Hi all,
I need to sort out my water tank issue - I'm doing up a barge that
has a ~3,000 litre PVC water tank. It doesn't fit out the door, and is
a bit big for my needs... There is a space under the bed in the bow
that would like to put the tank, only its a funny shape.

As I see it I have some options:
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made steel water tank
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made PVC water tank
- chop it up, stick it back together to make my own custom PVC water
tank.

Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol

wrote:
Hi all,
I need to sort out my water tank issue - I'm doing up a barge that
has a ~3,000 litre PVC water tank. It doesn't fit out the door, and is
a bit big for my needs... There is a space under the bed in the bow
that would like to put the tank, only its a funny shape.

As I see it I have some options:
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made steel water tank
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made PVC water tank
- chop it up, stick it back together to make my own custom PVC water
tank.

Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol

I have welded polythene with some success, but if a 2000l tank fails
it's a lot of water...........Not for me.

I made my tanks in 316L stainless. It is expensive, but much better than
plastic. All your choices will work and all are expensive. It is more so
because you cannot do it your self. I guess it is pick your poison and deal
with the result.
Steve


wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I need to sort out my water tank issue - I'm doing up a barge that
has a ~3,000 litre PVC water tank. It doesn't fit out the door, and is
a bit big for my needs... There is a space under the bed in the bow
that would like to put the tank, only its a funny shape.

As I see it I have some options:
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made steel water tank
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made PVC water tank
- chop it up, stick it back together to make my own custom PVC water
tank.

Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol

brought forth on stone tablets:
Hi all,
I need to sort out my water tank issue - I'm doing up a barge that
has a ~3,000 litre PVC water tank. It doesn't fit out the door, and is
a bit big for my needs... There is a space under the bed in the bow
that would like to put the tank, only its a funny shape.

As I see it I have some options:
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made steel water tank
- chop it up, throw it away, buy a new custom made PVC water tank
- chop it up, stick it back together to make my own custom PVC water
tank.

Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol

Are you sure it is not HDPE? I would be surprised to see a PVC water
tank...

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle

Have you thought of making a plywood tank and lining it with epoxy and
glass?. I made a water tank for my boat that way more than 30yrs ago, with
polyester resin since epoxy was not used for boatbuilding then. It is still
ok, but that tank is only about 9 gallons capacity. Dont see why it should
not scale up though. I lined the bottom and sides and flange round the top,
then lined under the lid, then screwed the lid down with epoxy still wet.
Plastic inspection hatch in lid. Can be DIY job and made to fit any space.
Particularly appropriate for wooden boat since it can form part of the
structure.

John

Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol

On Jul 15, 8:51*pm, "John Perry" wrote:
Have you thought of making a plywood tank and lining it with epoxy and
glass?. I made a water tank for my boat that way more than 30yrs ago, with
polyester resin since epoxy was not used for boatbuilding then. It is still
ok, but that tank is only about 9 gallons capacity. Dont see why it should
not scale up though. I lined the bottom and sides and flange round the top,
then lined under the lid, then screwed the lid down with epoxy still wet.
Plastic inspection hatch in lid. Can be DIY job and made to fit any space..
Particularly appropriate for wooden boat since it can form part of the
structure.

John



Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi all,
thanks for your wisdom - in no particular order:
- I'm not sure what its made of - its big and waxy and black and looks
a bit like some strips of PVC I havem but it could well be
polyethylene...
- I haven't yet looked at stainless - I'm doing a welding course in
the autumn, so 1 option is to sit tight until then and weld myself one
up...
- Wood and fibreglass? Not one I had thought of - I did think about
making a wooden/plastic structural container holding a bladder, but
didn't see anyone else using anything like this.

thanks again for your help,

Jim Potter

A friend of mine and I did exactly that. We built a very odd shaped plywood
(15mm) tank of about 200 liters (appr. 50 gallon). We inserted a few
bulkheads for structural strength, put fillets in all corners and painted
the inside with special epoxy paint for fresh water tanks. We used no glass.
The top is removable and sealed with rubber.

Meindert

"John Perry" wrote in message
...
Have you thought of making a plywood tank and lining it with epoxy and
glass?. I made a water tank for my boat that way more than 30yrs ago, with
polyester resin since epoxy was not used for boatbuilding then. It is
still
ok, but that tank is only about 9 gallons capacity. Dont see why it should
not scale up though. I lined the bottom and sides and flange round the
top,
then lined under the lid, then screwed the lid down with epoxy still wet.
Plastic inspection hatch in lid. Can be DIY job and made to fit any space.
Particularly appropriate for wooden boat since it can form part of the
structure.

John

Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:23:55 +0200, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:


Has anyone got any experience of making their own water tanks? OR does
anyone know anyone in the bristol area that does PVC welding?

thanks in advance,

Jim Potter
Bristol




Made two 27 Imperial gallons (121 litres) from plywood glassed over
with standard epoxy resin. The best ply to use is cheap construction
ply as the glass adheres better. I divided my tanks into two connected
compartments with a divider/baffle to prevent the sloshing and force
of a large volume of water. Nailed the top down over thickened resin
and glassed over the join quite heavily.

No problems so far.

cheers
Peter

On Jul 18, 11:23*am, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:
A friend of mine and I did exactly that. We built a very odd shaped plywood
(15mm) tank of about 200 liters (appr. 50 gallon). We inserted a few
bulkheads for structural strength, put fillets in all corners and painted
the inside with special epoxy paint for fresh water tanks. We used no glass.
The top is removable and sealed with rubber.

I’ve been toying with the idea of making water tanks for my boat but
was dubious about using epoxy as a lining. I didn’t think it would be
safe enough for drinking water.
So what is this paint you have used?
Is it safe to drink the water ?
Does it affect the taste of the water?

Mike.

"timmynocky" wrote in message
...

I’ve been toying with the idea of making water tanks for my boat but
was dubious about using epoxy as a lining. I didn’t think it would be
safe enough for drinking water.

Like I said: epoxy paint for water tanks. Special stuff that doesn't contain
any solvents.
For instance SikaGard, a High Build epoxy coating. This system is a
two-component solvent free, high build coloured epoxy resin coating with
high chemical resistance, and approved for use in contact with
potable(Drinking) water.

Meindert