Plastic barrels can be as versatile as your business needs. We’ve been selling these products for the past couple of years, and we’ve seen our customers using the drums for a variety of different uses.
In the chemical industry, blue plastic drums are used for storing or transporting acids, lubricants, reagents, bases, and detergents. In the Oil industry they are used to store fuels, oils and greases; they can be used to store Sodium Hypochlorite for water treatment or bleach and softeners in the textile industry. Plastic barrels are used to store cleaning solutions in hospitals, schools and offices. They are also used to store alkali and acid for swimming pool treatment.
The food-grade version of these drums is popular in the food industry where they’re commonly used to store and transport large quantities of liquids, semi-solid and powered foodstuffs. In fact, they provide an airtight and spill-proof container that keeps contents fresh and prevents contamination. These barrels are also BPA-free, which is important in today's food industry.
These are only some of the most common uses for these drums, we’ve had some customers who, over the years, have found more unusual ways to use them.
One of our customers has used a 60-litre plastic barrel as a dust collector in his workshop, as part of a dust extraction system.
Because the lid is sealed to the barrel, this product was going to be a good choice for this purpose. The customer mentioned how easy it was to alter the lid, by drilling a hole to fit the cyclone to and thus creating an airtight seal. In addition, the 60-litre plastic barrel has handles on both sides, which makes it easy to move around the workshop.
The customer was happy with the result, especially after using his home-made dust extractor during long runs with the carving machine. He said, “the problems I had with other dust collection systems appear to have been resolved.”, as he experienced no dust escaping during use.
This is a clever repurpose of these barrels, which show how easily can be adapted to your business needs.
Another customer is using the 60-litre blue plastic drums during open canoe expeditions in the UK and Europe whilst working with young people on personal development. Specifically, the drums are used to store equipment in the canoe and, as they are watertight, they are a better alternative to material containers that can easily get wet during the expeditions.
Both the 30-litre and the 60-litre drums have handles so they can be easily moved and passed around on the canoe, but also between the vehicles used on the expeditions as they fit into Land Rovers and minibuses.
In a domestic setting, plastic barrels can be used as dog food storage containers. A more unusual use would be for the drum to be converted into chicken feeders, by drilling holes at the bottom of the drum, (see picture below), allowing chickens to access the feed.
These drums can also be used as water butts for rainwater harvesting system. For this purpose, customers find it useful to buy, in addition to the drums, rainwater diverter kits, which help in both filtering the water from leaves and debris and as overflow when the drums are full.
We’ve also read about people in the agriculture industry who are using tight head barrels to create an automatic chicken watering system. This is done by fitting poultry watering cups at the bottom of the drum, and installing a flow inside, hooking it up to a water hose so that the barrel always stays full.
In the food and catering industry, these drums can be repurposed as raised herb garden. The drums are cut in half and each half is mounted onto a wooden frame. The barrel will then be filled with soil and different herbs can be planted.
As we always say, we’d love to hear from anyone who is using plastic barrels in an unusual way or in an interesting environment. Please send your experience along with some pictures to marketing@kingfisherdirect.co.uk or tag us on social media.