Galvanised steel tank installation in the West Midlands

Water for growers

Horticulture in the Vale of Evesham, soft fruit and orchards in Herefordshire, and field vegetables in Shropshire all rely on water through the driest part of the year. A steel tank fills from a borehole, a licensed abstraction or the roofs of packhouses and stores, then feeds irrigation when the crop needs it.

Because the tank stands on a pad rather than in an excavation, it can sit beside a packhouse or at the corner of a field without losing productive land to a reservoir and its banks.

Polytunnel and glasshouse growers use them for a second reason: water stored close to the fertigation kit is easier to manage than a distant reservoir, and a covered tank keeps leaves and algae down.

Industry and logistics

Manufacturing sites around Coventry, Telford and the Black Country use tanks for process and recycled water. Distribution sheds along the M6, M42 and M54 collect water off very large roofs for vehicle washing and toilet flushing. Bus and haulage depots keep wash-down water close to the bays. Water reused on site is water the business no longer buys from the mains, which is often the reason the tank was specified.

On these sites the tank usually goes up next to a working yard. We agree a laydown area, keep the panel stacks inside it and work around shift changes and deliveries.

How a tank goes up

A concrete slab or engineered pad, sized by others for the tank full of water, is the starting point. We check it for level and mark out the tank, then follow a set order:

• Steel sheets raised one tier at a time and bolted to the course beneath
• A made-to-measure liner hung inside so the steel never carries water
• Pipe connections, overflow and a level gauge booted through the liner
• A gradual first fill, checking joints and fittings as the weight comes on

Tank or lined reservoir

For the largest irrigation volumes, a welded lined reservoir is often cheaper per cubic metre. A steel tank wins on footprint, speed and the option to dismantle and move it. We install both, so the choice can rest on your site, your water source and your plans, not on what one installer happens to sell. On a rented holding there is one more point: a steel tank can leave with the grower at the end of the lease, which a dug reservoir never can.