Drums & IBC Totes
HERMEQ supplies drums and totes for storing and moving materials on the jobsite, as part of its jobsite storage range. Reconditioned steel drums are used as ballast to stabilize temporary fence lines and to anchor temporary structures. Reconditioned 275 gallon IBC totes hold water, slurry and non-hazardous liquids at a lower cost than new containers, and reconditioning puts a used container back into service. The range also covers drum handling equipment, including drum lifters and drum tilters that mount on a forklift or hang from a crane, along with spill-contained storage for drums and totes.
Reconditioned IBC totes and steel drums
The choice turns on whether the container has to hold and dispense a liquid, or put weight in a fixed place.
Reconditioned IBC totes
An IBC tote, also called a tote tank or an intermediate bulk container, is a plastic tank held in a steel cage on a pallet base, and it is the container to choose when a crew needs a bulk volume of liquid kept on site and drawn off at the bottom. The reconditioned 275 gallon IBC tote holds water, slurry and non-hazardous liquids for construction, landscaping and utility work. Its square shape and pallet base let it stand on a level pad, travel on a truck bed and move by machine, and a single tote takes up much less ground than the same volume held in drums.
A tote is the better choice when the liquid is used steadily over days or weeks, when it is refilled from a truck or hose, or when several crews draw from the same supply.
Reconditioned steel drums
The open-top steel drum is the container for weight. The reconditioned steel drum is supplied without a lid and is meant to be set in position and filled there, after which it holds down whatever it is tied to.
Drums suit jobs that need weight spread along a line or at several separate points, as on a temporary fence run or across an event site, because each drum is placed on its own and more can be added where the load is greatest.
IBC totes for water storage, slurry and ballast
Water storage for sitework and landscaping
A tote of water gives a crew a supply for dust suppression, wash-down, mixing and irrigation of new planting on sites where no hydrant or standpipe is within reach. Its position decides how useful it is: firm, level ground close to the point of use, the outlet facing the side the crew works from, enough clearance below for a hose connection or a bucket, and a clear route for the truck that refills it. On landscaping jobs the tote often moves between phases, so it stays most useful on a route a forklift can reach.
Slurry and non-hazardous site liquids
Totes collect and hold slurry and other non-hazardous liquids that a site produces or keeps on hand, such as wash water from cleaning tools and equipment. Solids in slurry settle toward the outlet, so the tote works best where it can be drained from the bottom without being moved and where the outlet can be flushed between loads. A full tote is a machine lift, which means its spot should be a level, pallet-sized area within reach of the forklift that will take it away.
Fence line ballast
Steel drums add weight to temporary fence runs at the points that take the most wind, typically the ends, corners, gates and long exposed stretches, and above all where the panels carry mesh, screening or banners. A drum only holds the fence where it stands, so it goes in position first, is tied to the fence with the clamps or bracing used on the run, and is filled last. The clamps and bracing for the run are in temporary fencing accessories.
Counterweights and event site anchoring
At events and on temporary works, drums hold down event tents, stages, signage frames and other temporary structures against uplift. They sit on asphalt, concrete and turf alike, which matters wherever ground stakes cannot be driven, such as in a parking lot or near buried utilities. Each drum belongs where it can be strapped directly to the structure, clear of walkways and emergency exits, and it should be checked after strong wind or a change in layout.
Matching drums and totes to the liquid and the load
What the container will hold
The reconditioned IBC tote is listed for water, slurry and non-hazardous liquids and is not approved for hazardous chemicals. Oils, fuels and hazardous liquids belong in closed drums held in spill-contained storage, described in the next section, while smaller containers of hazardous substances have their own range of chemical storage cabinets. The open steel drum holds fill for ballast.
What reconditioned means for each container
A reconditioned container is a used one cleaned and returned to service, and it costs less than a new container for the same work. In the trade, a reconditioned tote keeps its original polyethylene tank, cleaned for reuse in its steel cage, while a rebottled tote has a new tank fitted into a used cage. The reconditioned steel drum is shot-blasted inside and coated outside before it goes back into use as ballast or for other static work.
Moving containers around the site
The tote's pallet base fits standard pallet handling, so it comes off the truck with the same forklift that unloads the rest of a delivery and takes one pallet space in a yard or on a truck bed. Lifting a tote by crane, emptying it, and moving or pouring drums by machine each call for an attachment matched to the machine on site, set out in the next section.
Drum and IBC tote handling and spill containment
Drum lifters
Drum lifters mount on the forks of a forklift and lock onto the drum automatically, so the operator moves drums without leaving the cab or handling them by hand. The forklift drum lifter is built for 55 gallon steel drums. The automatic drum lifter takes a 55 gallon steel drum by its top rib, so it is not for open-top or damaged drums. The rim grip drum lifter takes steel or plastic drums, open or closed, and is the lifter to choose for open-top drums such as reconditioned ballast drums. All three come in single and double drum models.
Drum tilters
Tilters lift a steel or plastic drum and tip it to pour, with the angle controlled by a crank handle or a looped chain. They are for emptying or dispensing a drum in a controlled way, and a drum lifter is the attachment for moving drums from one place to another. The crane drum tilter hangs from a crane hook and suits work under a crane or in a yard with overhead lifting, while the forklift drum tilter mounts on the forks for sites where a forklift is the machine at hand.
IBC tippers and lifting cages
Where it has to go up by crane, onto a slab, over a fence or down into an excavation, the IBC lifting cage houses the tote and has a lifting eye at each of its four corners, with a removable front bar for access to the tote inside. When the tote is nearly empty, the IBC tipper tilts it so the last of the contents run to the outlet. The tipper is all steel, and casters are an option for moving it around a work area.
Drum and IBC storage with spill containment
Drums of oil, fuel and other hazardous liquids are stored over a sump that catches leaks and spills. The covered drum storage unit is a polyethylene enclosure for 55 gallon drums with an integrated sump under a removable deck, a sliding door and a lockable top, and it suits a small number of drums kept outdoors on a jobsite or indoors on a shop floor. The IBC and drum storage cabinet is an all-steel, weather-resistant enclosure for totes and drums together, with double sliding doors and crane lifting points for relocation. Its sump base meets EPA and OSHA containment standards, and it is built for utility depots, construction yards and outdoor fuel or chemical storage.
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Frequently Asked Questions
IBC stands for intermediate bulk container. The name comes from its place between the 55 gallon drum and a fixed bulk storage tank. On site the same container is usually called a tote, an IBC tote or a tote tank.
One 275 gallon IBC tote holds the same volume as five 55 gallon drums. It does so on a single pallet footprint, so one forklift lift moves what would otherwise be five separate drums, and the crew draws from one valve.
No. The reconditioned IBC tote is not approved for potable water, so it is not used to store water for drinking. It is for non-potable site water, slurry and other non-hazardous liquids.
The drum is intended for ballast and other static uses, where it is filled in position and left in place, so a sealing lid is not needed. The full open top also makes the drum quicker to fill and to empty at the end of the job.
On most jobsites a ballast drum is filled with water, sand, gravel or concrete once it is in position. Water is the quickest to fill and drain, while sand and gravel give more weight for the same volume and do not freeze in cold weather. Concrete is used where the drum is meant to stay in place for the long term, since it cannot be emptied afterward.
Drain the tote fully, rinse it if it held slurry, and close the valve and screw cap so debris and insects stay out. Store it on firm, level ground, shaded or under a cover, since long exposure to sunlight ages polyethylene. In freezing weather keep it empty so ice cannot damage the tank or the valve.