One of the myriad annoyances in this 30+ year old rental is that the water tank is only well shaded in the afternoon.

The problem is exacerbated by having the blue plastic piping run around the boundary wall with significant portions also not shaded.

As a consequence our water temp is too high during this time of the year.

 

My quick and dirty solution is to just drape a tarp over the tank.  For the piping I'm thinking of some simple radiant barrier to wrap around the piping with the worst solar exposure.

 

I'm concerned that just draping a tarp won't really lower the tank water temperature much because the air between tank and tarp will get pretty hot. 

 

Any better ideas out there?

What would be a good low cost radiant barrier to use?  Long service life is probably not that important.

 

11 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

some simple radiant barrier to wrap around the piping with the worst solar exposure.

At the local hardware stores I searched to no avail for ready to use foam "pipes" to wrap around. Can't tell here where I know them from ????

So I bought drums of heat protection foam layer (about 5 mm thick with reflective coating).

Then did the arduous job of cutting in slices and wrapping around the pipes.

This foam wrap will probably not last for ages.

The coating already starts to drop off in small particles raining down (after a year or so). It's obviously not UV resistant.

 

For the tank: maybe you can build a simple frame from bamboo or even one inch blue water pipes (and some joints) to have a "tent"?

Put a plastic garbage bin in the bathroom, fill it with water in the early morning.

Use for dip and splash showers throughout the day.

it's the normal Thai way. 

Wish I had found these ready to use "pipes".

Ended up with the rolls:

 

22 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Any better ideas out there?

What would be a good low cost radiant barrier to use?  Long service life is probably not that important.

Hummm…… a roll of radiant barrier film!!!

a couple of thousand baht gets you a  72 metre by about 1 metre roll double sided so don’t bother with which side is out

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Put a plastic garbage bin in the bathroom, fill it with water in the early morning.

Use for dip and splash showers throughout the day.

it's the normal Thai way. 

Thanks....have a 20 litre bucket that I fill in the AM before the solar heat kicks in.

For the tank 4 bamboo poles and the shade material that comes in green,  blue and black. 

Gazebo's are quite cheap.

Roller blind over like a lean to. 

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Hummm…… a roll of radiant barrier film!!!

a couple of thousand baht gets you a  72 metre by about 1 metre roll double sided so don’t bother with which side is out

Thanks.  I thought of that roof insulating film but was hoping for something in lesser volume and hopefully cheaper.  I can't think of a use I'd have for any leftover.

3 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

 

My quick and dirty solution is to just drape a tarp over the tank.

That would probably work.  A car cover would probably be better though.

For the pipes, paint with white latex should help.

3 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Hummm…… a roll of radiant barrier film!!!

I tried that with some leftover batts.  First rain made it unusable.

Every hardware store has the black plastic shade material. How may metres of piping?

43 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Every hardware store has the black plastic shade material. How may metres of piping?

Probably about 15m.  I think the radiant barrier used for roofing is looking like the best option for the pipes so far. 

51 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

I tried that with some leftover batts.  First rain made it unusable.

Sometimewoodworker suggested the radiant barrier used in roofing to use on the pipes.  It's essentially thick tinfoil so should not deteriorate from moisture.

48 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

I tried that with some leftover batts.  First rain made it unusable.

That is why you use the plastic coated film from the roll as it’s not effected by rain. 

21 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

My quick and dirty solution is to just drape a tarp over the tank.

Try changing the tarp to heshian (sack material) then water it, often when the sun is on it.

Not only will it shade the tank/pipes but will cool them too.!

It's evaporative cooling.

Google 'coolgardie safe' to understand the effect.

21 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

For the tank: maybe you can build a simple frame from bamboo or even one inch blue water pipes (and some joints) to have a "tent"?

I was going to suggest a "tent" for the tank, you can get a 2 x 2 for around 900 baht. I bought one to go over my "water ball" and the way they are made these days make them quite easy to handle.

KhunBenq ((Ans # 5) looks like got the right stuff. The silver pipe foam. Put it on w some zip ties.

1 hour ago, millymoopoo said:

Try changing the tarp to heshian (sack material) then water it, often when the sun is on it.

Not only will it shade the tank/pipes but will cool them too.!

It's evaporative cooling.

 

We did this to our camp water tanks at work (Oman) as the water in the afternoon/evening was too hot to shower with.

 

We got some rolls of hessian material and wrapped the tanks and rigged up a waterline over the tops of them and left the tap partially open from mid morning until evening...worked a treat

5 hours ago, Neilly said:

worked a treat

Would work well in Oman - hot dry country.

The more humid it is the less effective it is, but does still work.!