Attic tank cleaning

[None]

Hello all,

I have moved into a house with an attic tank that has been there for about 9 years. It is plastic, which is good I guess, but was neglected by not being covered, so an awful lot of crap looks to have gotten into it, and seems to be affecting the water in the bathroom. I was thinking about just replacing it with a fresh lidded one, but how feasible would it be to clean myself, bearing in mind it is elevated, so very tricky to reach in and clean? Plus even if I drain it, plenty of water is left at the bottom, creating further grief.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Can you get inside and scoop the remaing water out?

You can clean yourself by getting a bath more often. ;-)

[None]

hmmm... yes quite, I'm sure that bath thing might work out. Any ideas on what to use for scooping? Even that would only take a bit of it out.

[Gully Foyle]

Bath towel and a bucket?

[Guy King]

The message from "None" contains these words:

How about stirring it while you run water out - that'll flush most of the grot out.

[john2]

Wet 'n Dry vacuum cleaner ?

john2

[John]

Hose pipe to siphon it out - it may suck up some of the crud as well. Don't like the stirring idea. Some heavy crud could remain in low parts of your plumbing.

[OldBill]

Probably not because the outlet should be a few inches above the bottom. I did what others suggested; combination of baling, wet & dry vacuum and old towel. Then I fitted a lid & insulation that the builder had forgotten.

[Guy King]

The message from OldBill contains these words:

That's why I suggested stirring it!

[Dave Liquorice]

It will if you can get a decent bit of fall on the hosepipe, 6 or 8' is enough. Wanging a bit of flexable hose about isn't that easy to control though. What I've done for our tanks is to get a length of 15mm tube with a short stub at 90 degrees at one end. A normal round hosepipe tap connector goes on the stub to attach the hose. At the other end of the pipe champher off the end so that there is always a flow of wateras you move the champhered part across the bottom of the tank to hoover up the bits. You'll be able to get all but the very last bit of water out of the tank with this. Splosh in a bit of bleach, rub down the sides etc with a cloth, partially refill and siphon out the last bits of debris. Maybe repeat depending on how much bleach you put in... Fill and cover.

Not to mention possibly blocking filters on washing machine inlets etc.