[Cob] supporting a tank

[John C Curry]

One can do anything, the questions is more economic. Not money but is there a more reasonable solution which meets your needs. 

That being said . . .

A concern is supporting the tank between the walls or span. The type of tank is also important in how it distributes the load over a given area. Most poly tanks are set into a bed of gravel and sand in order to keep the water load from rupturing the tank in an unsupported area. In other words the tanks are not structural. The bedding distributes the load. 

If you are gravity feeding water into the tank as well. Remember that the top of the tank must be below the intake. Also allow for over flow. 

I am fairly certain there is a way.  However, the reason you won't normally see this arrangement, large tanks above living space, is because any failure is catastrophic. 

I have always liked the idea of a foot pump, such as you might find in a boat. They make everyone conscious of water use. If you have a minor failure you won't necessarily pump or gravity feed precious water out of the system. 

More than anything, "do the math."

Good luck. I am interested in your solution. 

john

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On Jul 6, 2011, at 2:00 PM, coblist-request at deatech.com wrote:

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>   1. supporting a one ton tank (Damon Howell)
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> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2011 14:07:46 -0400
> From: Damon Howell <dhowell at pickensprogress.com>
> Subject: [Cob] supporting a one ton tank
> To: coblist at deatech.com
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> I want to incorporate a water storage tank in the attic of my house  
> plans and use gravity fed water. I already have a 300 gallon tank  
> which sits on a 6 inch concrete slab now. I figured when it's full it  
> weighs 2,100 lbs. A cob wall cannot support that weight I think. So  
> what are your thoughts on how to install this tank up there? What  
> beam sizes for what spans? Is there info out there for this kind of  
> thing? I was thinking since the bathroom is usually smallest and most  
> in need of water, the tank could be supported by the bathroom and  
> closet walls. They probably couldn't be made out of cob though.  
> Feedback would be nice. Thanks, Damon in Georgia, USA
> 
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