Used pickle barrels for rain barrels

[orchids44]

Almost too embarrassed to ask.
Mt. Olive is NC's pickle capital. They sell their used pickle barrels, only used once. Can they be converted to a rain barrel? Are there chemicals and/or unhealthy issues to reusing them to collect rain water? Then using the rain water to water orchids?

[ALToronto]

They'd be saturated with salt and vinegar, both of which are deadly to plants. Maybe if you used one as a rain barrel for a couple of years first, and just let the water spill over.

[gnathaniel]

I'm not sure if the Mt Olive barrels are the same, but the 55 gallon pickle-barrels I've seen recycled for rainwater collection are made of some kind of tough plastic like polyethylene, which AFAIK shouldn't hold onto salt residues beyond a couple of good rinsings. I know several people who use these for garden watering with no problems. Just scrub it out with a brush and some soap, rinse well with lots of water and it should be fine to use for watering orchids.

[Discus]

Yes, most plastic barrels don't really "hold on" to contaminants like say wood. The fact that they are food safe also bodes well. A good couple of rinses in good, clean water should see them being good options for water storage.

The 1000l bulk chemical tanks ("IBC" Ibc 1000l Promotion,Buy Promotional Ibc 1000l on Alibaba.com) are also quite good, if you can get them, and haven't been used for anything dodgy. We used to ship seawater from the coast (~60km away) this way to do water changes on a ~3,500l marine tank. I've also seen lots of them used as sumps and even cut open as tanks in aquaculture facilities.

You can make your life much easier if you "chain" a couple together with overflows (you'll need some height/steps to achieve this) and if you have a system that can pressurise the water when you use it (i.e. a pump hooked up to the tank(s)).

[orchids44]

Nat and Discus,
Thanks so much for your reply. I used your information and bought one today. I received the 60 gallon barrel this morning. Yes, they're shipped from overseas with cucumbers stored in them. The barrels are then delivered to Mt. Olive, NC for their processing journey to yummy pickles. Mt. Olive is where "my guy" obtains 10,000 barrels a year!
I'll wash it out well tomorrow and then let it fill with rain about half way. I think I'll let the first rain batch drain and use the 2nd batch for the orchids.
It was getting expensive buying sooo many gallons of distilled water. I'm very excited about my new water!!
Thanks again for such a fun, educational few days