Chemical Handling Equipment for Pressure Washing

Every contractor remembers the first time bleach ate through something expensive. Good chemical handling gear costs less than one ruined pump, one burned tarp, or one trip to urgent care. Sun Brite Supply carries drums, drum pumps, siphon pumps, sludge pumps, and metering systems built to survive sodium hypochlorite and the rest of your chemical shelf. Questions? Call 301-519-9274 and ask for straight answers.

Moving Wash Chemicals Without the Mess

Stop Pouring, Start Pumping

Tipping a 50 pound carboy of 12.5 percent SH into a batch tank is how people get chemical burns and how trailers get bleach spots. A drum pump threads into the container and moves product with a few strokes, no lifting, no glugging, no splash. For 15 and 30 gallon drums the FloRite drum pump does the job for about the cost of one house wash. The 55 gallon version reaches the bottom of a full size drum. Cheap insurance either way.

Materials Matter More Than Flow Rate

Sodium hypochlorite attacks brass, aluminum, and plain steel fast. Anything that touches SH should be polypropylene, PVC, HDPE, or another plastic rated for oxidizers, with Viton or EPDM for the soft parts. That is why chemical drums are HDPE and why our transfer pumps are plastic bodied. If a pump has shiny metal in the fluid path, keep it on the fuel side of the trailer and away from your bleach.

Storage Is Half the Job

SH loses strength every day it sits, and heat speeds that up. Stored in a hot box truck in July, 12.5 percent product can fade noticeably within a few weeks. Keep drums out of direct sun, ideally between 50 and 70 degrees, and never seal them dead tight. SH off-gasses, and a sealed container will swell. Use vented caps or crack the bung. Keep it far from acids and ammonia products, because those combinations make chlorine gas. One more habit worth building: label every drum. Water, SH, surfactant, and degreaser all look the same through white plastic.

Chemical Handling Gear by Task

Drums and FloRite pumps are stocked in depth at our Gaithersburg counter. For the rest, call 301-519-9274 and we will confirm availability before you order.

From the Field

The Suttner ST-36 sludge pump sells steadily here for a reason nobody advertises. Contractors use it to empty flooded window wells, suck out fountain basins, and pull reclaim water off flat roofs, all powered by the pressure washer they already own. It turns a wash rig into a cheap vacuum truck. On the SH side, the pattern we see at the counter is this: the guys who buy a $66 drum pump once stop buying replacement gloves, funnels, and the occasional pair of pants. The guys who keep pouring by hand come back for surfactant sooner than they should, because half of what they pour never makes it into the tank. Downtime and spillage are both real costs. Handle the chemical once, cleanly, and keep the rest of the day for work that pays.

Related Collections

• Soft wash equipment
• Chemical injectors and chemical strainers
• Chemical hoses and chemical additives
• 12 volt soft wash pumps and diaphragm pumps
• Water tanks
• House washing chemicals and roof cleaning chemicals
• Pump up sprayers and foam cannons
• Pick up locally at our Gaithersburg store

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of pump can handle 12.5 percent sodium hypochlorite?

Use a pump with a polypropylene or PVC body and Viton or EPDM seals. Plastic drum pumps and siphon pumps handle SH fine. Never run bleach through a pump with brass, aluminum, or bare steel in the fluid path, because SH corrodes those metals quickly.

How should I store SH between jobs?

In HDPE drums, out of direct sunlight, as cool as you can manage. Heat and UV break SH down, so product stored in a hot truck loses strength in weeks. Use a vented cap so off-gassing does not swell the drum, and keep it away from acids and ammonia.

What size chemical drum should I buy?

Match the drum to what you burn in a week or two, since SH degrades in storage. A solo operator running a few house washes a week does well with a 15 gallon drum. Trailer rigs on a steady route usually run 30 gallons. Buy 55s when you are buying SH in bulk and turning it over fast.

What is a sludge pump used for?

A sludge pump like the Suttner ST-36 uses your pressure washer flow to move dirty water, leaves, and muck. Contractors use it to drain window wells, fountains, ponded flat roofs, and pits where a trash pump is overkill.

Why does my chemical drum bulge?

Sodium hypochlorite constantly releases small amounts of gas as it breaks down. In a tightly sealed drum that gas has nowhere to go, so the drum swells. Vent the cap, store it cool, and the problem goes away.

Can I transport chemical drums to the job site?

Yes, secured upright with the caps tight for the drive and vented once parked. Strap drums so they cannot shift, keep SH separated from acids, and carry your product data sheets. Call 301-519-9274 if you want help setting up a trailer chemical station the right way.