Above Ground Water Storage Tanks

[Stimw]

I think it was on Dirty Jobs that they replaced a large water tank on top of a building in NYC.
They showed removing the old WOOD tank and fabricating and installing the new tank on top of the building.
It was really interesting the way it was made and had large hoops holding it together.
You might try googling to find DYI instructions. ???

 

[alchemysa]

Its interesting that you don't seem to have much choice in plastic tanks in the US. (Perhaps I am mistaken) But they are very common over here and probably vastly outsell any other type of tank. I've never heard of any problems with them such as getting sun damaged or spoiling the water. Lots of sizes shapes and colors to choose from. I have two 5000 gallon poly tanks of the corrugated style in light green. Cost about $2000 each. Team Poly Water Tanks - Water Solutions for Life

 

[Pettrix]

I would assume a full 5,000 GAL tank would NOT freeze in a place like Prescott, AZ?

The winters are mild and while they can dip to the teens and single digits at night, it warms up to the 50's during the day, even 60's.

 

[Pettrix]

A full 5,000 gal tank with an outlet on bottom should provide decent pressure for landscaping and maybe washing the car or cleaning a driveway, right?

I wonder how should it be connected to the well pump?

 

[alchemysa]

A full 5,000 gal tank with an outlet on bottom should provide decent pressure for landscaping and maybe washing the car or cleaning a driveway, right?

I wonder how should it be connected to the well pump?

No, not in my experience. As soon as you add a hose of any length the water flow is reduced significantly by friction so you dont get much better than a fast dribble... and only then if the tank is full. Of course you'll have a nice continuous slow flow, but as for anything requiring significant 'pressure', forget it.

 

[alchemysa]

A full 5,000 gal tank with an outlet on bottom

To be practical, an outlet at the bottom is not really a good idea. Firstly, its inconvenient to get to, and you can't get a bucket under it. Secondly, its a worry if anything breaks or someone accidently or deliberately leaves the tap on. If that happens you'll lose ALL your water. I think its better to put tap on a 'riser' of about 18 - 24". This would be the main tap you would normally use and it can never completely drain your tank. You can have a second tap (or a connection to a pump) at absolute ground level, but you should ensure that connection is reasonably 'secure'.

 

[westcliffe01]

You want the inlet to come in the top and discharge into air. Use a float valve/switch to enable/disable the well pump. Might have to be careful filling it from a well, to use a restrictor, so that the well pump does not deliver for hours or days at maximum flow because of the risk of sucking the hole dry. No well pump (except solar ones) is made to run at full power for hours and hours, not that its a pump limitation but a well delivery limitation. Key thing with the inlet is to isolate the supply line from any potential algea which may develop in the cistern, otherwise you can have a dangerous mess.

For the outlet, you will have to install a booster pump with a pressure switch on the outlet line so that it will turn on automatically when you open the line. Might need some mitigation of water hammer effects since the pump is just on/off and just a single speed.

I installed several cisterns in the Engineering corps and they had outlets just above the base of the cistern to which we fitted 3" steel pipe to connect them all together. How we got them (several 2000gal cisterns) on top of the 100 foot high scaffolding was a different matter altogether which I am glad I will not have to repeat...

 

[Uncle Doug]

We are also looking at a water storage tank for our Texas hill country property.

Here is one of the products we are looking at,

Poly-Mart, Inc. | FAQ | Poly-Mart, Inc.

 

[RobertN]

No...

0.433psi/foot for head pressure. My 2500 gal tank is about 6' tall. Even at best you're looking at 3psi.

From the ground, extend a pipe 10' in the air, full of water. At the top, place a one gallon container full of water. At the ground, you will have 5psi at the faucet. Extend the pipe 100' in the air(ie, water tower). Whether you have 1gal or 10,000 gal of water at the top of the pipe, you will have 43.3psi of water at the faucet at the bottom.

My tank fills from the well, with a float. From there, we have a second pump that pumps water on demand.

A full 5,000 gal tank with an outlet on bottom should provide decent pressure for landscaping and maybe washing the car or cleaning a driveway, right?

I wonder how should it be connected to the well pump?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I would assume a full 5,000 GAL tank would NOT freeze in a place like Prescott, AZ?

The winters are mild and while they can dip to the teens and single digits at night, it warms up to the 50's during the day, even 60's.

The tank won't freeze, but the plumbing to it might. You need to protect the pipes and pump.

Think about where you put it. I have a 2500 gallon tank to compensate for low well flow in our summer drought. I placed the cistern so the bottom of the tank is about level with the window sills in the house. It's not much, but when the power goes out we can still flush the toilets and tap water from the sink for cooking and washing. It keeps generator use minimal during outages. A little camper generator will run the fridge and freezer, plus lights. We only fire up the big generator when we want to heat a tank of water and take a shower.