Custom Holding Tanks

[chessie4905]

How about plywood tanks lined with fiberglass?

[dtcerrato]

Whenever we get the chance we like drinking from a cold stream with a giardia filter... 

[TomC]

On my big rig when I was driving, I had a 75 gal fuel tank (never used for fuel) as my water tank. Being aluminum, it reacted with the chemicals in the water and about once or twice a month would have to take apart the bottom fitting (water came out of the bottom of the tank) to clean the little pellets of calcium that had formed. I also had a filter before the water pump that had to be cleaned periodically. After 12 years of use, the tank was pitted inside, just gave it away to the recycler.
In contrast-never had these problems with the plastic tanks.

[Jim Blackwood]

I think Aluminum is probably not the best idea in any case for all the reasons above. Maybe if you could get a liner made out of that white stuff they use for water hoses that would be good. Filters are great but only remove the particulate unless you also add an activated carbon filter which then needs changed more often and is an added expense. Still, a pretty good idea for the drinking water. How many here have the extra tap on the sink just for that? My guess, it's pretty common. If you do that it really helps a lot. The main thing is what water you drink and cook with unless alergies play a part. As for fiberglass, well the biggest thing there is  proper curing. You basically have polyester and epoxy resins. The epoxy resin is probably the better choice but even then it takes awhile for the stink to go away. Wouldn't really want to be drinking that stuff, or much of it anyway. You can buy pre-cured panels which are great and very inert but the corners are still an issue.

And that's the thing, how much pollutants can you tolerate? How much is it worth to avoid them? If you were Midas I guess Ed might have a pretty good idea. Didn't the Romans all go crazy because of the lead and pewter tableware? We're much better off today. But sometimes it just comes down to what you have and what you can get. And if you run the water through fast enough maybe it won't pick up as much.

I used to have a white plastic water tank and black PVC waste tanks and after adding a filter for drinking water that seemed fine. This time I have a tank made from 304 Stainless for the fresh water and will most likely still add the filter and drinking water tap. That's a very good commercial grade, also referred to as 18/8. It has 18% chromium and 8% nickel. The Nickel stainless, generally in the 300 class is widely used in general manufacturing and are non-magnetic. Now that I know, I'll ask about nickel allergies before offering a glass of water. I guess I could start over but it really doesn't seem to be a problem in my family.

By contrast the 400 series are called ferritic stainless, are magnetic, and widely used in the food industry and automobile exhausts. 430 is the most common grade used in food service and has a maximum nickel content of 0.5% or 0.75% depending on the grade, and there are alloys with no nickel. That should be adequate for someone with a nickel allergy but an exposure test would be a good idea. The 400 series generally have good corrosion resistance, are formable and weld easily.

You could probably buy PVC or polyethylene sheets with a PET layer on one side and that should make an excellent water tank. It would be more expensive than straight PVC but maybe not all that much. My guess is that most of the commercial plastics suppliers would carry it, there has to be a demand.

For some of us, it's a question of what we can buy cheaply. Unused NOS fuel tanks, if a magnet sticks to it, should be an excellent choice (Unless it is galvanized of course), although the grade might not be quite up to food grade standards. But that only means it might rust a bit more easily so again a trade off. Stuff you find at the recyclers has an unknown history and should probably only be used for waste tanks. Overall we're an incredibly resourceful group though so who knows what the next hot thing will be?

Jim

[Iceni John]

Unused NOS fuel tanks, if a magnet sticks to it, should be an excellent choice (Unless it is galvanized of course), although the grade might not be quite up to food grade standards.

Are any diesel tanks made of galvanized steel?   Doesn't diesel fuel react with zinc plating?

John

[chessie4905]

They used to use tin plating. The alcohols being used in blends, plays havok with the older coatings.

[Jim Blackwood]

No, for drinking water you definitely don't want zinc and probably not tin either, although it's the less toxic of the two. Either would probably hold up OK to waste, at least better than bare steel, but do your own research on that.

In that quote I was referring to stainless and the fact that the 400 series (low nickel content) stainlesses are magnetic.

Jim

[uncle ned]

O no i have been drinking out of Huggy's aluminum tanks and aluminum beer cans for years.

No wonder I cannot remember my name.

Uncle ned

[luvrbus]

O no i have been drinking out of Huggy's aluminum tanks and aluminum beer cans for years.

No wonder I cannot remember my name.

Uncle ned

Lol blame it something else Ned,I have friend that was plant manger for Continental Can in Texas the beer cans are coated on the inside 

[buswarrior]

Damned can coatings ruin all those old campfire recipes that involve tossing the can into the embers...

Have you figured out how "the tank" discussion turned ugly years ago?

Thank god Scotch still is sent to us in glass, from those lovely barrels...

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[dtcerrato]

If it's any consolation I am certain at most of our ages the carcinogens of the universe has already found & effected us so keep on keeping on.

[oltrunt]

You'll be OK Uncle Ned--unless you were eating paint chips before you were 5 years old.  Three in Calif.

[Jim Blackwood]

Paint chips! Yum!