3,000 GAL Exterior Water Storage Tank - Setup

[Pettrix]

Building a new home in a rural area. I will have a private well dug on my lot and the main water line from the well will run underground and come up inside of my mechanical room in the home through the slab.

I also want to also have an outdoor poly storage tank (those green or black round ones) probably around 3,000 gallons. I want to use this for both emergency use by the FD (no fire hydrants in area) and for irrigation use.

How would one go about plumbing this tank to get water to it? Should I just fill it with an exterior water hose or actually run an underground plumbing line from the well?

 

[GaryLock]

I have a 1,000 gal setup that comes from my roof downspouts. I can go from empty to overflowing in one rainstorm. 1 inch of rainfall on a 1,000 sq. ft. roof equals just over 600 gallons. Free water for me. Love it.

 

[oosik]

Your location will dictate where the storage tank should be located. If you intend that water from the tank be used for fire suppression - then contact the local FD and see what they need for access and connection. Use for irrigation would be fairly straight forward - a second pump to pump & pressurize water from the tank and into the distribution system. I would recommend a line from the house service terminating in a float activated fill situation to keep the tank full. This would automatically keep the tank full and not rely on manual filling.

 

[radioman]

Problem is I dont know where you are located. do you get freezing temps? Or you only need tankfull of water during warmer months if you leave the tank outside? You will not be able to supply enough water for the FD -- 3000 gallons is barely a drop in the bucket for them. they use 500 gallons per minute or less to over 2500 gallons per min. A fire truck holds 300-500 gallons when arriving on scene and thats enough for a "trashcan fire" .
If you are not worried about freshness of water for irrigation due to limited amount of water you can get from your well, then I would install a toilet valve in your tank and hook up your well water to that and let it automatically fill up .

 

[Pettrix]

I am located in Northern AZ (Zone 4 climate) so I will see below freezing temps during winter.

So the main well water line would go from the home to the outside tank?

What about filling it manually with a hose or would that take too long?

 

[joeyd]

When I built my home here in north Idaho I had a 1500 gallon tank installed. My well pumps directly into the tank and the tank supplies water to my house for domestic and outside use. My tank has a float valve in it to automatically keep it filled as I draw it down based. The local FD required a standpipe with a 2 1/2 inch coupling for their use. Due to freezing winters it is a cement tank buried 4 feet deep (top of tank).

 

[Billrog]

If going with a plastic tank only buy one that is recommended for direct bury and verify the depth of coverage allowed to avoid it collapsing if to deep. I always recommend ( but others may have dif. opinions ) that the water be brought directly into the home and distributed from there with shut offs for each application. Reason being far less chance of being out of water especially in winter due to freezing lines or broken lines generally at joints .

 

[C4Ranch]

I have 2 1.5k black tanks that were feeding my cabin before I drilled a well.

I've plumbed my well and T'd into the line between my tanks and house.

This allows me to run house directly off the well or my storage tanks. I can fill 1 tank with garden hose in 3-4 hrs.

I recommend black tanks as I have heard some with green report algae. Even better if you can shade it to keep out of light.

One day I may hook up auto fill or low level light but for now I'm keeping it simple with less to go wrong or fiddle with.

 

[TnAndy]

To avoid sunlight problems and freezing problems, simply put your tank(s) in a small, insulated building. I have two 1500 gallon tanks in a 10x20 building up the holler my spring comes out of. The spring fills the tanks constantly, with the excess running off the top down a separate line in the same ditch as the main line, and feeds a couple of fish ponds near the house.

I ran 1" line down for the main supply....in retrospect, I would have gone at least 1 1/2", since it's about 1500' in length, and about 80' elevation drop. We get about 30lbs of pressure at the house.

IF you can get enough elevation on your tank, you could use it the same way....let gravity do the work. Then, if your power or pump goes out, you've got 3,000gal of water to use.

Also, if I were installing a new pump, I'd look at the Grundfos SQ series pumps....you can run them on AC, or DC. On DC, a few hundred watts of solar panel will run them in most cases.....but you need a storage setup like above.

Planning a GOOD water system is very important....take your time and try to get it right the first time.

But in any case, yes, I'd plumb the tank into your well line...not use a water hose.

 

[Billrog]

Forgot to mention Pettrix I would sleeve that pipe coming up through the slab in another pipe at least 2 sizes larger ( 1/4 to 1/2 "clearance ) with no tight bends.