Preparing for Your New Underground Water Tank
Underground water tanks can get quite heavy when filled with water and so it is not as straightforward as just digging a hole and placing your tank inside. There are a few steps to take to ensure that the tank serves well.
Land Survey
Naturally, the first step to take when preparing for your underground tank is picking the right area the install it. The first constraint is space: do you have enough space available to install your preferred water tank? You may need to consider if the type of soil you’re dealing with is right. If the soil you’re dealing with is soft and easily pliable, then it may need you to invest in more bedding material (once you have excavated) to provide enough stable support for your tank.
Excavation
Afterwards, you may begin excavating the land to make room for your tank. The ideal procedure would be to measure the length and width of your tank (or the diameter of your tank if it is a circular tank) then excavate accordingly. Ensure that you add no less than 18 inches on both dimensions (length and width) of your tank to give you the leeway for manoeuvrability when placing your tank. Also, in terms of height, excavate to a depth that will offer at least 10 inches of soil cover on top of your tank.
Base preparation
Once you have finished excavating the land, you need to make sure the base is ready for bedding. Which includes removing any roots that may be popping from the bed floor or perhaps from the side. Furthermore, ensure to rake the bed floor and make it flat. Afterwards, you may add the bedding material. The ideal material would be pea gravel as it is small in structure but still sturdy especially when in great volume and thus acts as a solid base which won’t damage your tank or puncture it. You may use sand, or the native soil granted that the soil used is generally free-flowing and free from any sharp rocks. The general rule of thumb here is to make sure the bedding material amounts to at least 6 inches. After settling on the bedding material to be used you fill in the excavated space, compact the soil itself to give a strong base and then level off the bed to ensure the tank stands well vertically.
Backfill recommendations
The final step to keep in mind when getting ready to put up your tank is the backfill material. Backfill is the material used to fill in the excavated hole once the tank has been put in place and used as the final stabiliser of the tank as well as a cover for the same. Just as the bedding material was a firm type of soil, you would want to use the same here. Always ensure to compact after each layer of backfill is added (ideally each layer should be 12 inches long) and make sure to compact evenly around the water tank.
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