Galvanised steel tanks in Hampshire

Storing water on the downs and in the valleys

Hampshire grows a lot under irrigation. Salad, vegetable and soft fruit growers on the chalk, nurseries and glasshouses around the Solent, and turf and amenity growers all need water in the driest months, when rivers and boreholes are under most pressure. Storing water collected over the winter is one answer, and a steel tank does it without digging a reservoir.

The same tank suits livestock yards that need wash-down water, depots and distribution sites along the M3 and M27 harvesting roof water at scale, and industrial sites holding process or recycled water.

Why a steel tank rather than a lined reservoir

A reservoir needs land, earthworks and somewhere to put the spoil. A galvanised tank needs a level base and a few days. It stands on a small footprint, keeps the water clean and accessible, and can be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere if the business changes.

• Small footprint for the volume held
• No excavation or spoil to deal with
• Water drawn straight off at the outlet
• Bolted panels that can be re-erected later

Siting it on a Hampshire holding

Where the tank goes decides how useful it is. Close to the yard or the irrigation main keeps pipe runs short; close to a large roof makes harvesting easy. On the open downs the site can be exposed, and the lorry carrying the panels needs a firm route to the base. We talk through those points with you before the order is placed.

How the tank is filled is the farm's decision, whether from roofs, a borehole or a winter take from a river. Any licence for that water sits with you and your advisers; we fit the inlet to suit the source.

Base, build and commissioning

Others build the slab or engineered pad, designed to carry the tank when it is brim full. We check its level and set out the ring on it before the first panel is lifted. Course after course of galvanised panels is then bolted on, stopping once the wall is tall enough for the Hampshire site's design volume.

Inside it, a tailored liner holds the water, so no bolted joint is ever asked to keep it in. Pipe connections for filling, drawing off and overflow go in next with a level gauge, and we fill the tank in stages to watch it take the load before you start drawing water. Crews travel from our Tamworth base and the build is usually measured in days.