Overhead Water Tank

[Lassie]

How often should you clean out an overhead water tank that stores water for household use? Ours is newly installed. Should we put chlorine in it?

[jimbrown]

If it is brand new you might want to put a cup or two of clorox in it to kill anything that got in it before you filled it with water. After that leave it alone. The most important thing is to make sure that no light can get into the tank or algae will grow in it.

When to clean it depends on where the water comes from. if it comes from a well it probably will never need cleaning. If some sort of rain water run off it just depends on how dirty it is. My tanks have about two inches of space at the bottom to catch fine dirt ect. I have no idea how you would drain that part of the tank.

[Pat]

Is the tank fully sealed (pressurized) or is it a gravity supply, i.e. has an air vent to atmosphere? IF it is fully sealed it shouldn't require regular disinfecting but a good dose of chlorine bleach (see instructions on the bleach bottle) starting out is a good idea like Jim said. Activated charcoal filters like Britta etc will remove the chlorine taste.

If it is a vented gravity tank then all bets are off on what might get inside and what you should do about it. If it is a vented tank I'd ensure the vent had a very fine air filter on it to keep "stuff" out of the tank.

I'd be looking for expert advice from experienced practitioners rather than depending solely on ad hoc commentary from the likes of us for such a serious matter as drinking water. Where is Dave when you need him? (Probably repairing a combine or some such time wasting activity...)

Pat