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reugercpl
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# Posted: 28 Jul 2012 21:53
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I'm aiming to put a 50 gallon cistern in my attic, but will need to pressurize it to about 5 psi so it will effectively push water through a propane on-demand hot water heater.
Anyone know of such tanks?
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chris22104
Member
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# Posted: 29 Jul 2012 14:38 - Edited by: chris22104
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Can you use a food grade (blue polyethylene) 55 gallon drum? They're cheap and very strong....just drill and put your fitting with rubber gasket from the outside, with nut and rubber gasket inside.....It can easily be pressurized to way more than 5 psi....
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rugercpl
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# Posted: 29 Jul 2012 18:00
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I guess I could use that...but a square or rectangular shape might be better for fittings and valves under pressure to keep air/water tight under pressure. I've scoured water tank websites for anything related to my needs, haven't found anything yet but I have written an email today to many water tank companies to see if they have suggestions.
What kind of lid and gasket do the drums have? Strong enough for 10 psi?
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beachman
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jul 2012 19:12
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Look at the West Marine catalog under the plumbing section. They have several sizes up to (I think) 50 gals. They are rectangular. I purchased a 35 gal tank and also got a Whale 8 amp pump with accumulator tank for continuous pressure for a shower. I have the units above the bathroom and the pump runs "on demand". The water heater - propane - Bosch - also is "on demand" so I get hot water by turning on the hot tap. The pressure is really great and I have yet to really test the hot water but will be doing so next week. There is all kinds of pressure so it should be OK. I hooked the whole thing up with Whale 1/2" tubing and fittings that are really simple to install - and they do not appear to leak at all. I plan to hook up a bathroom sink and a Dometic low-flush toilet to the water lines next week. The West Marine catalog is a great resource for off-grid stuff.
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GomerPile
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jul 2012 22:20 - Edited by: GomerPile
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50 gallons is 417 pounds be sure to support it well.
How about this for an idea...a 6 inch PVC pipe holds about 1.5 gallons per foot. Three 12ft sections would hold about 50 gallons or so. The weight would also be well distributed. If you mount them up high in the attic you might get a decent gravity flow. Would be easy to build a prototype for testing.
Schedule 40 PVC is rated to 100 psi so you could inject air for pressure. Maybe install a rubber bladder instead.
Another option is wellmate. They make several low profile composite pressure tanks for use in mobile homes. None are quite 50 gallons though.
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