Bad/Old Gasoline Disposal

Soo, my NPR project is a gift that keeps on giving. cracked open the fuel tank tonight, to find about 25-30 gallons worth of what used to be gasoline, and is now a product much closer to paint thinner than any sort of fuel.  id like to drain the tank to make it easier to remove, which i have a fuel safe pump for, but im loathe to buy a million gas cans to hold all that gas until my county recycling day. is there a cheaper container that could safely hold all of it? or is there a better way to go about disposing of this stuff. im also not a huge fan of having that much gas just kicking around the shop for weeks. 

Use it as weed killer?

My county has a recycling center that would take it. Actually in the County dump. Does Your County have something like that?

Same situation here with 911 gas, shops with waste oil burners won't take it.  =~ (

Dang, that's a lot.  If I have just a few gallons, I pour it in the truck and it doesn't know the difference--it quickly finds its way out the exhaust pipes along with all those other gallons.

Good luck. 

While my county also has a specific day where they encourage us to bring toxic waste and recycling, they will accept things like paint and old gasoline every day they are open. If you have a county waste disposal facility, I would suggest giving them a call. 
 

You can ask them the same question about how they would suggest you collect it for transport to them.

Got any lawnmowers you can set on fire?

In reply to Appleseed :

With a propane torch you won't need accelerant 

Honestly, putting two gallons at a time in a 20 gallon tank will get rid of even the worst stuff. 

Check Craiglist or FB market place and look for 25 gallon cans.    Repair shops / oil change places sometimes use the 25 gallon cans for oil / trans oil. 

Or if you think it may be more than 25 gallons get a 55 gallon can to make sure you can hold it all.  In this area you can buy 55 gallon steel drums for $10 - 15 for use as a burn barrel.    

I scored a 55 gallon plastic drum for free from a shop that does pressure washing.  Their soap comes in the large barrels.  I use it as a portable work bench.

Determine if there's any water or solids in the fuel. Most low compression engines will run ok on awful fuel, but solids will clog a filter pretty quick and water will usually sink to the bottom where the pump will pick it all up at once. If there's only a little, isopropyl/Heet fuel dryer works pretty well. If there's a lot, you should be able to separate it.

ive checked with the county recycling center that does the hazardous waste days, they will take old gas on those days only, but you don't get the containers back, and 6 containers at $20-30/can is a lot of money to be throwing away. they also specifically state they cant take any form of 55 gallon plastic or metal drums with gas/fuel in them, which blows. 

theres definitely a large quantity of water and rust/solids in the fuel, most of the solids have settled out, but the liquid in the tank is quite murky. i also dont have any sort of small engines where i could use it, otherwise id filter out the water and throw it in them. 

thanks for the suggestions though. guess ill just have to find a safe way to try and burn it all off. 

Add styrofoam and make napalm. 

I'm not sure this is a great thing for the Environment (better than killing weeds I would guess).. but doesn't gasoline  evaporate if left in an open pan style container? 

I put it in my Tacoma a bit at a time. Tacos don't care.

914Driver said:

Same situation here with 911 gas, shops with waste oil burners won't take it.  =~ (

Depends on the burner.  The one I was intimately familiar with could run on 25% gasoline.

You could try reaching out to a fuel polisher there is at least one in Maryland that will work with residential customers.

What about a marine fuel filter with the water separator?  Should be able to pump out a few gallons at time and burn it in a vehicle.  They are about 20.00 on Amazon.

Pour it down the drain a gallon every day.  Unless you have a septic tank.  Then don't.

will the local Pick a part type junkyard take it ?

they must get a lot of old gas buying  some many junk cars !

cdowd (Forum Supporter) said:

What about a marine fuel filter with the water separator?  Should be able to pump out a few gallons at time and burn it in a vehicle.  They are about 20.00 on Amazon.

Ive thought about it, honestly im really just looking to ditch the gas it has, just not worth the time or headaches, to me, to try and filter it or use it in other vehicles

californiamilleghia said:

will the local Pick a part type junkyard take it ?

they must get a lot of old gas buying  some many junk cars !

 

negative, called them friday and asked, was told they cant take any that dosent come to them in a vehicle. 

Rons said:

You could try reaching out to a fuel polisher there is at least one in Maryland that will work with residential customers.

ill give them a call tomorrow, but looking at the website for them, looks like they only really deal in heating oil.

Here's a crazy idea, do you have a trailer? Go find a parts /junk car with an empty tank you can buy for $50 and dump the old fuel in it and then take it to the scrap yard and maybe get $100 for it. Sorry, all the other good ideas have been taken.

jharry3 said:

Pour it down the drain a gallon every day.  Unless you have a septic tank.  Then don't.

Down the drain to the sewage treatment plant? I'm not so sure they'll appreciate that convenience. 

Another vote to call your local waste management agency. Ours will take anything. I once asked if they really meant anything. "We'd rather deal with it than having you deal with it," was their basic answer.