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earth bag

earthbag watertank

Ben Skiba

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posted 5 years ago

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earthbag watertank

Hello permies was wondering if anyone has had first hand experience building an earthbag watertank.I'm trying to find a way to build a low cost water tank.Wondered if theyre is anyone with first hand experience and what to look out for as far as what to do and not to do.

earthbag_water_tank-sm.jpg

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John C Daley

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I have had experience with those tanks.
The inside needs a couple of coats of cement plaster to seal it.
Or a tank liner can be made of plastic sheeting.
The real issue is the height of the walls, that is critical, too high and he walls will explode out.
But you can build any diameter and then worry about the roof.
The roof can have supports or can be made in sheet metal with a conical top.

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Ben Skiba

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What would you recommend for height is 6 feet to high?I'll look into the plaster as well.Thank you for your input.

Gerry Parent

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Ben, If height is an important factor for you, there is always the options of building up a berm around the tank or buttresses.

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John C Daley

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I think that 6 ft is ample.
Its easy to put the top row on.
Buttressing is possible, but you may be better to use the extra bags to increase the volume stored more easily by increasing the diameter.

Charles Linburger

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Curious if anyone has a way to make the roof/wall connection air and water tight, to keep blowing dust and critters out, but also make it something you can open up when needed for maintenance and inspection. I like the idea of building one of these because of the durability and aesthetics (versus a plastic one).

Tony Hawkins

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Not sure how you'd do that.

John C Daley

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It can be sealed with careful workmanship around the top.
A series of wooden plates would be fasted to the top with a mortar base to create the seal.
Then the roof is attached to the timber.
Its quite straight forward really.

Tony Hawkins

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John C Daley wrote:It can be sealed with careful workmanship around the top.
A series of wooden plates would be fasted to the top with a mortar base to create the seal.
Then the roof is attached to the timber.
Its quite straight forward really.

Could you help me understand a bit? In layers, something like this:

(Wood base of roof)
(Some sort of gasketing materal)
(Fasteners)
(Top plate, nailed into bags)
(Thin Layer of mortar)
(Bags)
(Foundation)

I like the idea of screwing / fastening down the roof to the top plate with a gasketting material in between for a nice tight fit. Thoughts?

Ben Skiba

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Appreciate the input.Height doesn't matter to me it's more important the volume of water I can store.The link I provided above they do a mesh screen on top with plaster.John do you build an access hatch/panel in your design for cleaning of tank?Where is the best place to buy the poly feed bags?If anyone feels like donating some that'd be appreciated.Im on a budget of 200 a month sheepherder haha.thanks everybody.

John C Daley

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Access hatch is very handy.
If you install two outlets with ball valve taps, do not use gate valve they will break at some stage, install one at the very bottom and one up say 5 inches.
If you attach a pipe to the lower valve that has big holes and extends across the floor of the tank, it can be used to flush sediment thats settled.
As for construction the list you have is correct, any competent builder can explain the finer details of sealing the top.
I think it may take too many words via here.

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