, and what that means before a tote is sold.
• Three-state rulesWhich agency handles empty containers and rinse water in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, kept apart state by state.
• Reading the UN plateEvery mark on an IBC's UN plate explained: 31HA1, packing group letter, manufacture date, stacking test load and maximum gross mass.
• StackingHow many totes can stack, empty or full, depends on the tote: why the answer is on its UN plate and what else to check.
• Retest datesThe 2.5-year leakproofness test, the 5-year internal inspection, and what an out-of-date tote is still good for.
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