I have a huge hole in my garden, and insted of filling it with dirt, I am thinking of putting a tank into it, and filling the tank with rainwater to water my plants from.
If I use a steel tank, that you can get from ebay for 50 quid, will it simply rust to a useless state in a copule of years ?
Thanks Rick
I doubt it. A son has a huge steel tank in his garden which he uses as a wildlife pond. Yes, it's rusted but it still holds water after about twelve years.
Mary
With the new bunded tank regs coming in to compulsory force in the autumn, there should be a flood of non bunded steel stuff up for grabs for free.
Pete
Probably. You could try and get hold of a sacrificail anode, magnesium alloy sold for use in water heaters. There also plastic 1000 litre bulk storage containers sold on E-bay. Would the hole be suitable to put down some sand & a pond liner?
Aidan
What do you do with the "sacrificail anode" ?
I have seen the plastic ones, too small. I am thinking a couple of thousand gallons.
Thanks
Connect the sacrificial anode to the tank with a bit of insulated cable and drop it in the bottom of the tank. It will protect the inside of the tank from corrosion. I don't think it will do anything for the outside. I believe they protect pipelines with a buried sacrificial anode, so an external one would probably work in the same way. The anode will reduce to a small mound of metal corrosion salts in a few months/years. Then you get another.
A scrap magnesium alloy wheel might work, but I don't know anything about what's in the alloys used.
Why? Whats wrong with building a masonary bund round your existing tank? Its cheaper than buying a new double tank and has the advantage that when your tank is in need of replacement all you need is another single skinned tank. I always advise my customers to take this road rather than going down the double plastic tank route
Presumably it is galvanised. We have an old galvanised water tank lying around out the back, odd patch of rust but nothing serious. It's been outside at least five years and I wouldn't be surprised to find out it had been out for the previous 15 to 20 either.
Mind this is in the open so does dry when it's not raining, bit different to being in the damp ground...
Look into using a proper packaged rainwater harvesting system and put that tank under the ground. It will eventually pay for itself when on a water meter. It will also add value to your house.
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Yeah right....
What's bunding?
Mary
No.
It takes a long time for rust to penetrate all but the thinnest steel when it's under water. When it does, in son's case, water will either very gradually leak out (as it does in a natual pond) or any perforations will be bunged up with debris which will slow leakage.
As an aside, we have a butyl lined pond which obviously has a leak somewhere but the level is maintained by rain. One of the jobs on our ToDo list is to re-line the cavity ...
Heigh ho!
We have an old galvanised water tank
Walls around the tank, so that if the the tank or connections leak, the spillage is contained and can be cleaned up rather than contaminating all the local water courses. The bund should be capable of holding the entire contents of the tank.
110% of the tank contents. And as it's leak proof by nature you may have to make arrangements for getting water from rain snow etc out of it.
Ah, thanks.
It's word I don't think I've never heard of.
Mary
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If I am gonna spend serious money on this, I'll pump free water out the nearby river. This is an idea to inexpensivly harvest my rain water. You can take a certain ammount each day without licence. The pump would be expensive, its only 100m away, but its a big vertical drop.
I suppose the sort of 2000 gallon tank I am looking at could be used for loo fluhes and the like as well.
Thanks Rick
I do not know your trade and therefore the nature of your "customers" so I am not in a position to comment fully on your advice. We have a non bunded kerosene ( 200G [c] ) storage tank on block stillage and our fuel suppliers are currently quoting us for a replacement bunded plastic jobby. They have not come up with your advised system as an alternative. Would you like to come up with a ballpark figure for a masonary bund ?
Regards Pete
Building your own bund requires two building control inspections plus the hire of a compactor. That alone should make the double plastic tank route cheaper.
Not arguing with that - waiting to hear John's explanation.
Regards Pete
Strictly speaking you can only abstract water from a water course if it flows over your own land, and the amount that you can take before needing a licence is restricted (although it's much more tham most people would use).
Bill
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