Rainwater tanks and moving them

WoZZeR

WoZZeR

WoZZeR

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Joined
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Northampton
Hi there

We are wanting to install a large water tank at the bottom of the garden this autumn/winter and have a couple of issues to seek advice on:

Firstly, assuming a water tank held 1500 litres and a footprint of 120cm diameter would it be fine sited on compacted hardcore and pea gravel or would a more substantial base be required?

Secondly, wacky ideas welcome, these water tanks are not too heavy but are a trifle cumbersome, a single larger tank would be more cost effective than several smaller tanks. We have a maximum entry width to the back garden of 130cm unless we can lift the tank over the garage roof. Assuming an empty tank weighed 160kg and the garage roof is not overly strong and 200cm high is it possible to hire or assemble some sort of gizmo to lift a tank over the roof?

Cheers
 
Haven't really set a budget, I suppose if a large tank was circa £1000 - £2000 then wouldn't want to spend a fortune lifting it. I guess a small crane could do it in less than an hour.
 
what are you using the water for?

if its garden then most people use IBCs second hand ones., can pick them up for around £30-40 plus around £20 for delivery if you cannot do so yourself.
They are approx 1.2x1M, very cheap, and shiftable by a couple of "normal" people (about 60-70 kgs depending on exact spec)
You can stack them, or wire in series if you need more capacity
 
yeah I'd go the ibc route, cost you pennies.
whilst bulky easy enough for a couple of you to lift over a wall/fence likely that garage roof you've mentioned as well.

what's the water for?
 
aye you could always use the cage around it to affix a tarp or. summit, i mean depending how permanent you wanted it could even box it in and whack some pvc classing or similar.

would be costly but the initial op says 1-2k and with an ibc yer probs at about 60quid max lol
 
WoZZeR said:
Haven't really set a budget, I suppose if a large tank was circa £1000 - £2000 then wouldn't want to spend a fortune lifting it. I guess a small crane could do it in less than an hour.
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£1000 - £2000 ?

I use 1000 Litre IBC tanks that i can get for £45 each locally ( used ones )

But i live in a farming community so they are easy to get locally.

Are there no businesses near you selling them, no way is rainwater worth spending thousands on.

What i also do is put a 200 litre plastic drum on each corner of my house and use the roof to collect. They all fill to the top in heavy rain giving me 800 litres a time.
 
Cheers chaps

The IBC route is definately cheaper, we do have a localish firm that sells them:

www.purepac.co.uk

Reconditioned IBCs | Second Hand Used IBC Tanks Containers | UK

We offer both natural and black reconditioned IBCs and often have a selection of 640L and anti-static or conductive second hand IBC Products for Sale
www.purepac.co.uk www.purepac.co.uk

I was planning on around 5,000 to 6,000 litres maybe a little more so 6 linked together would do it. Not quite as aesthetically pleasing though I suppose.

The water is mostly to top up the garden pond which is a wildlife pond, full of newts, dragonfly larvae etc so nice clean nitrate free rain water is the solution.

I have 1,000L which is collected from the garage roof but a couple of weeks of hot weather uses it all filling up the pond.
 
Mysterae_ said:
Another vote for IBC tanks, so cheap second hand. I would say cover it with something though as the sunlight will make the water go a bit fousty.
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I made this mistake at work, left one full outside and forgot, mmmm green water and green scum on the whole inside.
Easy to wash out, but stoopid of me.
 
At the moment, the delivery charges make IBCs cost prohibitive for me.
It's fine to sell an IBC for £40-60 but then the sellers wanted roughly the same again for delivery.
If you've got your own transport, then sure, they're decent value.

I ended up linking up a few 2nd hand water butts together with around 1100L capacity for around £40 all in as they actually fit in my car in two trips!
 
During the summer we divert waste water from the upstairs showers into a water butt. This is then used for watering the grass / plants.

Can get a bit stinky if it's not emptied for a couple of days - but it's a much better use for it than just letting it go down the drain. Also means we don't need a massive amount of water storage. The shower runs multiple times a day - so fills up quickly.
 
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