How Many Types Of Water Tanks Are There?

A water tank is a container to reserve or store water. The storage of water through water container are used in various ways for instance drinking water, food preparation, irrigation of agricultural land, chemical manufacturing, watering plants, industrial and other domestic use. Hence they are both utilized for potable and non potable purposes.

Water tanks are the effective means for storing water. They come in various shapes and sizes and provide us with safe and clean water. The components that water tanks are made of are plastic, stone, steel, concrete, fiberglass. In South Asia, earthen pots are used to store water and they are termed as ‘ matki ‘.

Design And Shape Of Water Tank

Water storage tanks ; they are designed in the following ways :

• underground
• elevated
• resting on ground ; fixated ; hinged ; flexible

And about how they are shaped, can be classified into five:

• Square shaped
• Rectangular shaped
• Circular shaped
• Intze shaped
• Spherical shaped

Types Of Water Tank

Various kinds of water storage tanks are existant on the basis of their usage , durability, material, affordability and a lot more reasons.  Some of the common water tanks are mentioned and described below

Folding Water Tank

They are a temporary and swift to set-up water storage solution. In general, they range in capacity from 500 to 5000 gallons. They can be used for short – term water storage such as water purification, drinking water storage, pollution control etc. Since they are facile to deploy, they are best for urgent water storage on rough terrain.

Polyethylene Water Storage Tank

These tanks are ideal for reserving small volumes of drinkable water. Their capacity ranges from 25 to 20000 gallons. They are long term storage of preserving water unlike folding and bladder tanks.  They are great source of plastic tanks that provide facility  of limited budget.

Corrugated Steel Tanks

Corrugated steel tanks are ranged from 500 to over 1 million gallons. They are robust water storage tankers. These are basically field-erected and used for waste water treatment, fire protection, potable water supply. They are a suitable middle-ground between fibre glass and steel-welded water tanks.

Bladder Tanks

These type of tanks are collapsable  because they are made out of durable fabric  or rubber . They are also named as pillow tanks.  Pillow tanks range from 25 to 25000 gallons. They are for temporary usage like containing rain water, non – potable water, drinking water.

Fibre Glass Storage Tanks

These are affordable and long lasting water storage tanks that range from 4000 to 50000 gallons. They are perfect for storing caustic water. It includes rain water, drinking water and any kind of non potable water. If not maintained properly they get brittle and can be cracked.

Carbon Welded Steel Tanks

Carbon welded steel tanks are strong and durable. They are versatile for both use and construction. It specially comes with interior coating specific to what you are going to use the tank for. They can be put to use for fire protection, waste water, potable water and more.

Bolted Steel Tanks

Bolted steel tanks ; can hold tremendous amount of water.  They range in capacity starting from 150000 gallons. They are entirely watertight and can be used for any other liquid substance except water.

Purchasing Factors

One should consider the following factors before purchasing a water storage tank. They are :-

• Application : As to what kind of water is your water tank going to preserve.
• Capacity : What amount of water is needed to be preserved?
• Budget : How much are you ready to invest in purchasing a proper water tank?

Although there is a wide variety of water tanks, you can easily determine the preferred tank according to your situation by considering the above factors.

Read also: Is Plastic Water Tank Safe?

Choosing The Right Type of Water Storage Tank

Incase of getting a temporary water storage tank which is  easy to set up and take down, a folding or bladder tank is the best choice. Get a Polyethylene or Corrugated Steel tank if you just want to reserve a few thousand gallons of water. And in need of a high-quality water tank that shall last for a decades then go for a Steel Welded reservoir.

Points to Mind

Since water is susceptible to insects, dirt, microorganisms, dissolved gas and many more stuffs thereby it should be kept in mind that the water tank has to be inert which refers to the fact that the materials it is made from should not contaminate  the water. And plastic tanks specifically release toxins as plastics wear down over their  lifespan. Hence it is harmful to use a old  plastic tank for drinking water and even new plastic tanks can make potable water unsuitable to drink if kept for a long time.

To sum up the main points

We are provided with clean and conserved water benefits by the help of water storage tanks.  Water storage tanks play a significant role in preserving clean and safe water.