I've got one of those common, big, blue plastic tanks and it now looks and smells like a science experiment inside it.

Going to buy another for seperate rain encatchment storage. Are the shiny metal ones (not sure if they are stainless steel?) any better at preventing this sort of algae growth vs. plastic ones?

Tx,

J

Maybe the remarks, advice and opinions on this TV link might help you:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/635483-water-tanks-plastic-or-stainless-steel/

Maybe the remarks, advice and opinions on this TV link might help you:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/635483-water-tanks-plastic-or-stainless-steel/

Indeed. Just read through all 3 pages. Didn't answer my question exactly, but I got the gist and a few other things to think about as well.

Thanks.

J

One point on the rain catchment pot. Hope that water will not be for human consumption. A year or three back the Thai Ministry of Health (or some such Thai ministry, can't think what other it would have been) announced that Thai rain water is now polluted before it gets to ground.

Supposedly plastic tanks are more subceptible to algai growth....here's how one water tank company put its:

However, it is common knowledge that plastic water tanks are highly susceptible to damage from fire. Moreover, plastic rain water tanks absorb heat from the sunlight which raises the temperature of the stored water. Warm water in a dark confined space is a perfect breeding ground for algae, mould and bacteria, which needless to say can be very unsafe to consume. Don't risk your families health with plastic water tanks.

Yes, yes, I know it's dark inside of a stainless steel tank also, but the stainless steel is reflecting the bulk of sunlight which heats up the tank vs absorbing it which keeps the water cooler. So, it's probably best if going with plastic tanks to try to shade them from the sun.

I've had my stainless steel tank for 6 years now...no rust...no algai growth...it is exposed to the sun.

One point on the rain catchment pot. Hope that water will not be for human consumption. A year or three back the Thai Ministry of Health (or some such Thai ministry, can't think what other it would have been) announced that Thai rain water is now polluted before it gets to ground.

We have 5 big cisterns (ongs) out back, which wife's Dad keeps topped up with rain. Family drinks it, parents are over 80 so, eh, maybe lesser of two evils. I use rain for ice cubes, drip coffee machine, but for straight drinking, buy bottled water in bulk at Makro. House taps are all city water fed into 1,000 tank on a service pump.

What's driving me at the moment is the local water shed is empty now. Local government announced 48 hrs ago, we are now getting untreated water from a neighboring town, straight into the local city lines. We've started doing a final rinse off with rain water after showers, shaving, and bottled water only for brushing teeth, etc. After reading the link provided in this thread, guess we are still fortunate to have water compared to some places going weeks and mothns without.

Leaving now to buy a new tank, leaning toward metal/stainless, and start filling it with rain at a gusher point off the roof presently going to waste. Plan to run a pipe from this new rain tank to suction side of house water pump, with a Y gate, so I can select city or rain suction. Soon as I've got some rain stored, plan to purge the city tank and clean it out, it's nasty in there.

Rain catchment is very common and in fact essential on many island in the Caribbean. Saw all types of systems when sailing around there, from very primitive to quite sophisticated. The point being that people were focusing on just getting water in the first place, then filtering and/or treating as needed afterward. I would prefer a SS unit but have found that bio-organisms will grow in almost any environment, including my SS fuel tanks. So just design a filter and treatment battery (triple cartridge) before relying on it for human consumption.