Tanks and wall thickness

[grantgoold]

I am wondering if a 90 gallon water tank could be made out of aluminum sheet that is 1/16th thick? Of course I could place baffles and so forth inside.

Your thoughts?

Grant

[tekebird]

yes

[TomCat]

Grant,

There has been an ongoing discussion in the past here, on the suitability/use of aluminum for a fresh water tank.

I believe TomC has real world experience using one on his big rig. Tom?

Jay
87 SaftLiner

[Kristinsgrandpa]

In some of the countries in Europe aluminum  cookware/dinnerware has been outlawed because of detrimental effects on the human body.

Autopsies on people that have died from Alzheimers shows large deposits of aluminum at the base of the brain.

I wouldn't even want to shower in it.  I threw away all my aluminum cookware years ago. 

Not all plastics are FDA approved food grade. Polyethylene is, and that is what my fresh water tank is.

Ed

[TomC]

I used a 75 gal aluminum fuel tank on my big rig Kenworth, and while it looked good since it was half the length of my 150 gal fuel tank, I would NOT recommend it in water use.  Aluminum reacts with water and with the motion of the vehicle going down the road creates small mineral balls that clog up the water pump screen about once or twice a week.  So it was constant cleaning out of the screen and would be a pain if it clogged up in the morning right when you were to take a shower.  As compared to the bus that has a 130 gal plastic tank that doesn't react, taste or anything over the 12 years it has been in the bus.  The only metal water tank I'd use would be 6011 (not sure if that's the right number) that is the best stainless used in the marine industry for tanks.  Good Luck, TomC

[Sojourner]

Tom...you mean 316 SS....6011 which is aluminum.
Yes...only metal for food grade is 316-SS.

By the way about .0625" thick aluminum sheet is OK in cylinder shape with spoon ends but not in square or rectangular shape unless you go thicker.

For low cost in the long run and trouble free from bleach or any corrosive substance such as sewer waste (unless you keep it stir up in metal tank) is noncorrosive polyethylene and one piece seamless construction. Get heavy duty 1/4" thick wall. They are not welded type but mold from rolling box with melted polyethylene until cooled to it given shape into one piece contrustion.

MAK's sponsor has them:
http://www.ardemco.com/ardemco.asp
2 of B298 110gals fit well in my MCI-8

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Jerry

[jjrbus]

Aluminum as a hazard is an old wives tale.

             http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/valentino.asp

Think about it, if there was even a glimmer of truth to it everybody who has alzheimers would be sueing Coca Cola, Pepsi etc.
I know not everybody uses it, but people who use deodorant are exposed to far more aluminum than you could ever get from cooking!!!

[makemineatwostroke]

Aluminum as a hazard is an old wives tale.

 JJR  I never gave any thought to this topic till about 2 months ago when a post came up and I started doing a little research on the topic.Yahoo has over 900 million sites you can visit about this topic and what I read aluminum is not good for you even the military does not use it for water because of health reasons and its being removed from toothpaste and deodorants. My thoughts on this topic         

[compedgemarine]

dont know about it being a wives tale but I know that I can only wear deoderant as it does not have aluminum. if I wear anti-perspirant (which has aluminum) I get a bad rash and reaction. as far as soda cans they are coated inside to prevent the aluminum from contacting the contents.
steve

[H3Jim]

or Ronco that makes all the tanks for Ardemco, and you can buy them from Ronco far cheaper than Ardemco.  I drove ot he factory in Orange county, and for no extra charge they spin welded all the fittings I wanted.  Later when it turned out I had made a mistake on loction for several of them, Ronco closed them off and spun a few new ones in for no extra charge except for a tip for the worker that did it.

714-259-1385

Ardemco uses the same catalog and part numbers as Ronco the actual manufacturer.

Plastic is the only way to go.

[Kristinsgrandpa]

Aluminum and Alzheimer's Disease

If you have ever wondered why there is such an astounding increase in Alzheimer's disease, the answer may have finally been found. In the April 1995 issue of the international science journal, Neurotoxicology, a private Australian research group reported that the widespread use of aluminum salts to purify water may lead to brain damage and may account for the large scale loss of memory experienced by people suffering from Alzheimer's disease!

The Australia Institute of Biomedical Research, based in Sydney, reported that experiments with rats showed that tiny amounts of aluminum consumed in water found its way to their brains and accumulated there. It has been known for twenty years that if aluminum accumulated in the brain over a period of time, it could kill off neurons and cause memory loss. Institute researcher Judie Walton noted the worldwide massive increase in Alzheimer's disease over the past 70 years. She pointed out: "We are drinking it and eating it throughout our lifetimes, so by the time we are quite old we have had a lot of exposure to aluminum." Aluminum is also found in food emulsifiers, anti-perspirant deodorants, baking powder, some toothpastes, and many of the commonly used cooking utensils.

The research on rats found measurable amounts of aluminum in their brains after just one glass of aluminum treated water. Walton observed: "We really should look seriously at revisiting this possibility that aluminum addition to foods and drinking water is a health hazard." Due to the concerns about a link between aluminum and Alzheimer's disease, Sydney, Australia's largest city, is already gradually withdrawing aluminum treatment of water.

Using aluminum to purify water may be even more dangerous than the use of fluoride and chlorine in our water. It is believed that the problem is worsened by the action of fluoride in facilitating the absorption of aluminum.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I would also recommend that you read through the book Toxic Metal Syndrome: How Metal Poisonings Can Affect Your Brain, by Dr. H. Richard Casdorph and Dr. Morton Walker. This book delves into the aluminum problem quite thoroughly.

Or you can contact Dr. Jacquelyn Jewett at Oregon State University, Eugene OR. She is very well educated on the effects of aluminum on peoples brains and Alzheimers victims as our mother died from Alzheimers disease.

There is more than this, I dont want to take any more space so I'll let the rest of the thousands of pages go un posted.



Ed

[JohnEd]

Ed and MMATS,

Thank you for taking the time and making the effort.  I read something about this a long time ago but having not seen anything in the mainsteam press I thought it had been debunked.  Really, Thank You both.

My lady is super smart and a research librarian.  She is fighting memory loss that is quick to be apparent in her field and is currently undergoing extensive medical evaluation.  I think that even with a lobotomy she would still be ahead of me so we aren't concerned...at least for our relationship and compatability.

John

[HB of CJ]

Looks like we are researching kinda the same thing concering the use of alumimumuimmummm as a fresh/drinking water tank.  What I am now finding out (I'm an ex-RN) is that there is a lot of misrepresentation concerning aluminumiummiummm as a water tank container.

Bottom line (at least for right now) is that I am now leaning away from using this material as a water tank. A hedged political answer fur sures, but since other stuff/materials/availablitiy of alternate water tank materials is available, why create a potential future problem?   

But...your question is...is your choice and thickness of aluminimummuimm doable for creating a water tank.  Dunno.  I have zero welding skills welding this stuff.  Perhaps some rocket scientist types who weld for a living will answer properly. 

[Kristinsgrandpa]

My worst fears now are that next eweek they will admit that some of the chemicals that ooze from polyethelyne will kill me.

Out of the frying pan into the fire.

Ed

[WEC4104]

Sorry, but I can't read this without recommending that you use transparent aluminum. 

Live long and prosper.