Construction
& water.
Site deliveries usually attract a limited-access charge. Tell us whether you have a forklift or a telehandler and the quote will be right first time.
Technical grade, $95–$145, and buy a spare. For dust suppression, concrete and masonry water, wheel wash, ballast, fire reserve and temporary site supply, a reclaimed IBC is the cheapest movable 275 gallon vessel in existence at about 45 cents per gallon of storage. The only exception is crew drinking water, which needs food grade or rebottled.
Why technical grade is exactly right here
Every attribute that separates a Grade A unit from a technical one is irrelevant on a job site. A pressure test certificate does not help when a skid steer clips the cage. A legible data plate does not matter for wheel wash. Clean appearance lasts about a week.
What matters is unit cost, because site totes get destroyed. Buying five technical units for the price of three Grade A ones and accepting that one will die is the correct strategy, and it is the opposite of what most buyers instinctively do.
Common site uses
| Use | Notes |
|---|---|
| Dust suppression | Technical. Pump or gravity feed through a spray bar. |
| Concrete and masonry water | Technical. Keep one dedicated — cement residue is permanent. |
| Wheel wash reservoir | Technical, top-cut if you need to shovel out silt. |
| Ballast and temporary barrier | Technical, vented cap, level ground, max 2 high. |
| Fire reserve / standpipe | Technical. Check the local requirement for volume and marking. |
| Hydroseeding and slurry | Technical, top-cut, with a mixer. |
| Temporary site washdown | Technical on a 24 in stand for gravity feed. |
| Crew drinking water | Food grade or rebottled only, dedicated and labelled. |
| Diesel or fuel | Not in poly. Fuel caddies are fabricated steel — ask us. |
Fuel: the one hard no
Do not store diesel, petrol or heating oil in an HDPE IBC. It is a fire code question before it is a compatibility question, and most jurisdictions require a listed metal or UL-approved tank with specific venting and bonding. We fabricate steel fuel caddies from reclaimed cage material on request, but we will not sell you a poly tote for fuel and will say why.
Ballast arithmetic
A filled 275 gallon tote is about 2,330 lb; a 330 is 2,900 lb. That is a lot of dead weight in 13.3 square feet, with four-way forklift access, for $120. Vented cap, level ground, and no more than two high — the cage carries one filled unit above it and that is the design limit, not a conservative one. See weight and load ratings.
Site delivery, realistically
Construction addresses attract a limited-access charge of $75–$110 almost every time, and a liftgate at $95–$140 unless you have a telehandler or a forklift on site. On an eight-unit order those accessorials can be a quarter of the invoice. Tell us what plant you have and whether there is a hard standing, and they appear in the quote instead of surprising you.
For anything over twenty units a dedicated truck removes both charges and roughly halves per-unit freight. The freight guide has the arithmetic.
Site kit, typical
- 4 × technical 275
- ≈$480
- 1 × spare technical
- ≈$120
- 1 × rebottled, crew water
- ≈$385
- 2 × hose adapters
- $18
- 2 × vented caps
- $28
- 1 × stand, 24 in
- $180
Buy them back at the end
When the job finishes, we will quote a buyback on whatever survived rather than leaving you to dispose of it. Even scrap-grade pays $6–$12 against a hauler charging you $18–$40.
Buyback termsSite questions
What grade do I need for a job site?
Technical, almost always. Dust suppression, concrete water, wheel wash, ballast and fire reserve do not care about stains, a faded cage or an illegible data plate. At $95 to $145 a unit it is the cheapest movable 275 gallon vessel available anywhere and nobody on a site is drinking out of it.
Can an IBC tote be used as ballast?
Yes, and it is extremely common — filled with water a 275 gallon tote is about 2,330 lb in a 48 × 40 inch footprint with forklift pockets, which is a very convenient dead weight. Check your local rules on temporary barriers and anchoring, use a vented cap, and do not stack filled units more than two high on anything other than level concrete.
Will they survive a construction site?
The cage will. The bottle is vulnerable to two things: UV over a summer or two, and impact from plant. A technical-grade unit that gets clipped by a skid steer may well be finished, which is precisely why you buy the $120 unit rather than the $225 one for this work. Buy a spare.
Can I put drinking water for the crew in one?
Not in a technical-grade unit, no. Crew drinking water needs a documented food-grade unit or a rebottled one with no fill history, and you should keep it dedicated and labelled. The $100 difference between a technical and a rebottled unit is not where to economise on potable water.
Buy cheap, buy a spare
Site totes get destroyed. Five technical units beats three Grade A ones, and we will buy back whatever survives the job.