Water barrel always gets rank

[Ramsey26]

So a few weeks ago after the snow had melted (yes that just happened recently where I'm from) I decided it was time to fill up my water barrel again. It's sooo much nicer having a huge barrel of water compared to the ice cream Pail that I have to make do with in the winter but the water always gets real weird. Last year due to my barrel being metal the water quickly became brown with rust but a just dealt with it for the rest of the year. This year I coated the intire interior of the barrel with canola oil to prevent rust. The oil that was supposed to keep the barrel water nice has already done the opposite. It's developed a strange white slime which is making the water turn white. It's also starting to rust as the slime wears off.. So what I was wondering is if anyone has had similar problems and found solutions? If anyone has any recommendations I would love to hear them. 

(Pay no attention to the green snake he's friendly)

[Frosty]

You put FOOD in your slack tub?!  Your friendly green snake probably used to be red and black before s/he discovered grazing in your slack tub was easy dinner. 

Next time have it sprayed with "Rhino liner." They have to spray out a surprising amount to clean the guns after doing a pickup bed, bribe them with doughnuts to spray the inside of your barrel. It might take a little while and a couple boxes of doughnuts but bed liner isn't food and it's really tough. It's also really good in a tumbler, lasts a lot longer than a clean 55gl. drum and it really quietens it down.

Good stuff Rhino liner.

Frosty The Lucky.

[olfart]

Oil is lighter weight than water, so any oil inside the barrel will rise to the surface.  That's what the scum is on top of the water.  The barrel also needs to be covered and/or dumped periodically to keep down mosquito and algae infestations.

[Charles R. Stevens]

You can buy cheep bed liner in a spray can, this is very similar to the coating used in water towers. This will prevent the rusty water issuer. A hand full of copper scrap will help with the algae and skeeters

[Nobody Special]

Adding a little copper to the bottom will keep down algae and mosquitos (mosquitoes, mosquit....) vampire devil bugs. Anything works. Old copper pennies (not zinc), copper pipe, etc. 

Oops. Buzzed in two seconds too slow.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I would suggest steeling a mesh bag from the kitchen, like some veggies come in to hold said copper, makes clean out easier

Some one beet me to the edit...

thank you.

[SLAG]

Charles,

Good morning good guy.

A little bit of copper sulfate, (CuSO4), will do the same job. That will avoid locating copper bits & placing it in a steel mesh bag. And also periodic water replacement, is not necessary.

And it is much faster acting than plain copper.

The tub needs only a small amount of a 2 or 3 milliliters CuSO4 solution in water,   for a half tub full of water. Put a barrier on top of the tub, as the chemical is poisonous, for people, animals, insects, algae etc.

CuSO4 was used as a rat poison in Victorian times. 

You can get it from the net,  or a pharmacy will order it in for you. 

SLAG.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I was acualy invisioning a plastic onion bag but if you have access to steel mesh...

old wire is prety easy to find and avoids poisoning the shop cat or the grand child

[ThomasPowers]

Note that it may be easier to replace the barrel than clean it enough to get good adhesion by another covering.  It's a sad fact of life that edible coatings are not resistant to things that can eat them and so do not make a good liner.

I have a red rubber squid I keep in my water bucket for Demos and when I was the "helper" for Ric Furrer's "3 ways of making steel" demo at Quad State one year I floated a plastic eyeball in the quench tank...

[Frosty]

5 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

and avoids poisoning the shop cat or the grand child

Shouldn't we be teaching the grandchildren not to drink from the same slack tub as the cat?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Rashelle]

Some of the youth can be surprisingly fast in their reactions to water. .................. Ohhhhhhhhhh was that amusing and worrying at the same time. Is this little fellow going to get sick ?????? Is that little feller gonna ............... Ohhhhhhhhh hold it he is, NOOOOOO stop, don't do that.............. too late the little guy dunked his head in there and was lapping it up cause he was hot............

Ohhhhhhhhhh rhino liner I forgot how effective that is. Thank you for reminding me. Ack darn galvanized steel buckets are worthless nowadays for holding liquids. Dumped can of spray in liner in them, pretty much grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Bed liner yyayyyyyyyyyy now I can (pun intended) go back to metal can's. Little monsters melt the plastic buckets when your back is turned.

 

[SLAG]

After a vigorous smithing session. One can put a small tarp over the slack tub and secure it with one or more bungee cords.

Why did you "make" the little kidlets out of the tub?

Passing strange, methinks.

As for the cats should you try to reason with them?

WAIT A MINUTE! they don't speak English.

Try the tarp and bungee. 

Just sayyin.

SLAG.

Rashelle

have your ever tasted a little bit of copper sulfate? It is Gawd awful.

(yes I have done so before my brain bypass procedure, many years ago).

I sincerely hope that you had insurance on the little fellow & made yourself the beneficiary.

[Ramsey26]

I actually keep a square of plywood over the barrel whenever I'm not useing it and that's been enough to keep out mosquitoes, other bugs who end up  drowning, and algae. Do you think that's why the oil is turned to slime and making the water cloudy? This happened within 24 hours of adding water so it's seems pretty fast acting for algae. It doesn't smell weird or at least not yet.. I think I'll throw a old copper pipe in next time around to be on the safe side. My real problem is the rust I think I'll try to find some of that Rino liner or do you think a can of normal rust paint would hold up? 

[SLAG]

R-26,

The oil is being used as a food source by bacteria, and also fungi such as yeasts and other groups.

Many such micro-organisms can break down oil and other hydrocarbons. The oil in water is a feast for many of them and they will get to work very quickly.

Algae are "primitive" plants. They make their own food by using CO2, water, and sunlight. They need sunlight like higher plants. So they will not thrive in a tub whose top is covered for much of the time.

Cheers, 

SLAG.

[ausfire]

My quench tub is made of copper (an old washing tub) so I guess that's why it doesn't grow algae or skeeters or anything.

[ThomasPowers]

My quench bucket is empty except for when I go out to forge carrying it full; dumping it on the tree that shades part of the shop on my way back to the house is a standard rite too...However as I came into smithing through blademaking I tend not to use much water in the shop and a lot of "normalization" instead.

[Frosty]

I take water out to the shop in a 5 gl. water jug. Deb convinced me it was better to use a water jug than a bucket to keep myself dry in winter. IN winter we had to carry water to the livestock hoses freeze. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Jackdawg]

your not getting the tub hot enough, which means it must be darn cold bathing in it at the end of the day before the missus lets you in the house.......

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

During the summer my slack tub evaporates so fast mosquitoes are left high and dry...... I carry a bucket out when I am out there.

[Frosty]

4 hours ago, Jackdawg said:

your not getting the tub hot enough, which means it must be darn cold bathing in it at the end of the day before the missus lets you in the house.......

I slip in when she's not watching, it's all linoleum from the front door to the bathroom so my tracks wipe up easily. Deb NEVER complains if I'm taking a shower. 

You don't need a slack tub in winter air cooling is close to a hard quench, I have to wrap a piece in kaowool to prevent air quenching.  On a cold day I can cryo a piece by walking slowly with it to the house. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Jackdawg]

I live in Queensland Australia, it was winter hear last week, pretty bad one this year,  I had to put a T shirt on in the forge for 3 days in a row.......

[ThomasPowers]

While I have warmed my chainmail shirt up in an oven before putting it on in cold weather I have never warmed up a T shirt in the forge!

[Ramsey26]

So I cleaned the barrel as good as a could and sprayed it with some rust paint. Hopefully it holds up.

[Frosty]

On 5/12/2018 at 11:21 AM, ThomasPowers said:

While I have warmed my chainmail shirt up in an oven before putting it on in cold weather I have never warmed up a T shirt in the forge!

Now that's what I call down UNDERWEAR! 

I have a down parka if it's REALLY cold out and have always wanted rabbit fur under shorts but I've been assured by the better half that's weird enough I'd have to live in the shop. 

I mean really, does "winter" last a whole week in Queensland?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Pat Roy]

Huh, all this time I haven't worried about the quality of water in my bucket. It evaporates some, I refill it as necessary. Yes it's pretty grungy water and there is sediment on the bottom. I don't drink from it though. And it doesn't rust; it's a bucket the cat litter came in. I also haven't burned any holes in it.