reserve water tank

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Ray.Charles
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reserve water tank

Post by Ray.Charles » March 12, 2014, 8:52 pm

We are in the process of constructing a 27-unit room-for-rent, with an occupancy of about 50.
We have tentatively decided to install 6 water storage tanks each holding 1,500 liters of water at the roof (4th level). At the ground level, our plans are for 4-6 tanks holding 2,000 liters each.
We are basically ignorant about the type of tanks we should use. Trips to building supply stores have not educated us enough, other than we have seen 2 popular types, light brown and blue in color, excluding the aluminum types.
Is there anyone here who can educate us to help select the proper type of tanks that we should install? Or, send us a link or two where we can educate ourselves.
Thanks.



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maaka
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Post by maaka » March 13, 2014, 2:54 am

cant help much on this one Ray, but just remember 1litre of water weighs 1kg in regards those ones on the 4th floor..and from what I know the aluminium ones get hot if out in the open...

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Khun Paul
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Post by Khun Paul » March 13, 2014, 5:39 am

For what it is worth I have had the steel ones for over 10 years and they wear very well. yes the water gets hot , but that can be a bonus, it also gets cold in the winter. I have looked at the plastic tanks and until I see someone with one over 10 years that has stood the test of time I would plump for the steel ones on the roof, as they are exposed to the sun all tear. and they will not deteriorate . One the ground however you use whatever you want as you can cover them to protect them from the harmful rays a little bit.
Weight of full tanks I have no idea, but if you look at most buildings here on the roofs they are all steel.

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papaguido
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Post by papaguido » March 13, 2014, 9:06 am

I'm certainly no expert, but from experience with the typical "blue" tanks (know of relatives with basic blue tanks over 10yrs with exposure to the sun and show no signs of wear or deterioration) my concern was algae from exposure to the sun. Prior to shading the tank, about once a year I would have to empty the tank and give a good cleaning to remove the accumulation of algae. Shading the tank doesn't completely eliminate the algae, but it does slow the process, at in least my experience.

The plastic newer ones claim to eliminate algae accumulation because the material used in making the tanks prevents photosynthesis (google algae and photosynthesis).

I've read on coolthaihouse.com that the inside of "stainless steel" tanks are prone to corrosion over time, especially around the water outlet.

Image Image Image

Hope that helps :D

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parrot
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Post by parrot » March 13, 2014, 9:40 am

For about six weeks each year, I wish we had a water tank exposed to the sun. The other 46 or so weeks, I'm thankful our water storage is under our house. Nothing but nothing beats a cool shower on a hot day.......and we couldn't do that when we lived downtown with our water tank exposed. During those six weeks of cold weather, our hot water heater corrects the problem....but for the rest of the year, we'd have no device that would cool off the hot water in the tanks.

rreddin
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Post by rreddin » March 13, 2014, 10:35 am

Ray.Charles wrote:We are in the process of constructing a 27-unit room-for-rent, with an occupancy of about 50.
We have tentatively decided to install 6 water storage tanks each holding 1,500 liters of water at the roof (4th level). At the ground level, our plans are for 4-6 tanks holding 2,000 liters each.
We are basically ignorant about the type of tanks we should use. Trips to building supply stores have not educated us enough, other than we have seen 2 popular types, light brown and blue in color, excluding the aluminum types.
Is there anyone here who can educate us to help select the proper type of tanks that we should install? Or, send us a link or two where we can educate ourselves.
Thanks.
The blue tanks are not light proof and are not intended for storing water for drinking/cooking. As others have said, algae grows on the inside making it necessary to clean them every year. Not an easy job when they are on the rooof. The beige/brown ones are usually double skinned, with a black internal liner. This makes them light proof and more suitable for storing water for human consumption. Because of this they are more expensive than the blue tanks. Stainless steel tanks are also light proof, but have a shorter life expectancy than the double-skinned plastic tanks, but should still be good for a couple of decades.

glalt
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Post by glalt » March 13, 2014, 12:05 pm

I have a Cotto CE 1500 fiberglass It is 1,500 liters and we use it for drinking water. It was the most expensive but since it is for drinking water, I thought the extra cost was worth it. For regular household use, we use a stainless steel 1,800 liter. That tank is nearly 20 years old and has never had a problem. We also have a blue plastic tank that has developed cracks on top. There are different blue tanks. The good ones are made from different color layers, the center layer is black and inhibits algae. If you take a powerful flash light and hold it against the outside of the tank, you should not be able to see any translucence inside the tank. Our blue tank was in the sun and never had an algae problem but the cracks are a problem. That 500 liter tank is now being used to store water for the garden. If I ever have a need to buy another tank, I'd buy the stainless steel type. If you choose stainless steel, research the type of steel. There are many different types of stainless. The different grades vary in corrosion resistance. 304 series also identified as 18-8 is commonly used for water tanks. It contains 18 percent chromium and 8 percent nickel. Lower chromium content is not as resistant to corrosion.

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maaka
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Post by maaka » March 13, 2014, 1:37 pm

I wondered why my tank water had become yellowish, and had a bubbly tummy for years, until I climbed inside my concrete tank, and found on the bottom a foot of rotting vegetation, lizard skins and what have you, and the stink when shovelling that lot out oyiiiiiiiiiiiiii....care for a cuppa anyone..hahahaha

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Khun Paul
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Post by Khun Paul » March 14, 2014, 8:07 am

That is the problem with tanks, the heat, I sluice out my house water tanks about once a year, but the others i have never cleaned, as they supply the garden which probably benefits from the accumulated sludge.
I would never store drinking water except in the 20 litre bottles you buy for 10 baht refiill, a cheaper and far healthier way of drinking water, sure you have to decant it but the effort is rewarded with no health problems. Even those wonderful and expensive systems need constant maintainence and are far far more expensive.

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socksy
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Post by socksy » March 14, 2014, 8:25 am

Khun Paul

I used to buy the big 20l bottles but have changed to the street side dispensers as I had lots of green stuff near the bottom of two of the twenty litre bottles I bought. Maybe I was just unlucky but I've never had a problem with the street side one's (BB). Plus the bottles go straight into the fridge.
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kopkei
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Post by kopkei » March 14, 2014, 10:09 am

what i have done in our new home is one 1600L blue plastic tank in the floor , and an above ground plastic tank of 2000L
( had stainless before , corrodes also in en out , so not clean ) supplying bathroom 1 /kitchen and water points at the front of the home , in the back one tank 1200L in the floor , 2000L above ground supplying the second bathroom and backyard water points, all filled automatically with city water , using a filter under the kitchen sink to make it drinkable, using of course 2 pumps to bring the water to the home ..and being able to switch to direct city water in case electric fall out ,and enough supply for a few day's in case of water shortage.. when we bought the above ground plastic tanks you also may have noticed there are cheap ones and more expensive , according to the guy whom sold them ( home mart) the difference is made out of recycled plastic or not , easy to spot , open the lid ,if they are smelly it is recycled plastic which isn't really suitable for drinking water ...the others also have a special layer inside same as glalt all ready explained... as info... ;)

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fatbob
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Post by fatbob » March 14, 2014, 12:03 pm

Blue plastic no good, not UV resistant, eventually they break. Beige coloured plastic tanks are UV resistant, check and make sure first as it is written on the tanks, they last forever and are cheap, stainless tanks are expensive and only 304ss at best not 316ss so they corrode in time, UV resistant plastic is the way to go. I feel better now.

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Khun Paul
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Post by Khun Paul » March 14, 2014, 9:36 pm

Not knowing anything about plastic tanks I will not comment, but my stainless steel tanks are great, 10 years old, flushed out once a year , no probs, it does depend on the steel, 18/8 is the best and also the most expensive , nowadays i think I would probably go down the plastic tanks route, my tanks were not cheap when i bought them but now they are expensive a tank I paid 19k for is now nearly 35 k , that is a lot .

bluejets
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Post by bluejets » March 15, 2014, 5:24 am

With the amount of concrete structures around in Thailand and the low cost of same, also the number of times reticulated water supply gets cut off, I'm surprised there are not more concrete tanks around.(on or in the ground naturally)

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Khun Paul
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Post by Khun Paul » March 15, 2014, 7:46 am

The problem with the concrete tanks i have seen is the mould, the way they are designed means that washing them out or even cleaning them is hard and nigh on impossible, therefore they become a breeding ground for many bugs and nasties. I am sure there is a way to utilise concrete in this way but as yet no-one seems to have come up with a good workable DESIGN .

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fatbob
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Post by fatbob » March 15, 2014, 8:24 am

Khun Paul wrote: by Khun Paul » March 15, 2014, 7:46 am

The problem with the concrete tanks i have seen is the mould, the way they are designed means that washing them out or even cleaning them is hard and nigh on impossible, therefore they become a breeding ground for many bugs and nasties. I am sure there is a way to utilise concrete in this way but as yet no-one seems to have come up with a good workable DESIGN .
70% of rural properties in Aus use concrete tanks, they are the ultimate way to go up to 20,000 litres in size, round with bolt together form moulds to construct on site, there are smaller pre-cast ones available also. I have built a couple of houses in Phuket with large 15,000 litre plus water storage tanks under garages and pool decks, you only get mould if you have sunlight, the workable designs are there and have been for longer than i have been alive, its just expensive!

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parrot
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Post by parrot » March 15, 2014, 9:34 am

We had a 2000+ liter tank built under our raised porch.......typical house construction sort of thing....some rebar/cement, then brick, then cement slapped on top. It's been holding up for 15 years.....out of the sun, no mold.....just a cleaning every 3 or so years to get some of the residual well sand out of the bottom of the tank.
Before we built our home, we visited Bamboo Resorts in Noonsung......the owner had handbuilt his own swimming pool. Back in 1998 he had one of a handful of pools in all of Udon. We were sitting in his gazebo admiring the pool when I inquired about his source of water for the pool (back in those days, water was very iffy). He said, "you're sitting on it"....and sure enough, he lifted the seat of the gazebo and there was a very large storage tank for the city water. We knew a German guy who lived behind the Border Police camp who had a large storage tank under the floor of his garage.
I've always considered myself lucky to have seen those two ideas before building our home.....tanks out of the sun beat tanks in the sun any day (well, except for those 6 cold weeks of the year).

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Post by glalt » March 15, 2014, 10:39 am

We have four of the cement jars. They each hold about a thousand liters. Two of them are at least ten years old and it appears they are going to last forever. A couple of years ago we bought two more for the farm. My wife says they are old fashioned and ugly but they do the job of storing rain water quite well. They make galvanized lids for those tanks that keep dirt and the critters out. My wife actually climbs inside those tanks when there is a lot of dirt in the bottoms. They are much easier to clean than our expensive factory built tanks. The main problem with these cement jars is that they are very heavy. They are not expensive.

It is just much more convenient to use the stainless steel tank and a float valve using village water than manually filling the jars with a hose or during the rainy season catching rain water from the house roof.

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merchant seaman
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Post by merchant seaman » March 15, 2014, 10:47 am

Don't have a tank and don't have a pump. have plenty of water pressure and never been out of water. Village lake provider.
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kopkei
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Post by kopkei » March 15, 2014, 12:20 pm

well ms this can change quickly , as they predict a lot of drought and water shortages combined with the overbuilding they are doing in udon ....i will be happy to have some reserve in case... ;)

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