Toxic Plastic Barrels

You could ask a company that clean out wheelie bins?
My local farmer likes to dump old plastic containers in ditches, some still have the hazardous waste skull and crossbones on them from the pesticides....be carefull!

The good news is that plastic doesn't tend to absorb chemicals. Once your barrels have had a good wash they should be fine to store rainwater in. The companies (or guys) that clean wheelie bins just tend to use pressure washers, no special technique or chemicals, so you can do it yourself with a bit of elbow grease.

Wish my local farmer would dump a few, been hunting desperately for a free water butt or 3, even freeshare didn't throw anything up

you could try your local neighbourhood garage. i got three from the one at top of my street that had oil in so only needed a good jet wash out courtesy of nephew

Just thinking..........sorry if I am deviating from the original thread enquiry but why can't you...........dig a deep hole, line it with polythene............wallah, instant underground water receptacle. I've never tried it but it has a few distinct advantages......it doesn't cost nowt, it's not unsightly (I have eight water butts and a 1000ltr container and they are all quite ugly specimens), it will be easy to get water out with a bucket and a rope and will fill naturally from runoff off the land!

Unfortunately Snadger, there is a great muckle tree right next to my shed, where I want to collect the rainwater. When I say "great muckle"....the trunk is eight feet across. (You can guess why I put my shed there - I wasn't going to grow anything in that shade, was I ! ) No doubt if I was foolish enough to try digging through its roots the council would tell me it was subject to a tree preservation order - ironic enough since it has outlived the last ancient gardener on the site and looks fit to outlive me.
I had thought of making a wooden frame butt with carpet lining to protect a plastic sheet inner, but it's not so easy to make when you're as short of timber as I am...!
I do have a wee pond across the way a little, in another patch of shade.....six months old and already filling in nicely with twigs and ash leaves from The Mother Tree. Blooming great for watering trays of plants while you go on holiday though, worth it just for that - not to mention the web-footed anti-slug patrol. I wouldn't be without some kind of underground water receptacle now that I have started using my pond/bog area.