What are those plastic drums/cubes/tanks in steel cages, used to transport liquids (presumably approximately pallet sized) called? And can one buy them second hand? I'd like to get hold of a couple for rainwater storage.
A stillage IIRC.
Or 'transit tank'
One turns to the other and says,
"You man the guns, I'll drive."
Endeavour to find out what was in them before you buy .....they are designed to be re-usable and so have an intrinsic value - but strangely many seem to end up on Fleabay etc having been "rinsed out, but some "stuff" may remain". (If what was in them was in fact innocuous, then why are they for sale on fleabay etc when they could have been easily sold back into the distribution industry for re-use.....)
hope it helps Jim
Endeavour to find out what was in them before you buy .....they are designed to be re-usable and so have an intrinsic value - but strangely many seem to end up on Fleabay etc having been "rinsed out, but some "stuff" may remain". (If what was in them was in fact innocuous, then why are they for sale on fleabay etc when they could have been easily sold back into the distribution industry for re-use.....)
hope it helps Jim
Huge laid this down on his screen :
Whilst looking for a larger than usual water butt I was offered one of those for £20 about 10 years ago.
...because they were nicked?
or of such a low value for re-use (as they are no longer provably safe for "food use") - suppose it depends what the OP wants to do with the rainwater...feed his veg? mmm...
I'd avoid them. Got a couple already, but they're a pain.
They're big. Cubic metre, metric tonne+ when full, which is bigger than I can conveniently move.
They're big. And square. They stick out a long way, rather than standing out of the way along a wall.
They're fragile. The tanks themselves are thin and need the cage and pallet to be in good condition. If the pallet rots through or the cage rusts, then the tank is likely to herniate through the gap and split
They're translucent. Algae can be a problem, as can UV embrittlement.
On the whole, I'd much rather have a row of 210 litre drums in dark plastic.
A friend had 3 couple of these stacked in his garden to collect rainwater, but had issues. I seem to remember:
- One had contained hop concentrate, thus water always smelt of gone off hops
- Another had contained liquid soap and always produced bubbles.
- All water very quickly went green and slimy (and smelly). You can't get in them to clean either.
- You need special racks if you want to stack them else the one underneath squashes.
- When you discover the one underneath is squashing, you end up wasting the water to empty the top one to lift it off.
- It is very very hard to plumb in your rain water to both if they are stacked.
- He spent a fortune diverting the gutter water from the whole house round to the side where these things were stacked.
- When one is full you need a method of diverting the water to another (or drain) or else you flood the place.
- One didn't come with an outlet tap, his attempt at fitting them cause the plastic to crack and leak.
- He set them at staggered heights (on piles of bricks) with a 22mm pipe at top of first tank leading to next tank so that when full it filled the next.
- As you can't get to the inside of a 22mm tank pipe fixing you bodge it externally with silicone.
- The 22mm pipe blocks with leaves thus flooding everywhere.
- You can't simply get to the 22mm pipes to clear them of leaves as you have siliconed them in place.
- You can't simply get to the 22mm pipes to clear them of leaves from the inside of the container either.
- You find silcone doesn't really bond too well to the polythene containers and leaks and falls off and the water escapes.
- You can't simply get to the 22mm pipes to repair them as you now have two very heavy containers of water blocking easy access.
- Despite all the rain he never managed to get all 3 full at the same time.
- When you do have containers of water you find you can't attach your hose pipe is the valve is something strange (probably for dispensing soap ??) so water has to be transported using a watering can.
- You finally realise that you can get tap water for £1.52 per cubic metre (same size as each container) and abandon the whole idea.........
Clearly he never engaged in water play as a child and electronics as a bigger child. Part of the fun of this is in making the project work. That takes some planning and thought. All of his problems could have been foreseen and handled quite easily with decent bore pipe, a few level switches, a couple of pumps and a cheap industrial controller.
cheers, Pete.
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:34:24 +0100 someone who may be "Ian_m" wrote this:-
There are alternatives to the ones in metal cages. has some examples, as well as the ones in metal cages.
In the areas which already have hosepipe bans regularly water is already in short supply.
:¬)
Exactly.
When I was about 3, I called it "working the magic" - because it seemed to be. I knew how to do it though.
He did a degree in electronics and is now a programmer.
Part of the fun is KISS, keep it simple stupid !!!, so no pumps, siphons etc all must just work when left to its own devices.
Since then I have seen better type things, the overflow to the next tank is all built into the screw on lid using push fit rain water pipe. Means you don't have to cut holes in existing tanks and if there is a problem with the pipe work, you just take it off, fix it on your workbench before returning it to the containers. I saw this type of arrangement at some enviro study centre in Wales a year or two ago.
How do you self prime the siphon ????
How do you prevent all the water siphoning out into the next tank ???
LOL!!! :)))
Think of a large 'n' with each leg in a small 'u'
The 'n' is a pipe filled with water and the 'u' at each end is section of wider pipe sealed at the bottom and filled with water.
The 'n' equalises the levels in two tanks, and the 'u' at each end holds the siphon when the tanks empty.
The 'n' could be made from 32mm black waste pipe with elbows, and the 'u' from sections of 40/50mm pipe with stop ends, say 200mm long.
The nice thing is it doesn't pick up water from the very top or bottom of tank, so should stay free of debris more easily.
cheers, Pete.
At which point thre is a drought and another hose pipe ban........
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