Interesting idea. If you stacked them vertically, all 3 could feed out as needed if you have a water outage, depends on why you have the problem though (If a large earthquake caused the problem, could wreck all 3 tanks.) Could put an Earthquake Shut-off Valve at the output of each water tank, to prevent spillage in a quake? Also could look at 55 gallon drums for water storage, might be cheaper (You'd want ones hich are safe for drinking water, of course.)
https://pspvalves.com/ is one place that makes gas shutoff valves.
water heater tanks are free to me, I am a plumber
I never think of earth quakes because we do not have them down south, hurricane and tornados are our problems
iI like the 30 gallon blue food grade barrels with locking lids for fermentation tanks;
A few years ago, we had Hurricane Matthew come through and we lost power for 8 days. After 2 days, county water stopped flowing but we were already leery about drinking any that we didn't treat ourselves. I had already set us up with a 275 gallon tote for our water needs, including flushing (septic tank). We used less than half that tank that time around.
Since then, I've added another tote stacked and secured on top of the first- one for drinking/cooking and the other for flushing & other things yet unknown.
As mentioned, be sure to get food safe totes should you go that route. The drinking tote we have originally had bakers molasses in it, the other was some kind of food additive for animals so it was relegated to flush duty.
Water heaters should work fine though, especially since the cost is right!
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What is the purpose for this set up?
how about RV water storage tanks? I think mine is 90 gallons in my motor home.
To store water with out it becoming stagnant and breeding some nasty disease
you circulate your treated potable water from your city purveyor through the storage tanks
making yur storage fresh.
if a hurricane blows through your area and the city water supply power [to the pumps] is interrupted
or breaks in the lines. you turn off your meter shut off valve
and then you have potable drinking water for your family
Seems unnecessarily complex just to store water. While a water heater is nothing more than a big steel tank with some type of lining to prevent corrosion (in theory), it is still more complicated than needed to just store water. Heating elements, dip tube, insulation, pressure/temp relief valve, electric controls, etc. are needed when the device is used to heat water but all of that stuff is unnecessary to just store water.
I guess if you had a cheap source of decent water heaters, that might be a way to get cheap tanks but I think old used water heaters run a big risk of leaking.
If you live in a rural setting and your normal water supply is a well, the best place to store your water is in the ground! The only thing you need is a means to get that water out of the ground when needed. There are lots of reliable ways to do that.
If your normal water source is some type of municipal system, it would be wise to have some type of back up water supply; at least for temporary issues. There are a lot of options including storage tanks that are basically water heaters without all of the extra stuff. Just a glass lined steel tank with some threaded ports. And don't forget, a well as a back up source is sometimes an option even if you are normally supplied by municipal water.
I'm not certain the water needs to be constantly circulated through of the tanks to keep it clean. If the system is clean to start with and the water is clean when it goes in the tank, you shouldn't have any problem.
RV's, boats, ships, etc. all have long term water storage and they rely on clean water in - clean water out. It's that simple.
Last edited by Petrol & Powder; 06-14-2019 at 07:49 AM.
My water comes from a water tower so my water will run until tower runs out. The area has been without power for 10 days and never lost water .
We’re on rural system,(city water), I also have 2000 gal cistern catching water off barn, this is pumped into barn with 500 gal plastic tank. A well pump hooked to a float to use if no rain. This is pumped up with pump and storage tank to water plants but could be used in emergency. City system rarely goes down but in case it does will have plenty to last. If this runs dry there’s always the spring in the woods below the hill. I have bathed there before tho kinda cold.
I also have a spring that runs across my back yard neighbor behind me uses it to fill his pool and water his garden.
I stick with my well if needed I can install a hand pump.
Reloading to save money I am sure the saving is going to start soon
You will not be able to recover any of the water without draining it from the bottom of each tank as well as allowing air into top or it's going to pull vacuum. The 3 tanks need to tee together on top at the hot water taping for the supply as well as a drain in the top side of the header to allow air to replace the water. Tee the tanks together at the drain holes for the domestic side with one drain on that header to attach a hose, this will give good gravity draining of all 3 tanks at equal level. Jay
I have a well, several generators & a pool I don't have a need for water storage.
I have some neighbors that inadvertently ran their well dry (prior city dwellers with no concept of rural water supply).
Fortunately the pump was OK and the well came back on-line after some time. In the interim they were concerned about how they could flush their toilets. I looked at them and said, "You have a full swimming pool - HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU NEED"! They gave me a puzzled look while I explained the intricate operation of a bucket.
They're good people......lots of higher education........ but not a lick of common sense.
5 years ago I started saving all my bottled water and pop bottles.
Typically once a year we gather what we have gathered, each bottle gets rinsed, bleached, rinsed again and filled with city water.
Now I have opened those older bottles, water still tastes fresh and good. I suspect because they were sterile when I filled them. And I filled them right out of the tap, ie city chlorine. Then capped, boxed, and stored in my basement.
Yes I have a 50 gallon water heater. And if we lose water pressure I will tap that.
In fact in your diagram above only the last one really needs to be heated. Although you could set the middle one as a preheater. Set thermostat for maybe 80-100 degrees.
You would have lots of hot water. And a fair amount if the ****.
Keep thinking!
My buddy to one side can't run his hose for 15min with a 100gal storage tank without running dry, my buddy on the other side of me is within 50ft of my well he can't run the hose for more than 25 min. I have filled my 8,000gal pool in 3 days with my well. Last time he filled his 12,000gal pool I back feed his house with my hose to maintain water. Our wells are all about 120ft deep.
I have 2 50 gallon sterilized water drums. Bought them June 1999. Be prepared for everything to go to hell Jan 1st, 2000.
Poured in 1 gallon of bleach in each one and filled with filtered tap water. Emptied them a year later. Bit of chlorine tap, but safe to drink according to my Buddy's water testing kit.
Every July, I drain and refill. Have then chained on concrete blocks with the food, earthquake, camping and other barrels. Clothes are cycled each year. Sleeping bags aired out. and camping fuel and propane tank exchanged.
I am ready for the Big One.
I HATE auto-correct
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I had a very similar idea involving 50 gallon food grade barrels linked in series between my well and tap. The idea was that the "water bank" would continually circulate fresh water in every time I used water from the tap. The theoretical hole in that idea was that the barrels aren't built to hold that much pressure. I have yet to put it to the test and like the idea of used hot water heaters!! Good thinking, a couple hundred gallons literally still on tap puts you ahead of the game.
What's wrong with just storing it in the ground? Seriously? Instead of designing, fabricating, maintaining and operating a complex system of water storage above the surface; why not just leave it in the ground and develop a back-up system to get it out of the ground when needed?
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