Totes & parts · P-10
Upcycled
builds.
Short answer
- Built in Savannah from donor totes that failed resale grading
- Food-grade donors available for edible-crop irrigation
- Shade wrap included on outdoor water builds
- Custom work quoted from your drawing
Price a build
The catalogue
Six builds we make repeatedly
Rain harvester kit
$340 – $620
Food-grade donor, first-flush diverter, mesh inlet screen, overflow, S60-to-hose outlet, shade wrap and a block stand plan. Single or linked three-tote bank.
Modular planter wall
$185 – $410
Cut-down tote in its cage, drainage layer, geotextile and a cage trellis. Stacks two high. The cage is the structure, which is why these survive a hurricane season.
Wash station
$520 – $980
Elevated tank on a welded stand, foot-valve or lever tap, soap shelf and a grey-water catch tub below. Standard on jobsites and in community gardens.
Cut-down trough
$190 – $380
Open-top half-height for livestock water, grain, mulch or ice. Rolled lip so nobody loses a forearm, drain bung fitted.
Dunnage and parts rack
$240 – $450
Cage-only build with welded shelves. Takes 1,200 lb and costs a third of a bought rack. Popular in our own yard, which is the strongest endorsement we can give.
Compost / worm tower
$275 – $490
Twin-chamber cut-down with aeration channels, harvest hatch and a leachate tap. Food-grade donor by default because the output goes on food.
Rain harvesting, properly
Five things that separate a working harvester from a mosquito farm
We have sold a lot of totes to people who built their own and came back for parts. These are the five things they came back for.
- 01
A first-flush diverter
The first few gallons off a roof carry bird droppings, grit and pollen. Divert them. Without this the tank fouls within a season and no amount of filtration downstream fixes the smell.
- 02
Mesh on every opening
Insect mesh on the inlet and the overflow, not just the inlet. Mosquitoes find the overflow within a week, and a 275-gallon tank is a very effective breeding pond.
- 03
Shade or paint
Translucent HDPE in full sun grows algae and crazes. Our kits ship with a shade wrap; dark exterior paint works too, and raises water temperature less than people assume.
- 04
A real stand
Every foot of elevation is 0.43 psi at the outlet. Two concrete blocks under each pallet corner — not under the centre — gives usable gravity feed. A filled 275 is 2,440 lb, so the stand is a structural decision.
- 05
A winter plan
Above the 35th parallel, a full tote that freezes will split the bottle at the bottom corner. Drain to a third, or heat-trace and insulate. Our winterizing guide covers both.
Full build guide: rainwater harvesting with IBC totes · Cold climates: winterizing IBC totes
Why we bother
These builds use the units that fail resale grading
Roughly 6% of the totes we buy cannot honestly be resold as containers. Scuffed interiors, permeated walls, crazing that has not yet cracked. The old answer was to granulate them.
Granulation is a good answer — it recovers 52 kg of HDPE — but it is still a melting step. Cutting the same tote into a planter wall or a trough skips the furnace entirely and gives the material another decade of service as a physical object rather than as feedstock.
This is the reuse hierarchy applied honestly. Reuse as a container first. Reuse as a thing second. Recycle third. Landfill never.
Donor grade matters
| Build | Donor grade needed |
|---|---|
| Edible-crop irrigation | Food grade |
| Drinking / potable storage | Food grade |
| Livestock water | Food grade or rinsed |
| Compost / worm tower | Food grade |
| Ornamental planter | Rinsed or as-is |
| Wash station (hands) | Rinsed |
| Grey water / jobsite | As-is |
| Dunnage rack (cage only) | Any |
Questions
Upcycling questions
Are upcycled IBC builds food safe?
Only the ones built from food-grade donor totes, and we label them clearly. A planter or a wash station does not need food grade. Anything growing edible produce in contact with the water, or storing water you intend to drink, does — ask for a food-grade donor and we will supply the affidavit reference.
How long does a tote last outdoors?
The cage outlasts everything. Translucent HDPE exposed to full southern sun crazes in roughly five to eight years; shaded or painted, it goes well past fifteen. Our rain harvester kits ship with a shade wrap for exactly this reason, and it also suppresses algae.
Can you build to my drawing?
Yes — that is custom fabrication rather than a catalogue build. Send dimensions, what is going in it and how it gets handled. Cut-downs, manifolds, hatch cut-ins and skids are routine; pressure vessels are not something we will fabricate.
Why does an upcycled build cost more than a tote?
Because somebody cut, welded, plumbed and tested it. The container is the cheap part. If you want the parts rather than the build, buy an as-is tote and our fittings and do it yourself — we will tell you which fittings you need.
Delivery and setup
How a finished build actually arrives
Upcycled builds are bulkier and more fragile than plain totes, so the logistics are different. This is what to expect and what to prepare.
| Build | Ships as | Site needs | Assembly on arrival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain harvester kit | One tote plus a boxed fittings kit | Level ground, 8 concrete blocks | 2 – 3 hours, two people |
| Modular planter wall | Stacked, strapped | Forklift or two people per unit | Positioning only |
| Wash station | Assembled on its stand | Forklift; 7 ft clear height | Connect water, none otherwise |
| Cut-down trough | Nested where possible | Pallet jack sufficient | None |
| Dunnage / parts rack | Assembled | Forklift | None |
| Compost / worm tower | Assembled, hatch taped | Two people | Fit leachate tap |
| Three-tote manifolded bank | On a skid, strapped | Forklift, 6,000 lb capacity | Connect discharge only |
Assembled builds do not nest, so freight per unit is higher than for plain containers. For anything within a few hours of Savannah, collection usually saves more than it costs — a pickup takes a harvester kit or a trough comfortably.
Keeping it working
Maintenance, by build
These are outdoor objects made from a UV-sensitive polymer. Everything here is cheap, and skipping it is what turns a ten-year build into a three-year one.
| Build | Annually | Seasonally | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain harvester | Clean the first-flush diverter; check mesh | Drain to a third before a hard freeze | Mosquitoes at the overflow, algae if unshaded |
| Planter wall | Check drainage layer, top up media | — | Cage corrosion where media stays wet |
| Wash station | Replace tap washer; sanitise if hands-on | Drain and insulate in freezing climates | Grey-water tub overflow |
| Cut-down trough | Inspect the rolled edge and the drain bung | Scrub out before refilling | Edge capping lifting at a corner |
| Dunnage rack | Check welded shelf joints | — | Overloading beyond the 1,200 lb rating |
| Compost tower | Clear the leachate tap | Harvest and reset chambers | Aeration channels blocking |
Short answer
- Shade or paint anything translucent that lives outdoors
- Mesh the overflow as well as the inlet
- Drain to one third before a hard freeze
- Re-cap any cut edge that starts to lift
From the Yard Journal
Longer pieces from the people who run the wash line, the test bay and the trading desk.
16 April 2026 · 4 min
Cut-down troughs: the fabrication job we do most
Half our fabrication bay output is one job. Here is how we do it, what it costs, and the two mistakes that make a home-made version dangerous.
Marcus Vreeland · Founder
Read28 August 2025 · 4 min
Rain barrels, food grade, and the conversation we have every spring
Somebody wants one tote for a vegetable garden. The honest answer takes four questions and occasionally costs us the sale.
Marcus Vreeland · Founder
Read
Next move
Describe what you want it to do.
Not the dimensions — the job. 'Water sixty tomato plants by gravity' tells us more than a drawing does, and it usually leads to a cheaper build than the one you were about to specify.