IBC Cistern Plumbing

Hey Folks,

Working on an above-ground cistern consisting of 6 IBC totes and looking for the cheapest/easiest way to connect these to standard 2” PVC. I found some 2” camlock to NPT adapters online, but I’m looking at about $75 CAD for 6 of them and I’m wondering if maybe I can do this cheaper with something else I haven’t come across yet? I don’t need this to come apart easily, it’ll be a permanent fixture in my garage once complete.

All help appreciated! I’m in Canada, so domestic sources strongly preferred.

Picture of my valve type.

There isn’t an always cheap way—it depends on finding a deal on the fittings. The screw on fittings are hard to seal so the cam locks are the better option. They will still leak if you don’t get that foil seal area smooth—either all the foil still there or completely removed.

I mostly use a two inch rubber coupling for IBC tote connections. The NPT adapters I've tried seem to crack after a couple of years.

Farm supply stores are a good local source for all kinds of tank fittings. Plumbing supply stores as well, the ones that cater to the trades rather than the retail customer.

How badly do you want a bottom valve? The valve on an IBC tank screws off and the poly tank itself has molded threads. I'm not sure if they are a standard thread (I have had no luck but my tank is ancient). However if you take the valve in to the stores I mentioned they might have a direct screw-on connector that fits.

A flexible pipe coupling sized for 2" , should accommodate the IBC valve on one end and your PVC pipe on the other:


It's not food safe, but neither is the PVC pipe.
You can filter out the chemicals before drinking.

Thanks for all the great replies folks! The 2” rubber couplings are surprisingly costly at $18 each, but the local availability and ease of use makes them pretty attractive. I do wonder how well they’d hold up under pressure when the tanker truck hooks up to fill the totes…

I Australia we can purchase a fitting that screws on to the IBC fitting and converts to traditional threads. They are handy and you may get them locally.
With 6 IBC's and the ned to have the connections flexible will not be a low cost.

John C Daley wrote:I Australia we can purchase a fitting that screws on to the IBC fitting and converts to traditional threads. They are handy and you may get them locally.
With 6 IBC's and the ned to have the connections flexible will not be a low cost.

Flexibility isn’t a requirement, this is a static installation, it’s just that the flexible couplings seem to be the easiest to source locally and about the same price. I’d much rather spend less on the connection hardware and have the whole thing rigid TBH.

If you want to couple all of them and only buy one bottom opener, you could use hose pipe that you enter on both sides with water in it. My neighbor showed me his set up of 4 open barrels i believe. He made them communicating so levels rises in all of them. He said in summer it could be a hassle. Do not let a set up like that run empty. There are also set ups for sale like this.

Jay, because IBC may settle at different rates flexible connectons ensure nothing cracks.
If the IBC are set on a concrete slab, this may not be an issue.

Jay Colli wrote:Thanks for all the great replies folks! The 2” rubber couplings are surprisingly costly at $18 each, but the local availability and ease of use makes them pretty attractive. I do wonder how well they’d hold up under pressure when the tanker truck hooks up to fill the totes…

Do you plan to hook them up to roof catchment? This would require an overflow but would probably be worth it given the cost of a water truck delivery. I used flexible couplings when I built an auxiliary water storage with two IBCs on a gravel pad next to my main tanks. We use this for fire protection of the main tanks, watering trees, and supplying an flush toilet outhouse, and it overflows into a small pond at the highest point I could build one.

I happen to have some old stock in rubber adaptors and access to more via surplus stores.
They offer a reversible mechanical connection and are available locally, but they are necessarily the cheapest option.

If joining the totes together is the goal, you can leave the valves in place and use other means.
For example, bulkead fittings or Uniseal.
You can get bulkhead fittings that are threaded to match a garden hose.
By making the connection smaller, the cost goes way down.

You can keep the size at 2" and still lower your cost.
A six pack of 2" Uniseals costs $18.00 US on Amazon.
One pack will do if you are using Tee fittings.
If you buy 10 of them, you can skip the fittings and connect them like beads on a string.
You will need a 2 inch hole saw for this option.

You could potentially fit 2" PVC couplings or tees to the existing valves by using JB weld or another epoxy to fill in the gaps.
If you already have your tees and or couplings, this is the path I would pursue.
If you don't have them already and a 2" hole saw would be useful to you on an ongoing basis, I would chose the Uniseals.

Any of these options should resist the pressure of being filled by a water truck.
They will not stand up well to the pressure on the clean water side of a plumbing system, but they are not intended for that application.

Jay, if you wish to collect rainwater, look at my signature for a link.

William Bronson wrote: I happen to have some old stock in rubber adaptors and access to more via surplus stores.
They offer a reversible mechanical connection and are available locally, but they are necessarily the cheapest option.

If joining the totes together is the goal, you can leave the valves in place and use other means.
For example, bulkead fittings or Uniseal.
You can get bulkhead fittings that are threaded to match a garden hose.
By making the connection smaller, the cost goes way down.

You can keep the size at 2" and still lower your cost.
A six pack of 2" Uniseals costs $18.00 US on Amazon.
One pack will do if you are using Tee fittings.
If you buy 10 of them, you can skip the fittings and connect them like beads on a string.
You will need a 2 inch hole saw for this option.

You could potentially fit 2" PVC couplings or tees to the existing valves by using JB weld or another epoxy to fill in the gaps.
If you already have your tees and or couplings, this is the path I would pursue.
If you don't have them already and a 2" hole saw would be useful to you on an ongoing basis, I would chose the Uniseals.

Any of these options should resist the pressure of being filled by a water truck.
They will not stand up well to the pressure on the clean water side of a plumbing system, but they are not intended for that application.

Great response - thank you!

I’d like to use the existing bottom valves mainly because I can get 99% of the water out of them using those, although the unseals are an attractive option for venting the lower totes as I’m not entirely sure how I wanted to do that yet.

Using JB weld to seal 1-1/2” PVC to the existing valves is a good idea… I have the threaded dust caps for all the totes that would make good collets if I drilled a hole in the center. Flair the end of the PVC stubs that are expoxied into each of the valve openings and I bet that would be a solid setup!

Hey, I just came across this, thought it might help: