Rescuing our sinking Water Tank – 7th Aug 2017

As part of our ongoing water security measures we had new water tanks installed at the shed-level last year.

5 x 2000 litre modular tanks were installed on the southern side of the shed.  One of the only pieces of ‘flat land’ we own.

The tanks sit on a ‘man-made’ pad, with retaining wall support and thick gravel layer.  This has supported the tanks well since installation.

However, following the deluge associated with Cyclone Debbie the lead tank has taken on a lean towards the downhill side.  This is most likely due to the massive overflows we had from all tanks during the post-cyclone rain period.

The lower side of the tank had sunk into the ground as the ground had got more and more rain-sodden.  At it’s worst, the tank had a lean of between 7-12 degrees.

In order to ‘fix’ the tank we needed them to be empty. So we pumped the remaining water in the tanks down to the main tank, and out to our other satellite tanks.

As the tanks were going to be ’empty’ we took this opportunity to purchase another 2 x 2000 litre modular tanks.

Due to their design and setup, the new tanks could be installed into the existing line of tanks.

They are being delivered next week.

With the tanks empty, we righted the leaning tank, added some gravel underneath and around it.  Everything went to plan and the lead tank now sit’s (mostly) straight and tall.

We also had to adjust the inlet pipes now that the tank was upright, but that was a relatively easy job.

This secures the 10,000 litres of water storage we have on the tank level, and the additional tanks will only improve things further.