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How to store 10,000 litres of water


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So, as part of my building warrant I require to have onsite storage of water for a fire engine to use in the event of a fire.

They fire dept originally requested 23000 litres, but have compromised on 10,000

 

that's a fair size tank..

 

Above ground tanks come in at £1100, plus extortionate delivery to where I live (rural Aberdeenshire). The wife thinks they are massive and ugly.

Underground tanks are easily double the cost.

 

Any suggestions for cheaper alternatives to storing 10,000 litres, preferably underground.

I have land, I have a digger, a willingness to work and a steading roof that could supply the water.

 

10x IBC Tanks?, some sort of waterproof chamber?

 

any ideas?

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Swimming pool is a good idea actually!

Duck pond would be a cheaper alternative, depending on fire requirements for water cleanliness etc

 

Is there a nearby brook/stream which you might be able to divert, or get a wayleave to put some sort of pipe system in place?

 

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Hi. Two friends been faced with the same problem in the shire, one made a pond then filled it in after the building warrant was passed the other installed a sprinkler system on a diy basis (done a course to become a installer).  

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I worked for a while at an office and lab at the top of Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth.  The water pressure up there was too low to use for fire fighting, or the main was too small, I'm not sure which, but the solution was to build large ornamental ponds at the front of the building that doubled up as a source of water for fire fighting.  Something similar was done at another place I worked at for a time, Abbey Wood, near Bristol.  There the large ponds also acted as storm water run off storage, as well as providing water for fire fighting.  I think it's a fairly common commercial solution to this problem, so it should work OK for a domestic situation. 10,000 litres isn't massive for a pond, and could be pretty easily created with a digger and pond liner.

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3 hours ago, Tin Soldier said:

So, as part of my building warrant I require to have onsite storage of water for a fire engine to use in the event of a fire.

They fire dept originally requested 23000 litres, but have compromised on 10,000

 

that's a fair size tank..

 

Above ground tanks come in at £1100, plus extortionate delivery to where I live (rural Aberdeenshire). The wife thinks they are massive and ugly.

Underground tanks are easily double the cost.

 

Any suggestions for cheaper alternatives to storing 10,000 litres, preferably underground.

I have land, I have a digger, a willingness to work and a steading roof that could supply the water.

 

10x IBC Tanks?, some sort of waterproof chamber?

 

any ideas?

 

Pond or bathing pond.

 

As a pond you only need it to be half metre by 4m by 5m or similar.

 

If you are worried about kids etc make it shallow or with a grid or raised at waist or chest level. Can you take inspiration from the Tank Court at Folly Farm, the r have a reflecting pool on your best facade?

 

Lutyens_houses_and_gardens_(1921)_(14577

 

I love ponds which are high enough to sit on a wall top bench at the same height as the water.

 

If you insist on underground :Dthen can you combine it with your rainwater storage in some way say under the drive, and even use it for watering the garden as well? Obviously 10 cubic m becomes your standing level.

 

I think a 2m section of 2.5m concrete pipe sunk in the ground with a liner will hold just under your volume. So Large size drainage pipes and inspection chambers might be one place to look. Retailers like Buildbase Civil or the correct suppliers to utilities or a relevant bit of St Gobain may help.

 

I guess that aqua-berms are not permanent enough. But us there anything else made of fabric?

 

Anything along these lines:

http://www.molatank.com/china-mola_tank_flexible_and_portable_pvc_plastic_scaffolding_water_tank_700l_10000l-7705981.html

 

Ferdinand

Edited by Ferdinand
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3 hours ago, Tin Soldier said:

So, as part of my building warrant I require to have onsite storage of water for a fire engine to use in the event of a fire.

They fire dept originally requested 23000 litres, but have compromised on 10,000

[...]

any ideas?

 

The storage system isn't going to be the problem. It's the long term maintenance cost.

 

Underground, away from light, refresh continuously - rainwater recycle tank? Filter the incoming free water. Two filters, one coarse, one fine. Occasionally  (once  a year) put some aluminium sulphate (spoonful)  in the water : let it settle the rubbish out to the bottom, and then flush the tank out fully and replenish. Maybe think about putting a length of copper pipe on the supply side (copper sulphate helps clean the water) Main thing keep light away from it.

 

Keep it child-safe. Make sure you can drain it completely and have access to clean it out. Dig a deep sump  so you can flush it all away: every last drop.

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Alex- I'm building in the cheap side of the shire, Quilquox, Ythanbank

in the Bermuda triangle between Auchnagatt, Ellon and Methlick

 

Its a large (~130m2) extension I'm building

 

Onoff, thanks, very interesting.

 

Triassic, I think we're talking the same kind of money for crates as a tank, I'll have a shift though.

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I used 20 crates to build our surge storage, that's under the drive.  Each crate has a capacity of 196 litres, IIRC, so we have a permeable "tank " that's a bit under 4,000 litres.  The total cost, including the excavation, came to around £1k, IIRC, but I bought the heavy duty Aquacell crates very cheaply from a local chap that had loads of surplus ones from a big road job (I think I paid around £20 a crate, delivered) so saved around £1k on the price of the crates.

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2 hours ago, Triassic said:

How about using storm water runoff crates wrapped in pond liner. 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=storm+water+runoff+crates&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

 

You'd still have to be super careful surely about puncturing that liner and bugger about with EPS up the sides etc. A bitch to find the leak too whereas with a pond.....

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1000l IBC tanks are cheap, can be had for £25 each plus delivery. I have a thread here on building a 4000l rainwater storage facilty, tanks are now in-situ and just need to plumb together.

 

They cant be buried direct in ground though, you would need to excavate a chamber and build a box to hold them in, guessing by the time you did that you'd be better getting a dedicated tank.

 

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Been worrying at this one.

 

As you say transport of 10,000l tanks is the difficult bit. I can buy one 100 miles from here for £749 for an above ground tank (you put eg trellis round it), but it will cost £200 to get here (never mind Aberdeen), and at 2.7m diameter it is 6 inches over the maximum limit that can be towed. If it was only a few miles cross-country I might chance that were I needing one.

 

There are ones by eg Enduramaxx that are within the 2.55m, but again - you are back up to your £1000 plus carriage.

 

However, so my last divergent thought anything suitable that is used by aquaculture or fish farming, given where you are? They must store the reserve fresh water for the indoor fish etc in *something*. Or any fish farming establishments going bust?

 

Ferdinand

 

 

Edited by Ferdinand
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10 tanks £350. Found some in Mintlaw:

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-miscellaneous-goods/ibc-containers-for-sale-£35-each/1254379277

 

Surely they would deliver free for 10?

 

Pretty sure the Brain's Trust on here could fathom (little water related pun there :) ) a method of branched pipework for filling and rapid draw off.

 

How would you stop them freezing?

Edited by Onoff
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You can bury IBCs but they need to be either concreted in or supported in some way as they can be stacked full up to 4 high. 

 

That to me is a 3000kg static load through the bottom one - most likely through the trellis and corners so they can take a fair bit. 

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Thanks guys, some really good suggestions here, which I'll be looking at during my time off next week

 

Mintlaws not far from me, in terms of collection IBC's

Pond's still looking like the most likely option at the moment

 

 

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On 24/07/2017 at 17:41, Onoff said:

 

Pretty sure the Brain's Trust on here could fathom (little water related pun there :) ) a method of branched pipework for filling and rapid draw off.

 

 

@PeterW figured it all out for me in my RWH thread above. 

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