Need a tough water tank

Patrick Harding

Patrick Harding

Member
So we carry Hydrotek water tanks on our trailer rigs, but our most recent water tanks have been developing cracks on the bottom corner where the tank is indented. I've tried repairing them with polyethylene strips but the repairs last only a couple months. I need to find a better tank does anyone have a suggestion?

From what I gather we are a little weird in the way we transport water. We always keep our tanks full. Does anyone else run this way or is it just us?

Our water tanks are a little under 200 gal. With each trailer holding 2 tanks.
 
With my 325 gallon tank I only carry about 60 to 140 gallons as more is just a waste of fuel, more wear on the brakes, etc.....Most of my customers have water so no need to haul water.
 
We only run one 8 gpm, machine off of it. We also have a pretty beefy setup as far as hauling and trailer so we are safe as far as travel is concerned. We run it like that because we tend to do 5 + jobs per run and try to make each stop as efficient as possible. We don't want to wait on water refills. Maybe we need to rethink that though. If there is a better way to run i'd be all for it.

As far as the tanks go our oldest Hydrotek tanks have held up great its just these new ones with baffle/indents that seem to not be able to take the punishment.
 
I can carry 550 gallons of water on my truck. I'm with Chris though, I only carry about 100 gallons in the tanks normally. Just enough for a buffer so when I do get on a jobsite I can hook up to the water and get started working.

Plus I start getting sea sick sitting in Los Angeles traffic with 550 gallons of water moving around in my tanks.
 
Patrick Harding said:
Do you need to wait often to let your tank fill up enough for your next job?
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Normally with commercial properties I don't have to wait. If I do hen it's only about 10 or 15 minutes.
 
Fix those cracks with some fiberglass resin from any auto parts store an the cracks will be fixed sounds light the uv rays might have gotten to your tanks.
 
My trucks always leave full and hopefully come back empty. I have only had one tank fail in the past three years, and it had a crack right where the strap was. I use tanks from Norwesco on all my trucks and trailers, except one. And yes, we always go on location full, even with the trailers.
 
You should rarely have to wait on one 8 gallon machine especially if you hook up 2 water hoses to feed the tank which is something I always have done waiting on water is a real time killer.
 
I always have the water tanks full, water is never on site, and they get filled on the way home for the next job. 1500g, 330g, 3x275g, all the tanks I use regularly, and none have failed me yet. The 330g is the only one that sits in the sun though, the other 4 sit in the box trucks and only see's sun when the doors are open. Heat kills these tanks, so does a lot of vibrations I guess. Helps that that the big tank truck has air ride ;)
 
Scott Stone said:
My trucks always leave full and hopefully come back empty. I have only had one tank fail in the past three years, and it had a crack right where the strap was. I use tanks from Norwesco on all my trucks and trailers, except one. And yes, we always go on location full, even with the trailers.
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Thanks for the info. Do you use the loaf tanks from Norwesco?
 
Benjamin said:
I always have the water tanks full, water is never on site, and they get filled on the way home for the next job. 1500g, 330g, 3x275g, all the tanks I use regularly, and none have failed me yet. The 330g is the only one that sits in the sun though, the other 4 sit in the box trucks and only see's sun when the doors are open. Heat kills these tanks, so does a lot of vibrations I guess. Helps that that the big tank truck has air ride ;)
Click to expand...

Benjamin what type of tanks are you using? Thanks for the replies, its helpful to know how people are running with their tanks.
 
Loaf tanks? I use the horizontal leg tanks.
 
Water tank failures

I'm so glad to hear a little chatter about "Beefy" water tanks..
 I see SO many dangerous tank-systems out there..

About rectangular vs. Horizontal cylindrical tanks..
Assuming equal wall thickness, and we’re “bouncing it down the street”..
A rounded structure tends to take trailer-bounce more evenly across the rounded surfaces.
But,
Rectangular tanks are made a bit thicker to accommodate the bouncing down the road.
..and they take up less foot-print on the trailer.. and so..
..Most tight-configuration trailers have rectangular tanks.
The ONLY failures we have seen of water tanks,..are of Mounting issues..
If the tank is not completely supported along the bottom of the vessel, it can flex, and fail.
Mounting on expanded steel fails. Exposure to exhaust-manifold heat will make ’em fail.
Setting them into a “frame” without being completely supported across the bottom will fail.
Allowing mounting hardware to rub against the tank will make it fail.
Corrosion on a steel floor not only wears at the tank, but dries out the plastic.. another fail.
If you have a metal floor trailer..Set your tank on a rubber mat.

If you have engine heat issues, I have a few ways to help you with that..
We do custom heat shields.
 
Last edited:
Sirocco Jerry said:
I'm so glad to hear a little chatter about "Beefy" water tanks..
 I see SO many dangerous tank-systems out there..

About rectangular vs. Horizontal cylindrical tanks..
Assuming equal wall thickness, and we’re “bouncing it down the street”..
A rounded structure tends to take trailer-bounce more evenly across the rounded surfaces.
But,
Rectangular tanks are made a bit thicker to accommodate the bouncing down the road.
..and they take up less foot-print on the trailer.. and so..
..Most tight-configuration trailers have rectangular tanks.
The ONLY failures we have seen of water tanks,..are of Mounting issues..
If the tank is not completely supported along the bottom of the vessel, it can flex, and fail.
Mounting on expanded steel fails. Exposure to exhaust-manifold heat will make ’em fail.
Setting them into a “frame” without being completely supported across the bottom will fail.
Allowing mounting hardware to rub against the tank will make it fail.
Corrosion on a steel floor not only wears at the tank, but dries out the plastic.. another fail.
If you have a metal floor trailer..Set your tank on a rubber mat.

If you have engine heat issues, I have a few ways to help you with that..
We do custom heat shields.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jerry, I've been off the site a while so I just saw this. What type of support would you do for the bottom of a rectangular tank? That's where I'm running into issues. It flexes and because the bottom is a straight 90degree angle it takes a lot of the bending strain.
 
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