As the title says, I’m wondering if all Rubbermaid Brute commercial containers are safe for storage of RO/DI and mixed salt water. I searched briefly at first and thought they’d all be safe and decided to get a blue one as it seemed more in line with the water/ocean theme of the hobby (maybe a little silly but why not?). I ordered a blue 20 gal in preparation for the Fluval Marine 32.5 I’m beginning to set up and when the container arrived, I looked at the bottom and noticed it said LDPE (low density polyethylene) #4. When I was last in the hobby I used a gray Brute and thought I recalled it being HDPE (high density polyethylene) #4 so I began to wonder if the blue Brute would be safe. I compared it to the old gray one I had and both are LDPE #4 and both say ”NSF” on them. Since finding this I did quite a bit more searching and several people have stated that anything that says ”NSF” on it is safe. I went to the NSF site and to Rubbermaid’s site and it seems that NSF has different standards, some of which are rated for food grade storage and some that are not (NSF 2 vs NSF 21 respectively per Rubbermaid’s site).
From Rubbermaid’s Brute page:
From Rubbermaid’s Brute page:
- Gray, White and Yellow are USDA Meat & Poultry Equipment Group Listed and assist in complying with HACCP guidelines.
- Certified to NSF Standard #2 (gray, white and yellow) and Standard #21(all colors)