Opinions on water storage tank plZ.

[NBCsurvivor]

I am very much considering purchasing this tank this week. Any opinions from members who store large amounts of water would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance....

http://cgi.ebay.com/305-Gallon-Poly...847721958QQcategoryZ11751QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Dennis Olson]

How many gallons, and what's the cost & mfr of the tank? Is there shipping involved?

 

[NBCsurvivor]

How many gallons, and what's the cost & mfr of the tank? Is there shipping involved?

305 Gallons, probably like 65.00 for shipping, and here are some quick specs. (not certain on manfct.

FDA approved for drinking water

46" diameter, 49" tall,

16" fill opening with lid. 2" drain outlet.

We have them in white, green, or black

Vertical storage tanks are most frequently used for bulk storage and mobile nursing applications.

Vertical tanks feature tie-down slots, built-in graduated gallonage indicators, an offset fill-well and a self-vented, slosh-proof lid.

All vertical tanks are equipped with an outlet fitting and siphon tube.

All tanks are brand new.

We can ship from 8 locations across the country

We offer big discounts on truck loads

Tank has 3 year warranty.

Manufactured using resins that meet FDA specifications to ensure safe storage of potable water.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Bear in mind that in 1999, I got new 55-gallon food-grade plastic drums for $22 each. And since I picked them up locally, there was no shipping cost. I have 8 of them. If you got 6, that would give you the equivalent storage capability. No idea as to your price locally vs the cost of the tank.

Just an option to consider....

 

[NBCsurvivor]

Bear in mind that in 1999, I got new 55-gallon food-grade plastic drums for $22 each. And since I picked them up locally, there was no shipping cost. I have 8 of them. If you got 6, that would give you the equivalent storage capability. No idea as to your price locally vs the cost of the tank.

Just an option to consider....

I have tried looking locally and did not find anything suitable, plus I don't really have anyway of getting that many to my house anyway without having to make several trips. I am a slave to convenience and this looked to be right up my alley.

thanks Dennis.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Look in your local phonebook under "barrels". If you must get a single tank, consider a 500 gallon one. As far as transport, you can rent a covered U-Haul trailer for the day.

JMHO

 

[NBCsurvivor]

Look in your local phonebook under "barrels". If you must get a single tank, consider a 500 gallon one. As far as transport, you can rent a covered U-Haul trailer for the day.

JMHO

Out of curiosity, why 500 gal. ?? (aside from it just being more water).

 

[Dennis Olson]

More cost-effective per gallon. 1000 gallons would be better still, but at some point the size becomes unmanageable.

 

[NBCsurvivor]

More cost-effective per gallon. 1000 gallons would be better still, but at some point the size becomes unmanageable.

from their website....

WE are in Amarillo Texas and it cost about $65.00 to ship a 500 gallon tank to Alabama


500 gallon vertical tank.

FDA approved for drinking water

48" diameter, 72" tall,

16" fill opening with lid. 2" drain outlet.

cost = $325.00 plus about $65.00 shipping.

 

[Dennis Olson]

So $400. Not bad. Ten 55-gallon water drums would be considerably less, but that's just my personal bias. Make sure whether or not the mfr plumbs the tank, or if you have to do it yourself. (Fill and drain/use fixtures/valves, etc)

 

[Reader]

Here's a link that I've gotten barrels from:

http://www.bayteccontainers.com/index.html

 

[NBCsurvivor]

So $400. Not bad. Ten 55-gallon water drums would be considerably less, but that's just my personal bias. Make sure whether or not the mfr plumbs the tank, or if you have to do it yourself. (Fill and drain/use fixtures/valves, etc)

OK, call me stupid, but why do you need to "plumb" the tank(s)???

(you're talking to a guy that buys the cases of bottled water and never stored like this before, so please forgive my ignorance on this subject )

 

[Dennis Olson]

You have to have valves & stuff to get water IN and OUT of the tank. For my barrels, I have a plastic food-grade siphon-pump to get the water out, and I fill them with a garden hose. I have caps screwed on the (full) barrels when not in use.

 

[NBCsurvivor]

You have to have valves & stuff to get water IN and OUT of the tank. For my barrels, I have a plastic food-grade siphon-pump to get the water out, and I fill them with a garden hose. I have caps screwed on the (full) barrels when not in use.

I think they have that with them...

16" fill opening with lid. 2" drain outlet.

... I was thinking about using the garden hose to fill mine and getting a siphon pump to for the extracting.

 

[Dennis Olson]

A siphon pump will NOT be able to extract water from the top of a tank that large. You WILL HAVE to take your water from the bottom (that's how it's designed). And just saying they have an "opening" or "outlet" doesn't mean it's plumbed and ready for use. Ask them....

 

[Rasputin]

I would like to have one of these in the ground, with the water going to it on a valve. I would then like to mount one of the old hand pumps above it on a wooden frame. The tank would always be full, but you could hand pump water out when you needed to. Has anyone done this or have ideas on same?

 

[NBCsurvivor]

A siphon pump will NOT be able to extract water from the top of a tank that large. You WILL HAVE to take your water from the bottom (that's how it's designed). And just saying they have an "opening" or "outlet" doesn't mean it's plumbed and ready for use. Ask them....

OK, cool... thanX Dennis

 

[Nuthatch]

I think Dennis has some good points, but then I don't store water- we have access. Well, wait, maybe we do....the hot tub holds over 500 gallons!

I just thought it might be worth it for you to consider the weight of all that water and where you will put it. Our 500+ gallon hot tub sits on a square yard of concrete to keep it from sinking/settling and up to deck level. You want this thing handy to get water in and out of.

The thing about barrels is they are easily moved when empty and weight can be distributed. Storage can be spread out. You can easily clean them as needed.

So the real question is, what are you going to do with it once you have it? Set it up to come out the kitchen sink as needed or what? Do you have a plan to rotate it? Just where do you plan on locating it?

 

[NBCsurvivor]

I would like to have one of these in the ground, with the water going to it on a valve. I would then like to mount one of the old hand pumps above it on a wooden frame. The tank would always be full, but you could hand pump water out when you needed to. Has anyone done this or have ideas on same?

They have below ground storage tanks to. This company looks rock solid. I was actually thinking about doing the same thing on down the road.

 

[Dennis Olson]

One cannot drink hot tub or pool water BTW. The chemicals are poisonous.

 

[NBCsurvivor]

I think Dennis has some good points, but then I don't store water- we have access. Well, wait, maybe we do....the hot tub holds over 500 gallons!

I just thought it might be worth it for you to consider the weight of all that water and where you will put it. Our 500+ gallon hot tub sits on a square yard of concrete to keep it from sinking/settling and up to deck level. You want this thing handy to get water in and out of.

The thing about barrels is they are easily moved when empty and weight can be distributed. Storage can be spread out. You can easily clean them as needed.

So the real question is, what are you going to do with it once you have it? Set it up to come out the kitchen sink as needed or what? Do you have a plan to rotate it? Just where do you plan on locating it?

I was going to put it on concrete blocks outside and beside my storage building in the back of my house. Leave it empty or just partially filled for the time being and if I got in a panic I could fill it with the garden hose relatively quickly (I think).

 

[Dennis Olson]

55 gallons of water weighs about 400 lbs. Keep that in mind....

 

[NBCsurvivor]

One cannot drink hot tub or pool water BTW. The chemicals are poisonous.

thats an old wives tale. I see kids doing it all the time at my hotels I work at and only a handful have died.

jk

 

[NBCsurvivor]

55 gallons of water weighs about 400 lbs. Keep that in mind....

damn, thats like 2220 pounds for 305 gallons.

thats pretty heavy.

 

[Dennis Olson]

My generator weighs about 2400 lbs. I dug out about 3" of dirt and filled it in with pea gravel. Then I placed a railroad tie platform on the pea gravel. The genny sits on that. Works fine. But you really need to know how to create a proper foundation for that much weight all in one place. And that's another reason for the 55-gallon drums. You can move those with a hand-truck.

 

[NBCsurvivor]

My generator weighs about 2400 lbs. I dug out about 3" of dirt and filled it in with pea gravel. Then I placed a railroad tie platform on the pea gravel. The genny sits on that. Works fine. But you really need to know how to create a proper foundation for that much weight all in one place. And that's another reason for the 55-gallon drums. You can move those with a hand-truck.

OK, I could probably dig out 46" diameter for the storage tank myself and toss something in that for support.

What is 'pea gravel'?

 

[Dennis Olson]

Gravel. The size of peas... Get it at Home Depot by the bag.

 

[buttie]

I bought 3 big poly tanks last fall 2 3000 gal and 1 1500 gal. They were $1,150 and $650 respectively. These are now setup on our homestead. Since our spring only produces 1 gpm in the summer we need to store quite a bit to satisfy demand in the summer. The system is gravity fed to the small tank and then pumped up the hill to the big tanks. I buried the big tanks about 3' in the ground 2 weeks ago when it was dry enough to work the backhoe. Now I just have to finish the trench to big tanks (about 200') and we can start filling them. Our water system is rather long with 1200' of 3/4 black poly pipe from the spring to the small tank, 500' of 1 1/4" sched 40 pvc to the home site and then 650' of 2" sched 40 pvc to the tanks up the hill. We should have about 50 psi pressure at the house. All pipe from the small tank is buried. It was a lot of work!

Don't put your tanks on concrete "cinder" blocks. They are likely to crumble at the worst time, and you don't want to dump all that water all at once. If you want to put it up on blocks then use pier blocks and then build a platform on them to support the whole bottom of the tank.

 

[bbbuddy]

We have a 3000 gallon green tank like that. Cost was $1550, and that included shipping from another state, since no one around here carried any but the black ones. We wanted green, to blend in better. Our well driller cut the plumbing holes with a hole saw, and was very surprised at the thickness...was twice as thick as the black ones. Two years later, they are stocked by all the drillers and hardware stores out here instead of the black ones.

 

[barb43]

The water hose you fill your tank or barrels with should be food grade. That's a white hose that you can buy in the RV support/supply section of any place that has RV stuff (think we got ours at Wal-mart). We plumbed in a supply line to the basement and hooked that hose to it specifically for filling water barrels. The idea is not to pick up any chemicals/toxins out of a standard garden hose.

 

[bleep2u2]

Water weighs 8 lbs. per gallon iirc--Ive had a 3200 gallon storage tank full since 1999 . We did a small amount of excavation in the yard to level the ground-otherwise no special supports and the tank is ok. We test the water and throw in a cup full of of bleach every 6 months or so--seems fine. Just dont get a tank that allows in light whatever you get.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Just dont get a tank that allows in light whatever you get.

ABSOLUTELY! I completely fogot. A tank that allows light in will allow and foster algae growth.

 

[Truth Star]

For Y2K I purchased a 400 gallon plastic tank that was used to ship vinegar. Chlorine is also shipped in these containers. The plastic tank is encased in a metal frame. Empty, they weigh less than 50 pounds. I got mine from a farm store for $125 back then. I plumbed it into a twelve volt water pump such as they have on RVs and marine applications. When activated there is normal water pressure in the house. I used PVC pipe, garden hose, and a couple valves to connect to my house water system.

A couple of years ago, a falling tree took out the power to my well. For several months, until I could aford to replace the power pole. I lived with that system during that time. Normal showers and washing, and toilet flushing would use up the 400 gallons in five days. (I am one person in the house.) I used a generator to power the well pump and fill the tank. It all worked well, with no real serious inconvenience.

I keep the tank covered with a plastic tarp so that the sun will not damage the plastic, or start algae growth with in the tank. The plastic is opaque, which means you can see the level of water in the tank, but direct sun light could cause algae growth.

I think that normally these food containers are used once and disposed of. They are probably not as stout as the plastic containers you are thinking of purchasing, but they should be cheaper, and they seem to hold up well over time.

Survival is nice, but I think having normal pressurized water in the house may help to keep your head straight during bad times.

 

[Anne in TN]

NBC survivor,

Do you have a coca cola or other soda plant nearby? We bought 6 barrels from our Coca-cola plant for $5.00 each. The barrels had the Sprite and coca cola syrup in them so they were perfect to use for water storage. They are made of a thick durable white slightly see-through plastic. We have, in the past, stored the three barrels outside and never had a problem with algae. But I think we did have a tarp over them.

The one thing nice about individual barrels is that you don't have to keep them in any one spot. We have one in our safe room, one in the kitchen with a table cloth over it and three on our enclosed porch which is ground level.

My son was able to bring all 6 barrels home in and on top of our station wagon. The idea Dennis has of using a U-Haul is an excellent one.

If you do get barrels, you may need to get a "bung" wrench. It opens up the valves so you can pour the water in.

 

[NBCsurvivor]

The water hose you fill your tank or barrels with should be food grade. That's a white hose that you can buy in the RV support/supply section of any place that has RV stuff (think we got ours at Wal-mart). We plumbed in a supply line to the basement and hooked that hose to it specifically for filling water barrels. The idea is not to pick up any chemicals/toxins out of a standard garden hose.

Ok, that is a great idea. I never even considered that. Thank you.

 

[NBCsurvivor]

NBC survivor,

Do you have a coca cola or other soda plant nearby? We bought 6 barrels from our Coca-cola plant for $5.00 each. The barrels had the Sprite and coca cola syrup in them so they were perfect to use for water storage. They are made of a thick durable white slightly see-through plastic. We have, in the past, stored the three barrels outside and never had a problem with algae. But I think we did have a tarp over them.

The one thing nice about individual barrels is that you don't have to keep them in any one spot. We have one in our safe room, one in the kitchen with a table cloth over it and three on our enclosed porch which is ground level.

My son was able to bring all 6 barrels home in and on top of our station wagon. The idea Dennis has of using a U-Haul is an excellent one.

If you do get barrels, you may need to get a "bung" wrench. It opens up the valves so you can pour the water in.

I think that there is a coke plant here in knox-vegas. I am going to check right now.

 

[NBCsurvivor]

Anne,

YES!! there is one here. I think I will give them a call and see what they have on Wednesday. Thank you.

 

[Nuthatch]

Dennis--go back and re-read my post a little closer:

"I think Dennis has some good points, but then I don't store water- we have access. Well, wait, maybe we do....the hot tub holds over 500 gallons!"

-emphasis mine on this post.

We have access via a fresh water spring. But I often forget that I 'store' water in other ways such as the hottub and water heater. This water can be used for non-drinking purposes if it comes to that.

 

[nannygoat]

we have two 1,500 black water tanks - not pressurize - we have a booster pump with a small tank - prefer the way the old place was with two very big heavy metal tanks that were pressurized and so we would have water in the house for a long time with no power and could just run the generator for a few hours to pump them full - did that for four days there once when wind took power poles down - the new place small pump can be out of water fast if the power goes out just before it is due to pump more water - like it happened yesterday before church - luckily only out of power for about half and hour -the goats did have gravity flow water and we could fill pitchers from the big tanks - rare here to be with out power - old place happened all the time during monsoons season
both of the tanks are just sitting on gravel - not cement - it was recomended by the pump/well people to do it that way - the old metal tanks were on railroad ties and our old old tank [ installed in 1945 and taken out in 1998] was on the ground that then we put it on some railroad ties when we had a horrible wet year and it started to lean - it was a 500 gal tall one

 

[Taz]

At our place in Baja, Mexico we have to haul our own water. We haul it in 3 or 4 55 gal water barrels with screw tops. Those barrels ride in the back of the pickup. The water is then transfered to a 600 gal black tank via a 12 volt pump plugged into the 12 volt outlet in the cab of the truck. From the big tank it is pumped via a 12 volt pump that is powered via the RV. It gets transfered into the 80 gal water tank in the RV and from there its pumped, again via 12v, to sinks, shower, washingmachine,etc. The tanks in Mexico run about $300 and can be hauled in back of pickup. The valves, etc., come with the tanks. Many there have an old truck that the water tank sits in all the time and they pump directly into house or RV from that tank. We have to drive to town where we get free water or if you have a friend up on the highway where the water is pumped from town. And yes the town water is drinkable, however we don't drink it as its salty as the wells are pretty close to the beach. We buy our drinking water at Culligans stands that are all over the town. It costs us $0.77 for 5 gallon jug. The jug sits on the counter in the RV and has a hand pump on it. BTW you can paint the black tanks any color you want using latex pain. Some down there are really works of art. Our tank sits on a level bed of sand.

Taz