The Bushman 500 Gallon Doorway Emergency Water Storage Tank is built for exactly the problem its name describes: getting real reserve capacity into a house, basement, or utility room where a wide vertical tank will never fit. At 29 inches wide it clears a standard doorway, then stands tall to recover volume — 78 inches high on a 29 x 69 inch footprint for a full 500 gallons of emergency, off-grid, or prepper water storage. Molded in blue polyethylene and rated for water (specific gravity 1.0) service, it is a slim, tall answer to "I need a reserve but I can't lose the whole room."
Will it work for your space and your reserve?
Run the numbers before you commit the wall it leans against. Filled to 500 gallons, water alone weighs about 4,170 pounds, so the floor or pad under that 29 x 69 inch footprint has to carry the load — a slab, a reinforced ground floor, or grade-level support, not a raised wood platform without engineering. Confirm the tall 78-inch height clears your ceiling, joists, and the swing of the doorway it passes through on the way in. If you are still deciding how much reserve you actually need for household days-of-supply or a small-system emergency band, our Tank Sizing Calculator and Tank Sizing Guide walk the math, and our guide to emergency reserve water storage sizing for small systems covers the Ten States Standards and AWWA D100 practice behind those targets.
Fittings, plumbing, and layout
Check the technical drawing on this page for the outlet and fitting layout before you plan your plumbing — the drawing shows what ships, so confirm the outlet size and location against it, and call 866-418-1777 before you buy your bulkhead, valve, and hose connections if you need the fitting details verified. Because this is a narrow doorway profile rather than a squat vertical, plan the fill and draw points around the tall geometry — and remember the empty tank is light and easy to reposition, but a full one is not going to move.
The mistake to avoid
Do not treat this as an outdoor bulk tank, and do not use it for anything denser than water — it is rated for 1.0 specific-gravity water service, not chemicals or heavy fluids. The two things that bite people are floor loading (4,170 pounds of water is a lot of point load on the wrong surface) and forgetting that filled height and doorway clearance are non-negotiable — measure both before it ships, because a tank you can't get through the door is a tank you can't use. If your reserve is tied to fire protection, our fire-water reservoir design guide covers NFPA 22 sizing and cold-climate freeze protection.
This tank ships LTL freight and the cost is quoted live to your ZIP — get your number from the Freight Cost Estimator before you order, or call 866-418-1777 and we'll size the reserve, confirm the doorway fit, and quote the freight with you.
