Man has built water tanks since the dawn of recorded history, probably imitating beavers to some extent. Water tanks provide for the storage of potable drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming and livestock, chemical manufacturing, food preparation and many other water storage tank applications.

The water tanks in the picture, at right, are located in a municipal water system near Houston Texas: (Water Tank examples include)  

A. "Hydro-pneumatic water tank", an AWWA lined carbon steel pressure vessel is designed to provide pressurized water to the distribution system.   

B. "Chemical contact tanks" of FDA and NSF polyethylene construction allow retention time for water and chemicals to be in contact and mix. 30" AWWA manway and 12" inlet and outlets, Big plastic tanks  

C. "Ground water tank" is made of lined carbon steel, it may receive water from well or surface water allowing a large volume of water to be placed in inventory and used during peak demand cycles.  

D."Elevated Water Tanks", by elevating the water tank, the increased elevation creates a distribution pressure at the tank outlet of 1 psi per 2.31 feet of elevation, thus a tank elevated to 70 feet creates about 30 psi of discharge pressure, 30 psi is sufficient for most house hold requirements.

E. Rain Water Tanks and Collection systems,

The design profile for these water related tanks begins with the application parameters, thus the type of tank construction material used and the design of the tank was dictated by these variables:

1. Location of the water tank (indoors, outdoors, above ground or underground)

2. Volume of water (gallons) tank will need to hold

3. What the water will be used for, Utility Water or Drinking Water.

4. Temperature of area where water will be stored, concern for freezing.

5. Pressure required to deliver water to use point.

6. How is the water to be delivered to the water tank, Water Well, in bound pipeline.

7. Wind and Earthquake design considerations, allow water tanks to survive seismic events.

Vertical cylindrical dome top tanks may hold from fifty gallons to several million gallons. Horizontal cylindrical tanks are typically used for transport, this low-profile transport storage creates a low center of gravity helping to maintain equilibrium for the transport vehicle, trailer or truck. Hydro-pneumatic tanks are pressurized storage tanks. By pressurization this reservoir of pressurized water creates a surge free delivery of stored water.

There are many custom configurations that include various rectangular cube shaped tanks, cone bottom and special shapes for specific design requirements.

A functional water tank/container should do no harm to the water. Water is susceptible to a number of ambient negative influences, including bacteria, viruses, changes in and accumulation of minerals. Correctly designed water tank systems work to mitigate these negative effects.

Articles on Water Tank application and design considerations: American Water Works Association The AWWA provides specifications for a variety of water storage tank applications. The AWWA's site will provide scientific resources which will give the reader an informed perspective on which to make decisions.

NSF International writes standards, inspects and confirms that products such as air, food, consumer goods and water are suitable for human consumption.

The Food and Drug Administration approves materials for use in storing water and food materials. Consult the Code of Federal Register for more details on water tanks.

 25 years of experience storing drinking water in plastic poly tanks has resulted in 2 and a half decades of positive feed back and experience that polyethylene tanks is the way to go. Plastic polyethylene water tanks are made of linear food grade polyethylene resins; the resins and the tanks are FDA and NSF 61 approved for potable drinking water storage.  Poly tanks provide the best long term solution for maintaining the quality and life of the storage container.

We have 35 years experience in design, production and operation of water tanks and water systems. Call today and lets get started!

by Art Woods  at Alltankcom LLC