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A water tank is a container for storing water. Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications,
drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
,
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
agriculture,
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock,
chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...
manufacturing,
food preparation Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...
as well as many other uses.
Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
tank parameters include the general design of the tank, and choice of construction materials, linings. Various materials are used for making a water tank: plastics (
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bo ...
,
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...
),
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
,
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
,
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
,
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
(welded or bolted, carbon, or stainless). Earthen pots, such as
matki ''Vigna aconitifolia'' is a drought-resistant legume, commonly grown in arid and semi-arid regions of India. It is commonly called mat bean, moth bean, matki or dew bean. The pods, sprouts and protein-rich seeds of this crop are commonly consu ...
used in South Asia, can also be used for water storage. Water tanks are an efficient way to help developing countries to store clean water.


History

Throughout history,
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
,
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
and
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
tanks have been used as water tanks. These containers were all naturally occurring and some man made and a few of these tanks are still in service. The
Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...
(3000–1500 BC) made use of
granaries A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...
and water tanks.
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
castles needed water tanks for the defenders to withstand a siege. A wooden water tank found at the Año Nuevo State Reserve (
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
) was restored to functionality after being found completely overgrown with
ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...
. It had been built in 1884.


Types

Chemical contact tank of
FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
and
NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bo ...
construction, allows for retention time for chemical treatment chemicals to "contact" (chemically treat) with product water. Ground water tank, made of lined carbon steel, may receive water from a water well or from surface water, allowing a large volume of water to be placed in inventory and used during peak demand cycles. Elevated water tank, also known as a
water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...
, will create a pressure at the ground-level outlet of 1
kPa KPA may refer to: * Keele Postgraduate Association, Keele University, UK, formerly Keele Research Association (KRA) * Kensington (Olympia) station, London, England, National Rail station code * Kenya Ports Authority * ''Kiln phosphoric acid'', a ...
per or 1
psi Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ, ψ), the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic) (Ѱ, ѱ), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviatio ...
per of elevation. Thus a tank elevated to 20 metres creates about 200 kPa and a tank elevated to 70 feet creates about 30 psi of discharge pressure, sufficient for most domestic and industrial requirements. Vertical cylindrical dome top tanks may hold from 200 litres or fifty gallons to several million gallons. Horizontal cylindrical tanks are typically used for transport because their low-profile creates a low center of gravity helping to maintain equilibrium for the transport vehicle, trailer or truck. A Hydro-pneumatic tank is typically a horizontal pressurized storage tank. Pressurizing this reservoir of water creates a surge free delivery of stored water into the distribution system. Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) tanks/vessels are used to store liquids underground.


Design

By design a water tank or container should do no harm to the water. Water is susceptible to a number of ambient negative influences, including
bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
,
viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's ...
,
algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
, changes in pH, accumulation of
minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed ...
, and accumulated
gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
. The contamination can come from a variety of origins including piping, tank construction materials, animal and bird feces, mineral and gas intrusion. A correctly designed water tank works to address and mitigate these negative effects. It is desirable that water tanks be cleaned annually to reduce delivery of algae, bacteria and viruses to people or animals. A safety based news article linked copper poisoning as originating from a plastic tank. The article indicated that rainwater was collected and stored in a plastic tank and that the tank did nothing to mitigate the low pH. The water was then brought into homes with copper piping, the copper was released by the high acid rainwater and caused poisoning in humans. Since the plastic tank is an inert container, it has no effect on the incoming water. Good practice would be to analyze any water source periodically and treat accordingly, in this case, the collected acid rain should be analyzed, and pH adjusted before being brought into a domestic water supply system. The release of copper due to acidic water may be monitored by a variety of technology, beginning with pH strips and going to more sophisticated pH monitors, indicate pH which when acidic or caustic, some with output communication capabilities. Most of the algae growth occurs at an optimum pH,  between 8.2 - 8.7. pH level that is neutral or lower can help to reduce the growth of algae. Potential
algaecide Algaecide or algicide is a biocide used for killing and preventing the growth of algae, often defined in a loose sense that, beyond the biological definition, also includes cyanobacteria ("blue-green algae"). An algaecide may be used for controlle ...
, shock product will help to clean
swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
s or water tanks from algae. In this process no need to use
vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...
to remove algae. There is no causative link between the plastic tank and copper poisoning, a solution to the problem is to monitor stored rainwater with pH indicators and add appropriate treatment materials.


See also

* * * * * * * * * * * * * Rooftop water tower


References


External links


Drinking Water Contaminants
-
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

Website
of the
American Water Works Association American Water Works Association (AWWA) is an international non-profit, scientific and educational association founded to improve water quality and supply. Established in 1881, it is a lobbying organization representing a membership (as of 2012) o ...
{{Authority control Containers * Water supply infrastructure Water conservation