Some Common Uses for Industrial Water Containers
Altogether, that used by farmers to irrigate crops and water livestock, by mining companies, and by a wide range of manufacturing companies for a range of different purposes accounts for more than 65% of the nation’s consumption of water. To ensure that it is available on demand, much of it is routinely stored on the premises in industrial containers while awaiting use. To ensure that stock volumes are adequate for any given purpose and that the stored contents will remain suitable for that purpose, regardless of the prevailing environmental conditions, these specialised vessels must be engineered to stringent specifications.
While once its use was limited mostly to drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene, and populations could still be counted in thousands, with a world population in excess of 7 billion and thousands of new uses for this life-giving liquid, the scene has changed dramatically and so storing has become far more of a necessity than was the case in the past. In addition to the industrial use of water containers, even residents of both urban and rural areas are also finding such measures to be of value and, in some cases, essential. While plastics are widely used for domestic purposes, farms and other commercial ventures tend to require something more durable.
For example, as part of a programme to increase seafood production, fish farms have now become a common feature in many countries. While fish farming is sometimes conducted in artificial lakes and marine pools, the use of tanks offers breeders a compact and convenient option that provides separate facilities for breeding, hatching, and subsequent development that are far easier to manage. For such purposes, the most suitable form of industrial water containers are undoubtedly coated steel tanks and gunite dams.
In practice, the steel tanks are often modular and can be supplied flat-packed in a range of sizes for bolting together on site. However, like swimming pools, gunite dams are solid, fixed structures and must, therefore be built on location. After excavating a site or assembling a former of suitable diameter, its inner surfaces will be sprayed with concrete at high pressure, reinforced with steel rods or mesh, floated to provide a smooth surface, and left to cure until ready for use. While commercial fish farming is a relatively recent enterprise, gunite reservoirs have long been the choice of arable and livestock farmers for use as bulk industrial water containers.
Farmers, whether specialising in agriculture or aquaculture, operate in locations remote from a municipal water supply, while in the case of mining and mineral companies, this tends to be the rule rather than the exception. Once again, vast quantities of the liquid are required for all manner of purposes, including a new process being used to extract oil and gas, known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. The combination of the need to maintain large stocks of liquid and the harsh operating environment calls for industrial water containers that are extremely tough.
Apart from the properties of this precious liquid that have made it possible for all life on the planet to survive, one of its other important characteristics is its ability to extinguish fire. With this in mind, many modern buildings have sprinkler systems that are activated automatically in the event of an outbreak of fire. The municipal supply could not cope with this type of demand directly and so many buildings have large storage tanks installed on the roof for this purpose. To serve this type of need, in factories and other commercial establishments, heavy-duty steel tanks are often installed in courtyards and car parks outside a building where these industrial water containers can be readily accessed by local fire services.
Experts in the field of liquid storage, Aquadam offers cost-effective solutions for these and many other applications.