How do you get the water out of a 55 gal drum? I know I can get a spigot (sp?) but unless the drum is on it's side, the water won't just "jump" up to the spigot! Should I lay it on its side on a very strong counter? Or use a siphon type tube and suck until it begins coming out? Haven't seen anyone mention this. Thanks!! Jen!

-- Jen White (jenwhite@compuserve.com), November 05, 1998

Answers

Jen,

You can buy a hand-pump that screws into one of the openings on the top of the 55 gallon drum and dispenses water in 16 oz (give or take) shots. See www.watertanks.com for one in the $15.00 neighborhood. I'm not associated with them, but I did some research to buy water storage containers and found they have the most variety of products and best prices. I've heard good reports on their customer service. Hope that helps.

David

-- David (David@BankPacman.com), November 05, 1998.

Definitely don't recommend using a siphon tube - particularly considering the cleanliness aspect.

I agree - watertanks.com seems your best, most controllable, least likely to spill way.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 05, 1998.

You must, of course, first fill the drum with approximatly 55 gallons of H2O. If you use any other liquid, you will not get water out. :-)

-- Y2Dave (daveforbes@earthlink.net), November 05, 1998.

Y2K Dave: No kidding? Yuk, Yuk, Yuk.

-- MoeLarryCurly (MoeLarryCurly@Stooge.com), November 05, 1998.

Not yuck-yuck-yuck...it's blub, blub, blub.....

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 05, 1998.

Ok knucklehead have it your way! Yuck, Yuck, Yuck.

-- MoeLarryCurly (MoeLarryCurly@Stooges.Com), November 05, 1998.

Yeah - it's a new Canadianain rule that everything needs more "c's " in it - they can't get by from c to signing c without a hi-c in the middle - or there would be a hic-up in the progress of the world.

Unless you're on a farm, then then you have to worry about hick-ups in the road to prosperity.

But the blub, blub, blub was the water draining ..... poor Uncle D. won't be able to re-hydrate his freeze-dried beer.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 05, 1998.

Thanks you guys, I needed a real laugh tonight! My husband is working late again tonight....keeping the gas and electricity on to thousands of people. I should have married a doctor........

-- Bardou (Bardou@baloney.com), November 06, 1998.

You could also buy a NEW CLEAN K-1 siphon.

Besides, Curly, it's NYUK_NYUK!

Bardou, if you had seen the schedule a doctor keeps, you wouldn't have said that. Particularly a young one!!!

C

-- Chuck etc (rie@e.tc), November 06, 1998.

The easy way is to build a 'rocker' frame into which you roll the barrel. Then you put a valve/spigot into the small barrel hole, using whatever sealant you prefer to prevent leakage (not too many threads in a barrel hole). After the sealant has set (couple minutes for most of them) you grab the barrel and roll/rock it to the horizontal position. This leaves the barrel about 3 feet off the floor inside the frame. If built properly, these frames work really well - have used them many times. BTW - you put the barrel in the frame so the hole with spigot comes out on the bottom when you roll it to the horizontal position. Really doesn't work well the other way as I found out by being careless/stupid (blush).

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), November 06, 1998.

Paul, are you saying that with this "rocker" stand, you could remove an empty drum and place a full 400+ lb drum of water in the stand?? Some friends and I have been trying to figure out how to handle this. I have one rather flimsy pump which I ordered from either Western Plastics or US Plastic which fits the buttress threads of the bung openings.

Watertanks has #90007 dispensing pump (levered handle?) for $25, but I don't know what kind of threads it has. Our drums are used Pepsi drums. Our church has done well collecting drums, but we would like to find a sturdy pump that could be transferred to a full drum when needed.

-- Sylvia (in Miss'ippi) (bluebirdms@aol.com), November 08, 1998.

Jen, I just finished building a barrel rack to gravity feed from the 55 gal sizes. I hope your barrels will be in your garage or outside in a shelter. All you have to do is make a rack out of lumber or whatever with grooves for the barrels to lie horizontaly about 20 degrees is plenty. Then screw in a spigot(you may need an adapter) attach some garden hose, and away you go. Pumps can be messy, and allow some air to backfeed into your water. Just back your pickup to the barrel rack and roll it into position and off onto the rack. I like the metal barrels because they have better quality taps on the top. Anyway this is how we are handling diesel and kerosese at our fuel dump. I woul hate to try waltzing a full barrel thourgh the house! Good luck. doktorbob.

-- doktorbob (downsouth@dixie.com), November 10, 1998.