Reuse ledger, year to date: 41,200 totes diverted from Texas landfills this year. 2,060k lb of HDPE kept in service. 1,772k lb of steel cage recovered. 3,140 tons of CO₂e avoided. 92% of our wash water recycled on site. 68 Texas counties served from one Austin yard. Full methodology at /sustainability/reuse-ledger.

Industry · Municipal & Water

Bid-friendly stock, incident-free totes.

Water districts, cities and utility contractors across Central Texas buy from us because the alternative — new composite IBCs on a 10-week lead time — does not fit a treatment schedule or a fiscal-year budget.

IBC totes staged on a port terminal apron beside stacked shipping containers and gantry cranes

The short answer

Utilities buy totes for two reasons: routine treatment-chemical storage, and emergency water response. Both call for documented, sound units — a leaking hypochlorite tote at a treatment plant is an incident report, not an inconvenience. We supply on public-bid terms and can hold stock against a standing PO.

From the yard

Outdoor tote yard beside a metal warehouse with the Texas flag flying overhead — The yard on a working Tuesday. Everything ships from one site in southeast Austin.

Warehouse interior with double-stacked IBC totes carrying hazard placards on steel racking — Indoor racking. Chemical-service units stay under cover and stay physically separated.

Line-item quotes, W-9 on file, net-30 available

Procurement

Opaque wrap, EPDM seal, dedicated service

Hypochlorite spec

Rebottled or F-grade, sealed lid

Emergency water spec

We reserve against standing POs

Stock holding

We understand the procurement side too: line-item quotes, W-9 on file, net-30 on approved municipal accounts, and delivery documentation that a plant operator can actually file.

Applications

What municipal & water actually does with them

Specific uses, with the details that decide whether a tote works well or badly for each one.

Sodium hypochlorite (12.5%)

Bleach is the workhorse disinfectant and it is hard on containers. Use dedicated, opaque or shaded totes — hypochlorite degrades under UV and heat — and rotate stock rather than storing long. We supply black-wrapped units specifically for this.

Polymer & coagulant

Emulsion polymer, alum and ferric all ship in totes. Ferric chloride in particular will stain everything it touches, so these totes stay in dedicated service permanently and go to recycling at end of life.

Dechlorination & sampling programs

Sodium bisulfite for line flushing and hydrant discharge dechlorination moves in small tote fleets on trailers. Cheap, movable, and easily labeled.

Emergency & disaster water storage

After a freeze event or main break, potable water distribution runs on totes. Keep a small reserve of rebottled or F-grade units racked and empty — you cannot buy them the week you need them.

Parks, public works & fleet wash

Mosquito control, tree watering, graffiti removal and fleet wash all use totes on flatbeds. B-grade is fine for all of it.

Recommended

What we'd put on the quote

Starting points. Tell us the specifics and we'll adjust.

Rebottled Totes
Virgin bottle for potable and emergency-water use.
Water Storage Totes
Opaque, UV-stable configurations.
Tote Management
Scheduled swap-out of chemical totes on a service cycle.

Compliance

What the rules expect

AWWA B300 and NSF/ANSI 60 govern treatment chemicals, not containers — but your chemical supplier's certification can be voided by an undocumented container.
TCEQ requires secondary containment for bulk chemical storage at public water systems.
Hypochlorite off-gasses; never seal a tote absolutely airtight in summer storage.

Specification

Typical spec sheet

What a municipal & water order usually looks like when it leaves the yard.

Typical Municipal & Water configuration
Attribute	Typical specification
Procurement	Line-item quotes, W-9 on file, net-30 available
Hypochlorite spec	Opaque wrap, EPDM seal, dedicated service
Emergency water spec	Rebottled or F-grade, sealed lid
Stock holding	We reserve against standing POs

Where the money goes wrong in this sector

The two failure modes are always the same: paying for documentation you do not need, or assuming documentation exists when it does not. In municipal & water, utilities buy totes for two reasons: routine treatment-chemical storage, and emergency water response — that sentence is the whole shortcut.

If you are unsure which side of that line your application sits on, describe it in the form. We will tell you the cheaper option when the cheaper option is genuinely adequate, because the alternative — selling you the expensive one every time — is a business model that only works once per customer.

Municipal & Water questions

+Can we buy on a purchase order?

Yes. Municipal and school-district accounts are approved for net-30 after a first prepaid order. Send your PO terms through the quote form and we will set the account up.

+Do you stock totes for emergency response?

We hold a reserve tier specifically for freeze and flood events. It is first-come during an actual event, so districts that want guaranteed access set up a standing reservation instead.

+Are your totes NSF certified?

The HDPE resin used in new and rebottled bottles meets FDA 21 CFR 177.1520. Container-level NSF/ANSI 61 certification is a manufacturer-level program that does not carry over to reconditioned units — if your specification demands it, buy new and we will tell you so.

Other sectors

Not quite your industry?

Quick reference

Numbers worth having open in another tab

The figures that come up in almost every conversation, whichever page you arrived on.

275 gallon · 1040 L

48×40×46

Tare: 130 lb
Gross, water: 2,425 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Always in stock

330 gallon · 1250 L

48×40×53

Tare: 160 lb
Gross, water: 2,915 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Always in stock

264 gallon · 1000 L

48×40×46

Tare: 125 lb
Gross, water: 2,325 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Usually in stock

350 gallon · 1325 L

48×40×56

Tare: 175 lb
Gross, water: 3,095 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Order in

Outlet thread

S60x6 — 60 mm coarse buttress. Not 2" NPT.

Grades published

N, R, F, A, B, C, X — applied at the wash bay.

Wash standards

W1 rinse through W4 caustic CIP at 160°F.

UN retest

Leakproofness 2.5 yrs, requalification 5 yrs.

From the yard notes

Longer reading on this

32 articles written by the people who wash, grade, weld and dispatch. No marketing copy in any of them.

All 32 articles

On the yard this week

Flatbed trailer loaded with two rows of IBC totes secured with straps, hooked to a blue tractor unit — Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed. Forty if they're empty.

While you're here

Pulled from the full FAQ, which runs to forty-plus answers across buying, grades, food safety, sizes, selling, compliance, delivery and care.

Read the full FAQ

Where we are: 3505 Montopolis Dr, Austin, TX 78744
Yard hours: Mon–Thu 7:30a–5p · Fri 7:30a–4p · Sat 8a–12p · Sun closed (Central Time)
Email: sales@ibctotestexas.com
Coverage: 68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.

+Can I put drinking water in a used tote?

For genuine potable storage, use a rebottled unit — the bottle is new, so prior contents are not a question. Documented food-grade stock is acceptable for short-term non-potable-rated use. General Grade A stock is not.

+How do I stop algae growing in a water tote?

Block the light. Paint the bottle, wrap it, shade it or buy a pre-wrapped opaque unit. Algae needs sunlight far more than it needs nutrients.

+What does 31HA1/Y mean?

Composite IBC for liquids (31), plastic inner receptacle (H), steel outer casing (A), category 1, approved for Packing Group II and III materials (Y).

+What about totes with product still in them?

Rinsed and drained only. We are not a hazardous waste disposal facility and cannot accept regulated waste. If your totes still hold product, you need a licensed disposal contractor.

+How high can I stack totes?

Empty, three high indoors on a level floor. Full and static, two high on matched pallets and improved level ground. In transit, never stack full totes.

Send a municipal & water request.

Application, volume and destination. You'll have a written price, a grade recommendation and a delivery date the same business day.

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