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AussieRich AussieRich is offline
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Default Home made rain water tank

On Oct 19, 1:36 pm, "stu" wrote:
"AussieRich" wrote in message

oups.com...





On Oct 18, 4:46 pm, "stu" wrote:
"AussieRich" wrote in message


roups.com...


On Oct 18, 9:49 am, "
wrote:
On Oct 17, 9:07 am, " wrote:


plastic would appear a better cheaper option, there was a tv show
dream house? a new home built in denver on the side of a hill,

with no
water service they had a room for a plastic water tank with

regular
deliveries.


plastic never rusts leaks etc plus must be cheaper


I know some people are under the impression that plastic lasts
forever... but it gets brittle and eventually cracks. I was

removing
a sink today to install granite counter tops and the brittle plastic
piece which connects to the stainless steel broke off on me instead

of
unscrewing. I stored a lot of old mail rubber-banded by date and

when
I went to go through it years later to throw 99% of it out all the
rubber-bands had broken by themselves. The rubber hoses in your car
eventually leak. Ultraviolet also causes many plastics to fall
apart. Many plastics are even slowly eaten by microbes. While
plastic is a miracle of "modern science" and the best choice for

many
many applications it is normally not a good idea to count on it
lasting longer than concrete, stone, or metal which was properly
designed and maintained. I do not know if it is the right choice

for
the OP's application, perhaps it is. It is probably the cheapest.


Picture of "attractive" concrete


tank:http://www.oasisdesign.net/images/im...38rockTank.jpg


picture of the type of tank I am talking about


http://www.talesfromthebox.com/wp-ga...rden/tank2.jpg


These things are an australian icon and take on a second life when
rusted out as wood sheds, cubby houses, dog houses, chicken sheds etc
etc.


My existing tanks have a polymer film applied to the inside called
'Aquaplate' which protects the metal from the effects of electrolysis.
The manufacturers of this steel "BHP" gaurantee itl for 25years.


You can buy this stuff in sheets so I am really thinking hard about
having a crack at it.


Also, does anyone know if solid rivets are much stronger than 'Pop'
rivets.?


I cant see how you can roll corrugated iron without a set of "corrugated
iron rollers". You can make tanks out of flat sheet but you said you

wanted
it to match what you have already. Also moving and supporting a tank

made
out of flat sheet is more work.


Solid rivets are stronger in sheer and tension than "normal" pop rivets.


If i was making a DIY water tank i think i would use a plastic lined

hole
and put some sort of decking over the top.- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -

Hey,


You can buy the iron already rolled to what ever specification or
profile you want. They just charge a little extra to roll it.


I'll probably go with solid rivets as due to the round shape of the
tank the steel is in tension and all the rivets would most likely be
needing to have good shear strength.


Rich


If you can get the corrugated iron rolled to the diameter of your tank then
you're half way there. I thought you were going to start with flat sheets of
corrugated iron.

As for the rivets, although solids will make it a two person job, if you
have the tools I'd just copy the size and spacing on the tanks you have
already(as long as your new tank isn't going to be much bigger).

You'll need to join three (4 sheets if you can only get 900mm) flat sheets
to make the top and bottom(if you can get them 3.5m long, ) do they use some
sort of lock form joint or just a lap joint??

What sort of joint are you going to use on the top and bottom?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Stu,

The top and bottom of my existing tanks is just flat sheets that are
lap joined and riveted.

Since my last post I found some Australian Standards that go into all
the detail.

The std has a table detailing which metal types are incompatible
beacuse of electrolysis.

They do not differentiate between solid and pop rivets but do funnilly
enough mention self drilling screws!!!

Self drilling screws are a marvel of modern invention, I copied a
Stratco and Highcraft 6m by 6m ptiched roof patio a couple of years
ago and it is basically held together with self drilling screws.

I think I will probably find out off the manufacturer the shear
strength of solid rivets and see if I can get a pop rivet that is as
strong. This will make it a one man job.

The joints to join the top to the bottom are just the bottom cut a bit
bigger that the sides and folded up. Seal it generously on the inside
and away you go.

This sounds a bit flimsy but when you think of how the force of all
that water is distributed inside a cylindrical tank with the bottom
sitting on a concrete slab, the force of the water would be evenly
spread around the cylinder.

I am going to go to a tank shop and have a very close look at what
they have done and go from there. It worked for the Patio.