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rockies
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:29pm - Edited by: rockies
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http://www.milkwood.net/2011/02/14/water-tank-comparisons-for-drinking-water-defining -clean-and-green/
http://www.fishertank.com/blog/bid/295481/Top-5-Advantages-of-Welded-Steel-Storage-Ta nks
People seem to be leaning towards stainless steel
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:33pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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I researched this a little before I bought my Norwesco 2500 gallon poly tank. I would certainly prefer a stainless tank. Here were my considerations-
-where I am stainless tanks are not readily available, so I'd probably pay a lot in shipping
-stainless tanks can be bought in sections that you assemble on site, but then you have the possibility of leaking.
-poly tanks can freeze solid and not break because they stretch. No metal tank can do this.
-I paid $710 for my poly tank 4-5 years ago, the same tank is now over $1000, there is a 2500 gal stainless tank for sale at a rainwater harvest site in Texas now for $3200.
-poly has the best reputation of the plastics, but the more I read the clearer it became that the jury is still out on just how bad "safer" plastics really are. How do you measure bad? Will you get much more exposure to "bad" additives from a poly tank than from the municipal water you drink or groceries you buy? Etc. etc.
In the end I bought the poly, and drove to the manufacturing plant to pick it up myself with my little trailer. Then I drove on an interstate at 40 mph because the 8 foot diameter tank behind me would not let me go faster. I had 30 trucks behind me. That was a scene. Anyway I made the 250 mile trip.
The poly tank was easy to load, carry, set and connect. I built a shed around it to keep the sun off for longevity. When it comes time to replace it I will look at stainless again- maybe then they will be more readily available.
When I drilled my well recently I asked the driller to price stainless well casing pipe for me. It was way too expensive. It is readily available though because they use it in monitoring wells where they don't want the casing to interact with whatever is in the water being monitored.
Then I got into a fairly serious argument with the driller about the use of PVC in wells. He's been using PVC for casings and drop pipe for years. When I told him I wanted no PVC in the well at all because of additive plasticizers he about flipped. I finally realized that he has a vested interest in asserting the safety of PVC. So anyway I had him use steel casing for the well and I still haven't decided what kind of drop pipe I'll use when I set the pump.
Part of the problem with plastics is just the inertia that exists to use it because it's so commonly available and is always the cheapest alternative. Then you get prostate or breast cancer and rethink your actions, after the fact.
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adakseabee
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# Posted: 30 Jun 2015 08:33pm
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Back in WW II, the U.S. Army built water tanks from redwood on Adak Island (about 1200 from Anchorage in the Aleutians) during the buildup on Adak in preparation to attack the Japanese who had invaded the islands of Attu and Kiska. When I was there in the 70s, one of the tanks had collapsed, probably due to the failure of the steel bands around the circumference. I salvaged some of the redwood for furniture projects; it was some beautiful wood under the weathered silver-gray surface. Each vertical "stave" was 4 inches thick by 6 inches wide by 20 feet long and perfectly preserved. I don't know if redwood is available to use in the construction of a water tank, or cheap enough if available. but it should be able to weather most any climate. Cedar or cypress might be other options. The photo is a redwood tank that was built on Adak
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 1 Jul 2015 12:43pm
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I worked in a millwork shop for a while and we got in different kinds of redwood tankwood from time to time. The stuff that held water alone was generally degraded from years of holding water. It wasn't rotted but was punky and obviously had lost mass to fungi or whatever. But the wood that had held wine or brine was better, presumably because they inhibited fungi.
But any wood sitting in the cold environment of Adak must be well preserved. You're lucky to get ahold of it. Not a chance you would see anyone construct large water tanks out of redwood now. The days of cheap high quality redwood readily available are long gone. If you see old growth redwood for sale anywhere you know it came from the last few remaining stands and probably should not have been cut. There is plenty of second growth R-wood available but the quality is so poor I'm not sure I'd want to use it for a water tank.
Don't know for sure but I'm going to guess that a water tank made from cedar or otherwise would be cost prohibitive. They used to do it just cause wood was so cheap in the heyday of 'cut now and think later'.
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