Austin Davies

I hope someone can give me some really useful information on this.

I was given an approximately 5000 gallon steel fuel tank that has apparently been "professionally" cleaned. It has also been sitting for some time, and has had a fair amount of water flow through it... when I went to pick it up, it was accidentally rolled into a pond and had to be fished out, and where it sits upright on my farm it has been filling with water through the top with a hose from my well for several months, and draining out one of the holes in the side.

Nevertheless, when I stick my head in the access hole on the side, I can still smell a faint odour of some sort of fuel... very faint.

My great desire would be to use this tank for an irrigation cistern... fill it with water in the wet season and irrigate with it in the dry season when my well isn't producing much.

Does anyone know if the metal tank absorbs the fuel, and if so, how could I go about fixing that?

Any suggestions for making this tank safe for irrigation water?

We are a couple with four children ages 10 down to 8 months. We live in Vancouver, British Columbia, and we are trying to learn as much as we can about farming, as we are making plans to start homesteading and move out of the big city perhaps several years down the road.

With this in mind we are hoping to find a farm in BC or WA that would be willing to have us come and tent on your property for a week this summer, and volunteer our labor on your farm.

We are all enthusiastic learners, and lovers of plants, animals, and the great outdoors.

As "city slickers" we have a lot to learn, our only experience being 4 chickens and a vegetable garden in our backyard.

If you are willing to give us a chance and you have a homestead that you feel could provide us with a useful education in a variety of farming activities, please contact us.

Call Austin: 1-778-386-4612