How to fix leak in 5k gallon steel water tank on concrete pad

[JIMMIE]

Yeah, My Father in law did that. He collected the rain off of his 2700 sqft home and 1800 sqft work shop. Cistern was 7000 gal. I was amazed at what a small rain it took to fill them.

Jimmie

[DD_BobK]

OP-

You've got a lot of smart. experienced guys trying to help you out here but "situation" is not being laid out very clearly.

Where are you located? The tank is on wood slats, are they on a concrete pad? How big is the pad? Why do oyu need 5000 gallons? Or do you need even more? Something about fire fighting?

Now oyu mention that perhaps fittings are leaking and not the tank. The tank may only be rusted externally, poor maintainance? Maybe the leak saturated the wood slats and promoted external corrosion?

The details are coming out bit by bit. Now there is a second tank? How long have the neighboring tanks lasted?

Galv steel can last a long time with non-corrosiove water quality.

If the tank is sound except for the bottom (as per other post) it "could" reworked. A skilled welder could rig this thing, cut the bottom off and repair but field repairs are hard to make as good as new factory fabrication. :(

Call around and see if a welder can "do it all" .....don't drag the guy out there for a bid, you'll be wasting his time. Have all the details (measurements, installation, etc) so you can answer his questions on the phone.

Check out new tanks online....delivered, I'll bet (unless your in BFE) less than $3000. Installation extra. With the price of a new tank (with installation if oyu cannot do it yourself).......you'll know if a repair is worth while

From my keyboard, I recommend a repair if its less than $1000 and start saving for a new one. Or can you get by with only one tank for a while? What is your well production rate?

But if you're going to own a property with a well, better plan on getting handy or keep that check book ready.

cheers Bob

[DD_BobK]

[dpb]

Godspeed wrote: ...

..

That's almost 10X an estimate for a tank alone I'd think; at least if it doesn't have to be potable (but even there I'm sure their available for much less than $20k @ 5000 gal.

Assuming you're in CA from the fire protection requirement, here's one link that might be of some interest--they have black poly from roughly the $2k range.

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[Bob F]

I've seen ads on craigslist for huge bladders used for storage of water without a tank. One of these could perhaps be used inside the tank, or in place of it.

[Stormin Mormon]

Can you dry it out, add some Por-15, and shake the tank? Let it dry.

Hint: this is a troll.

[Bob F]

I wonder if that "rhino liner" stuff is "food grade". It might do wonders sprayed on the inside of the tank.

[Jim]

No Godspeed it can't be done on it's side... It's gotta be lifted straight up using a "gin pole" laying it on it's side will only egg shape it under its own weight. we lay them on their side after the bottom has been welded on and use a paint roller to apply the tar.... Jim

[Jim]

Better yet...EMail my welding business at ...... morriswelding at sasktel dot net ....send me photos and I'll coach you from there...I am home on time off (Wife is doing treatments after BEATING breast cancer) so am home and am looking for something to do to keep my mind busy...so I'll give you all the free advice you need while I'm sitting at home...Jim

>

[hrhofmann]

No one has mentioned chewing gum!!

[Jim]

No one has mentioned chewing gum!!

SHHHHHH bob yer gonna put me out of business...lol Jim

[news.eternal-september.org]

If it's that small a leak, and the surrounding material is in good shape, they make screw-in patches for those. It's like a short lag screw with a rubber washer that you just screw into the hole. Decide the size you need, then get two: one you think you need and the next larger size too, just in case. Works well and will stand up to the pressure. Sounds like it's just a pinhole right now so timing's good.

[The Daring Dufas]

How do they get the Rhino to hold still?

TDD

[Ed Pawlowski]

Most any weld shop can do it. Typical welder is about $75 to $100 an hour + materials + travel time.

If the leak is on the bottom, it may be difficult to get to. If there is one leak, there may be others. As I said, it has to be seen to be properly determined what action to take. It may just be a pin hole leak in one spot, it may be a pile of rust held together by paint.

[Ed Pawlowski]

You don't want to keep him still. It is sprayed on Rhino pee. Getting him to aim is the trick.

[Godspeed]

There does not appear to be any access other than from the top.

The well water comes in from the top of the leaking tank.

There is a four-inch fire-hydrant line connecting the two 5000 gallon tanks near the bottom; so as the leaking tank fills, it fills the second 5000 gallon tank in parallel. Presumably that 4" line will will "almost" empty the tank should we need to drain it. Each tank has a large 8'inch wide circular handle on that four-inch line to isolate each tank from the other.

At about the 1/3 empty mark of the tank that is leaking, there is the water outflow for the house. This steel outflow pipe is about two inches wide. Presumably the house can only use the top 2/3 of the water in the tanks while the unpressurized fire hydrant can use almost all of it.

I was afraid of that. :(

[The Daring Dufas]

I thought the liner was used to make the Rhino's eyes look pretty.

TDD

[Godspeed]

Yes. The concrete pad is about 20 feet long by about 10 feet wide and it has the two tanks sitting on it, side by side, with a small well house off to one end where there pressure pump resides and the top of the well sits along with three or four electric panels.

I think 10,000 gallons is about right for the house. All the neighbors seem to have larger sets of tanks than just two. I misspoke before about the

10,000 gallons needing special earthquake floating pads; it's anything over 5,001 gallons which needs the special pad so that's why everyone has sets of 5,000 gallons.

I was hoping it was the fittings but when I asked the well guy, he said the only fittings were those I could see on the sides and top of the tank:

1. Tank 1 is leaking; tank 2 is connected to tank 1 by a 4-inch valved pipe
2. The well pumps water into the top of tank 1 via about a 2-inch line
3. The water comes out of tank 1 at about the 1/3 level for the house
4. From there, the water goes to pressure pump and a blue pressure tank
5. From the blue pressure tank, the water goes into the house
6. Additionally, the 4-inch line near the bottom of each tank goes to an unpressurized fire hydrant called a "wharf hydrant" by the fire department

None of these fittings are leaking. I was hoping there was a 'drain plug' or something on the bottom of the tank but the well guy said it would just be a weak spot to start leaking.

Certainly it's not helping the situation that the wood slats are constantly wet.

Very good question! This house is 20 years old and I'd guess the other houses are similar since I saw a map from the 70s which didn't even show a paved road. Most houses here are probably less than 20 years old. I will see if I can ask how long their tanks lasted, but some seem to be made out of wood (at least on the outside) and some are green plastic with awnings over them (mine is painted steel with no awnings).

With all that rust on the inside, I'd suspect it's not galvanized. I wonder how else I can tell?

Interesting idea! I hadn't thought that they could "cut the bottom off". That would solve the problem, wouldn't it? One problem is that it must be darn hard to get heavy equipment up the hill where the tanks are, but, they must have gotten the trucks in there somehow. The well guy things they went from the neighbor's yard.

Nobody, until you, suggested cutting the bottom off. The previous idea was to patch it and I understood the problem of "patching the radiator". But, if we can cut the bottom off, then it seems to me the results should be pretty good, right?

I will do that. I guess I also need someone to "tip" the tank over so the welder can work it on the side, right?

I will report back. Would you suggest I research steel (1:1 replacement) or some other material? I see wood and plastic tanks all around the hillside.

I see the plan. a) Get a rough phone-call estimate from a welder for a new steel bottom b) Get a rough estimate for a new tank from the Internet c) Compare & decide

Not good. The well guy tested it at 400 feet deep and he ran the well for an hour and it shut off twice (he had to flip the breakers on and off to restart the pump). He said the water level dropped 15 feet in that hour and that we were getting only about 6 gallons a minute (I can double check the paperwork).

:) I'm ok with learning. That's why I'm here asking and responding!

[Godspeed]

The next door neighbor actually does collect rainwater off his roof and feeds it to a 22,000 gallon underground tank for his irrigation needs but mine is well water.

There are two wells on the property, one of which the well inspector said was useless and is currently turned off at its breaker. The other well is the one that supplies all the water needs.

[Godspeed]

You're right. I was hoping to "repair" the tank but the advice to check the price of new is apropos. A new "plastic" tank seems to be about $2,000.

A new "5,000 Gallon Fresh Water Poly Tank" is $2,238.60 here:

inches; Height:152 inches; Weight:875 pounds;

Here's a heavier "5000 Gallon Polyethylene Fresh Water Tank" for $2,000:

inches; Height:153 inches; Weight:1,200 lbs.

This low profile "5000 Gallon Black Water Tank" goes for $1,775:

inches; Height:86 inches; Weight:879 lbs.

I wonder how long plastic tanks last compared to steel?