Rinse bin water treatment

[BobbyT22]

I am thinking about setting up a 45 gal rubbermaid trashcan as a gear rinse/soak bin. I want to be able to leave it filled between uses, with the cover on. I know I should treat the water with something, probably household bleach, in order to stop it from growing funky between uses. I also know that chlorine in general is bad for scuba gear, so I don't want to overdo it. Has anyone else done this? Is there a recommended dosage that will keep the trash can from becoming a big petrie dish, but not be too tough on the gear? There are general guidelines online for dosing potable water with bleach, and those might be good enough, but I'd figure I'd ask here first. Thanks.
Rob

 

[Scared Silly]

Lysol ...

 

[ffhamm]

It's 45 Gallons, dump it out and start fresh !!! Should only take a few minutes to fill with a hose.
There is a reason you are rinsing your gear, no good reason to save all that crap for later in a 45 gallon bucket.

Jeff

 

[spectrum]

Ahh but by pre-filling it the sun can warm the eater for you. That's much more pleasant than cold well water at the end of the dive day and it is much more effective at removing salt.

I have several barrels that I keep standing by full all season. For some reason one of them will grow a little mold on the side walls from time to time. When it does I rub it scrub it visibly clean while still full and put a shot of bleach & mildewcide in there and let it stand for a day or so. I then rinse well, refill and put it back in service. I may need to do this 3 or 4 times in a 100 dive season with the barrels outside May through October.

This is usually only needed in the peak if summer. Oddly my second container never has the problem, perhaps the material includes a mildewcide. The one that shows growth is the second of it's kind and they both did it.

My gear only sees untreated rinse water. If there is some trace of mold in the water I would not sweat it compared to all of the bioload you dive in. It needs to be clean, not sterile.

The last part of gear clean-up is refilling the barrel(s) used.

Pete

 

[Belmont]

Make sure you get a strong rigid trash can. You don't want a container that will collapse when you put your gear in.

 

[BobbyT22]

Thanks all. Good point about the bioload already being there when I dive anyway, didn't think about that at first. I really just want a handy spot to dump all my gear in, including pressurized regs, when I return and let soak for an hour or so. It seems an awful waste of water and time to fill and dump each time I use it, but 3-4 times in a season, per Spectrum's advice, isn't that bad.

 

[Scared Silly]

It's 45 Gallons, dump it out and start fresh !!! Should only take a few minutes to fill with a hose. There is a reason you are rinsing your gear, no good reason to save all that crap for later in a 45 gallon bucket.

Advise from someone who lives in a desert ;-).

 

[spectrum]

Make sure you get a strong rigid trash can. You don't want a container that will collapse when you put your gear in.

You can usually find industrial plastic drums for a nice price. Many were used for powders and had poly liners so contamination is not a concern. People with sources often sell them in classifieds and other such markets.

The ones I have flare wider at the top so they work out real well.

A square or rectangle container will be stressed. A round barrel by it's nature will not.

Pete

 

[krulle]

if you have a tumble-dryer with condensor, you can use this water to maintain the waterlevel in your barrel

It is destilated water ...

 

[it_mike]

Vinegar