Water tank options

[jeepj667]

I'm looking to purchase a water tank for my cabin build and have a few questions.
It's a dry subdivision so we are required to have a min. 1000 gallons. Water will be brought in via a tank in my truck. We were thinking of getting closer to 1500 gallons just for extra but have no real idea how much we will need. It's a 1 bed, 1 bath cabin. What color tank should I get? I was thinking black for less algae problems but the local tank guy said the white ones are heavier duty and the black might cave under snow load when empty in the winter. Any info is appreciated.

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[hpinson]

Personally, I would not want a white 1000+ gallon above ground tank.  Algae problems are bad enough with black or green.  Not sure about strength of the molded ABS on the really big tanks. Our 500 gallon is plenty strong, and when damaged in shipping with a tiny hole, was repairable. 1000 gallons is a lot of weight, but they ARE designed to handle it.

If the snow load is that high, won't you have freezing problems. Have you considered a buried tank? Those have re-enforced ribbing to withstand the side and top pressures.  That would pretty much take care of algae and freeze problems (though there are still issues to deal with).  Search for "cistern" on this site for more info on that approach.

[rick91351]

Myself I would bury a cistern.  1,000 gallon     I really don't understand.  You are required that amount of water on hand?  Then you would need a larger tank...     

[knopfarrow]

Some second-hand information after  talking with a couple who built near my property, where new homes are restricted by the county from hooking up to the community's existing water system.

They built a nice 3 bedroom cabin where they come with kids and occasional friends on weekends, holidays, and sometimes for longer periods.  Due to snow accumulations and un-plowed roads, water cannot be trucked in from November until about May.  They have 7 (seven) 1,000 gallon cisterns sitting in their basement that supply the home with water -- that much because it needs to last the entire Winter.  They try to take short showers and not leave the water running when they wash, brush teeth etc.  Their hope (someday) is that the restriction on new water hookups will be removed, and they'll be able to reclaim the space in the basement for everyday use instead of water storage.

BTW -- When I spoke to them, they groused that much water costs only about $150 each year, but the delivery fee is over $1000.

There is another family of fishermen who built a cabin in the area.  They're used to water tanks being on fishing boats so they took the same approach.  I imagine with a little googling around, you should be able to find some numbers for average water use per day per person and for appliances.

[MountainDon]

To partially repeat what others have said....  Is this in a winter freeze climate? If it is an above ground tank will be a problem, will it not?  We have a buried and insulated cistern that works very well for us. It is only 325 gallons but ours is a part time use cabin and we are water conservers. How much water you actually use is entirely up to you and the habits you might have to break, or relearn. A thousand gallons could do us for most of the summer. As mentioned we conserve, but we also do not do laundry at the cabin. Showers are short. We use rain water for outside plant irrigation. I have thought about collecting rainwater for domestic use but don't see the real need at this point.

Not all cisterns can be buried. And not all cisterns designated for underground use can be emptied. many of the loaf style come with warnings that the last 25% of the capacity must be left in the tank to give enough weight and prevent floating out of the ground.   Cisterns in the basement work well if the building is kept above freezing.

[jeepj667]

Thanks for all the info. To answer a couple questions. Our cabin is outside if Mt. Pleasant, UT. So lots of snow. I plan to drain it before winter. Where we want to put it is on the hillside behind the cabin so we can get some pressure for the toilet and don't have to have the generator running all the time. But we can't get machinery to the location so I'd have to dig it by hand. We have to have at least an 1000 gal tank per the fire Marshall. It doesn't have to be full all the time though. We are used to tent camping and bringing our own water so I think we can get by without using too much per day.

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[jeepj667]

The tank guy said black tanks are rated at 8 pounds per gallon and the whites are rated 11-12 pounds per gallon. We plan on filling it with a tank in my f250 but there is also a guy who will deliver 1000 gal for $120.

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[MountainDon]

Pressure is = 0.43 PSI per foot of head. So if the upper level of the water is 20 feet above the toilet tank you would have approx. 8.5 PSI pressure.  Some high efficiency new toilet tank valves require more than that to operate. Just something to check before commiting to the details.

[jeepj667]

Thanks that's good to know. How do I find that info? Is it listed on the box? I haven't measured for sure yet but I'd guess it will be around 20ft drop.

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[rick91351]

The tank guy said black tanks are rated at 8 pounds per gallon and the whites are rated 11-12 pounds per gallon. We plan on filling it with a tank in my f250 but there is also a guy who will deliver 1000 gal for $120.

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I bought my tank...  from a on line vendor.  It was made at Tooele, Utah.  I grabbed my flat bed trailer ran down to Tooele and saved freight charges.  Drop me a PM if you want to know who I used for an line vendor.  Side bar the plant at Tooele can not sell out right. I tried that when I was down there. 
   

[MountainDon]

How do I find that info? Is it listed on the box?

Have to search well and make direct inquiries with distributor or manufacturer. From what I've seen  The only reason I came up with that is we are looking at replacing an old toilet with a new minimal water use type. A Kohler model that is in the running states a minimum of 20 PSI is required.


If there is no grid connected power, will you go solar?  One member here has an off grid cabin and poor solar exposure,  uses a Generac off grid rated generator with a small battery bank. That could allow a small pressure pump system to operate. Use as large of a pressure tank to reduce the frequency of pump starts. The start surge has higher current draw than the running pump.

[jeepj667]

We plan to try solar eventually but it will be a few years. We are also on the north slope of the mountain so not great exposure. I'll have to see how high up we could possibly get the tank next time I'm down there.

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