Water is an essential thing with which our lives depended upon. And a home without proper water supply is no way near living friendly. It is crucial for our convenience that we treat our water demands well at home and today we go through some tank types that have been used in homes for centuries. Enjoy the read everyone 😊
1. By Installation Type
A. Overhead/Loft Tanks
- It provides water pressure for your home and it is a gravity tank. To maintain the pressure, in public water systems, they use pump stations but if you are living far away from public water tanks you may need a gravity tank or pressure pump to provide the necessary push so that water can flow freely through the structures of your living area.
- Pumps are mainly electrically operated, if the electricity goes off you can still have proper water pressure with the help of a gravity tank. It will save you a lot of headaches during hurricane or storm days.
- The main objective is to achieve an even distribution of water throughout the home and it helps build constant water pressure in the pipes and flows everywhere really efficiently.
B. Underground Tanks
- A typical water tank is a functional storage buffer to meet the variations in consumption and keep the water head stable. The privacy of invisible water tanks is just to put them under the ground completely.
- The tank is completely made of high-density polyethylene or fiberglass and it is almost always of one-piece design. It is usually encased in either compacted stone or concrete, and buried under the ground about 1.2 meters.
- People mainly choose an underground water tank because they never interfere with the design of garden, lawn or paving and it can be laid on top of the water tank as well. Getting water to the underground tank is easier because the public water system pipes can be easily accessed down the ground with a simple, less complicated connection procedure.
- The algae growth can be restricted because the water below the surface has no influence from above the ground objects and the water can be kept cold and dark beneath the level of ground too, which limits the growth of unwanted water beings.
C. Ground Level Tanks
- They sit directly on the bed of sand or soil and they usually require an attached pump to raise or lift water from the bottom of the tank to whatever height it may need to go or full-fil a purpose of any kind. Electricity is crucial for this system to work properly and it has been in use with homes since decades now. The capacity in home water tanks can be limited because it takes a lot more space compared to other water tank placement types and people with more ground space only opt for this type of water tank installation.
2. By Material
A. Plastic (Polyethylene) Tanks
- Made of plastic and it is a container which serves for various uses like storing or delivering water in different needful settings and polyethylene tanks are more popular though. They are engineered to safely and securely handle small to large volumes of water. Depending on the water tank type, they are built to handle potable or non-potable water. Because these tanks are plastic, they are made in a range of styles and volume sizes to match up and meet the needs of different applications.
- If the tank is to be in any color other than white, they use a color pigmentation compound and the materials used are the raw plastic known as resin, ultraviolet stabilizing compounds usually carbon black or titanium dioxide. These tanks are manufactured in various density types, such as Low Density (LDPE), Medium Density (MDPE) and High Density (HDPE) and these types can also be listed as Linear Polyethylene. Another type of Polyethylene manufactured differently to produce cross-linked Polyethylene (XLPE) and is commonly used to store potable water.
- Mainly use a mold that sets the shape, size and design of the water tank to be made and the common plastic tank manufacturing processes are rotational molding and blow molding.
- Rotational Molding: It is also known as rotomolding and rotocasting and is used to manufacture most rigid-walled tanks like vertical, underground cisterns, utility and rainwater tanks. This process uses a rotating equipment apparatus, powdered raw plastic resin, a product mold and heat. To create the desired product to a certified thickness per engineering standards, plastic resin is placed in the mold, heated to the resin’s melting point and rotated because the mold is built with a mechanical pattern that is intended to disperse the molten plastic material uniformly into the mold. After this stage of production, the product is cooled and later then, it is released from the mold, resulting in the creation of a water tank which is certified for both effective and efficient use to store and distribute water perfectly.
- Blow Molding: It is used to manufacture tanks that possess a semi-flexible wall like 275-gallon tote and 330-gallon totes. The process includes an openable product mold, the resin delivery apparatus that uses air and heat. To form the outer walls of the container and leave a hollow interior, the resin is heated to molten temperatures and air is used to blow the heated plastic resin into the product mold.
B. Steel Tanks
- A branded SS tank has the advanced 6-layer technology which protects the stored water from harmful ultraviolet radiations and the tank maintains the ideal water temperature regardless of the weather conditions as well. The main thing to understand is they have high resistance to oxidation by biocides and water and thus they stand out. Every penny spent will be worth it because they are resistant to chloride stress and aqueous corrosion.
- Duplex type SS water tanks consist of twenty-two percent of Chromium and it forms as a robust protective layer usually after their chemical reaction with the oxygen in the water and air and this passive layer plays the most important technical role in the prevention of corrosion throughout the surface.
C. Concrete Tanks
- The tank will be circular or rectangular and they can be incorporated into house drawings, plans and commercial building submissions. Probably designed to be modular and to tightly sit next to one another and it can be installed in a garage or patio or buried underground as well.
- The base of the tank needs to be flat preferably laser-levelled too and can be constructed above or below ground. The foundation of the tank to be built must have 150ml of compacted road base, so it can withstand some weight on top, which means, choose a ground of uniform thickness capable of bearing pressure of 100kpa and it is a highly recommended consideration.
D. Fiberglass Tanks
- By replacing steel vessels, because of the excellent corrosion resistant capacity, fiberglass tanks have found their way into numerous water treatment systems. Technically in the residential category these vessels are used in water softeners, filters, iron removers and reverse osmosis water treatment systems. At homes people use pressure vessels with capacities of 120 gallons but in commercial purposes with deionization and other water treatments, the vessel capacities even go to 2000 gallons.
- During installation, the connections must be treated with care because residential tanks are manufactured with plastic lining and plastic threaded connections and some use virgin plastic which can be cross threaded or cut easily. Other manufactures use glass reinforced threads, which provide productively more strength and these threads must be protected from cross threading, nicks and cuts.
- During unloading, the fall or the impact can be seen as a “White Bruise” on the external side of the tank. Try not to install the package if the bruises, cracks or abrasions are large because it is meant to be used in a pressure environment and it will fail you severely.