Friday, 1 September 2023 Knowledge Articles
How To Clean Your Water Tank
Keep Your Water Clean, Fresh and Safe
The easiest way to keep your tank clean is to keep the water clean. Any material in the water can taint the internal walls and floor of a storage tank, so when the question arises on how to clean your water tank, a common adage applies: prevention is better than the cure.
First, you can clean the water before it even arrives in your tank. Devices like Leaf Eaters and First Flush Diverters make this possible. A Leaf Eater fits into the downpipe system and consists of two mesh screens that work together to stop debris and insects from entering the storage tank. A primary mesh screen is a barrier against larger items like leaves and branches, backed up by an insect-proof secondary screen made from finer mesh. Meanwhile, a First Flush Diverter diverts dust and sediment that may settle on a roof when it starts to rain, leaving only clean water to flow into the tank.
To help keep the water clean once it’s inside the tank, you can use accessories like a Tank Vac and Floating Outtake. If any debris gets into the tank, it settles on the floor where the outlet is located. The Tank Vac can keep this area clean by building up a head of pressure every time the tank fills to overflowing, then dumping out the overflow by sucking from the pipe across the tank's floor. Doing this removes any debris that might have settled there, leaving the fresh water that's just arrived in your tank. A Floating Outtake floats on the surface and takes the cleanest water in your tank, about 100 – 150mm below the surface, no matter the water level.
With the cleanest possible water coming into your tank and internal devices like the Tank Vac and Floating Outtake working in harmony, the quality of your stored water is greatly enhanced. The better the water, the less likely your tank will need frequent cleaning. However, should you wish to clean the tank, there are a few ways to do it.
By far the easiest is to hire a professional to do it. There are a number of companies offering tank cleaning services around the country. As tanks become more common because of council regulations, you can also expect to see an increase in tank cleaning contractors.
If there are no professionals in your area, or if you prefer to save a few dollars and do it yourself, then a brush on top of a telescopic handle should allow you to scrub the walls and floor of a smaller tank. It is a good idea to clean your tank at the end of summer when water levels are low. Turn off the power if you have an electric pump and drain the water from your tank; use it to irrigate the garden so it doesn't go to waste. Run fresh water from your garden hose through the tank inlet to flush out any dirty water until the water coming from the outlet is clear. Once the tank is empty, reach through the access hole with a brush and scrub the walls and floor, rinsing as you go.
Some larger capacity tanks, including large Promax ENDURO and XPRESS tanks, feature generously sized 600mm access holes, and you may feel like climbing into the tank to clean it. A word of caution; never do this alone. Always have someone with you when you work inside a tank, and ensure they have a spare ladder. And avoid the use of chemicals like bleach. Some companies recommend a mixture of bleach and water for scrubbing the walls but working with any chemicals in a confined space can be highly dangerous. Plus, if the tank water is used for drinking or cleaning, it is best to leave any bleach concoction out of the equation. The only liquid we'd recommend adding to your storage tank (besides water) is a product like TankSafe, manufactured by Puretec. This is a non-toxic, chlorine-free, tasteless and odourless rainwater tank purifier – it disinfects the water inside a tank and is a safe alternative to harmful chemicals.
Modern poly tanks are made from high-quality materials. For example, Promax manufactures tanks using polyethylene certified to AS/NZS 4020: 2002 Potable (Drinking) Water Standard & AS/NZS 2070: Part 1 and Part 8 Australian Standards for Food Contact. Once moulded into a tank, the water is safe for human consumption. Keeping that water clean and fresh will go a long way to maintaining that quality, and as we've already said, think prevention instead of cure.
By maximising the purity of the water as it comes into the tank and while it is being stored inside, you'll soon learn that the cleaner the water, the cleaner the tank.