Water Tanks: Anti-Bacterial Worth The Extra?

[Greenside]

Up until now we have had concrete ring water tanks fed by water from our borehole, but I want to install government water to serve our house as it's well nigh impossible to keep the ground water consistently clean.  We have room for a couple of plastic 1000L tanks and the choice has come down to a product by DOS which comes in normal (4690 baht) or anti-bacterial (7000 baht) versions.  I've never had a plastic tank - do you have to clean it often and is it worth paying the extra?

Edited August 22, 2016 by Greenside
afterthought...

[JetsetBkk]

In Phuket, all I do occasionally (i.e every few months in the low season) is to pour about 250 ml of normal household beach - the 6%w/v stuff called "Haiter" (or maybe that's the manufacturer's name) - into my 2000 litre tank.

 

This is done mostly during the low season because the water pressure is so high from the city water supply, that my pump hardly ever switches on, as the pressure from the supply is always above the pressure switch setting that turns on the pump. So the water in my tank isn't used and it comes into the house direct from the city water supply.

 

In the low season the water pressure is much lower, (damn tourists), and the pump nearly always switches on, meaning that the water in the tank is being pumped out and the tank is freshened continuously by the city water supply which occasionally has chlorine in it.

 

I found the concentration for safe storage of water on a US FDA site and calculated the amount of household bleach needed for my tank.

 

[Crossy]

I believe the "anti-bacterial" tanks are more opaque to UV light and so resist the growth of algae inside better.

 

Our 2400L city water tank has never been cleaned or had chlorine added (there's enough in the supply), all our water goes through the tank so the water is constantly refreshed.

 

When we moved in city pressure was carp and variable, it's much better now but I've never got around to changing the supply arrangements and Wifey likes the tank water which has noticeably less chlorine smell.

 

Although not labelled as anti-bacterial the tank is completely opaque (to my eyes) and is as clean inside now as it was when new (2012). We do have a sediment filter on the incoming supply which keeps the crunchy-bits out.

 

 

[lopburi3]

Believe as above it is probably just blocking UV and I would pay the extra as does not take long for growth in a normal blue water tank.  Most prefer sandstone type tanks to keep the light out if buying plastic.  I have always used SS tanks which also do not allow any light to get inside.  

[Greenside]

Thanks to you all.  There are very few of the old blue tanks on offer these days - even the cheaper ones are of the sandstone look type at Global House.  These will be sited in a very shady position and have constantly refreshed supply so I think I'll opt for the less expensive one.

[Gary A]

Before buying a plastic tank, take a powerful flashlight with you. Hold the flashlight against the tank and look inside. If you see ANY light coming through, choose another brand. The better brands will have different layers, one of the layers will be black to keep the light out. Any light getting through at all will allow algae to grow.

[kamalabob2]

Today I bought two more DOS Polymer Elixer Sandstone water storage tanks to be delivered to my Buriram Village house. Green PPR pipe inside the food grade water tank was a feature of this made in Thailand water tank that has a 20 year warranty.  I paid 6490 baht including delivery in Buriram for these water tanks which appear to be a better long term value than most of the blue plastic tanks I have seen at builders merchants stores in Issan.  The sales woman understood and spoke English so not necessary to drag my wife to translate in a boring hardware store.