engineering

Water tank

Water tank is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Water tank rather than just read about it. In short: A water tank is a container used for storing water for many applications, including drinking water supply, irrigation, fire suppression, farming (for both plants and livestock), chemical manufacturing and food preparation. Water tank parameters include the general design of the tank, and choice of construction materials, linings.

Key takeaways

Water tank belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Water tank to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Water tank from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A water tank is a container used for storing water for many applications, including drinking water supply, irrigation, fire suppression, farming (for both plants and livestock), chemical manufacturing and food preparation. Water tank parameters include the general design of the tank, and choice of construction materials, linings. Various materials are used for making a water tank: plastics (polyethylene, polypropylene), fiberglass, concrete, stone, steel (welded or bolted, carbon, or stainless). Earthen pots, such as matki used in South Asia, can also be used for water storage. Water tanks are an efficient way to help developing countries to store clean water.

History

Throughout history, wood, ceramic and stone tanks have been used as water tanks. These containers were all naturally occurring and some man made and a few of these tanks are still in service. The Indus Valley civilization (3000–1500 BC) made use of granaries and water tanks. Medieval castles needed water tanks for the defenders to withstand a siege. A wooden water tank found at the Año Nuevo State Reserve (California) was restored to functionality after being found completely overgrown with ivy. It had been built in 1884.

Types Chemical contact tank of FDA and NSF polyethylene construction, allows for retention time for chemical treatment chemicals to "contact" (chemically treat) with product water.

Ground water tank, made of lined carbon steel, may receive water from a water well or from surface water, allowing a large volume of water to be placed in inventory and used during peak demand cycles. An elevated water tank, also known as a water tower, will create a pressure at the ground-level outlet of 1 kPa per 10.2 centimetres (4.0 in) or 1 psi per 2.31 feet (0.70 m) of elevation. Thus a tank elevated to 20 metres creates about 200 kPa and a tank elevated to 70 feet creates about 30 psi of discharge pressure, sufficient for most domestic and industrial requirements. Vertical cylindrical dome top tanks may hold from 200 litres or fifty gallons to several million gallons. Horizontal cylindrical tanks are typically used for transport because their low-profile creates a low center of gravity helping to maintain equilibrium for the transport vehicle, trailer or truck. A Hydro-pneumatic tank is typically a horizontal pressurized storage tank. Pressurizing this reservoir of water creates a surge free delivery of stored water into the distribution system. Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) tanks/vessels are used to store liquids underground.

Design By design a water tank or container should do no harm to the water. Water is susceptible to a number of ambient negative influences, including bacteria, viruses, algae, changes in pH, accumulation of minerals, and accumulated gas. The contamination can come from a variety of origins including piping, tank construction materials, animal and bird feces, mineral and gas intrusion. A correctly designed water tank works to address and mitigate these negative effects. It is desirable that water tanks be cleaned annually to reduce delivery of algae, bacteria and viruses to people or animals. A safety based news article linked copper poisoning as originating from a plastic tank. The article indicated that rainwater was collected and stored in a plastic tank and that the tank did nothing to mitigate the low pH. The water was then brought into homes with copper piping, the copper was released by the high acid rainwater and caused poisoning in humans. Since the plastic tank is an inert container, it has no effect on the incoming water. Good practice would be to analyze any water source periodically and treat accordingly, in this case, the collected acid rain should be analyzed, and pH adjusted before being brought into a domestic water supply system. The release of copper due to acidic water may be monitored by a variety of technology, beginning with pH strips and going to more sophisticated pH monitors, indicate pH which when acidic or caustic, some with output communication capabilities. Most of the algae growth occurs at an optimum pH, between 8.2 - 8.7. pH level that is neutral or lower can help to reduce the growth of algae. Potential algaecide, shock product will help to clean swimming pools or water tanks from algae. In this process no need to use vacuum cleaner to remove algae. There is no causative link between the plastic tank and copper poisoning, a solution to the problem is to monitor stored rainwater with pH indicators and add appropriate treatment materials.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Water tank

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Water tank claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Water tank before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Water tank ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Water tank

In research: Water tank appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Water tank in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Water tank is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Containers, Water conservation, Water supply infrastructure, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Water tank outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Water tank in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Water tank means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Water tank out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Water tank in simple terms?

Why does Water tank matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Water tank?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Water tank.