The Bushman 3100 Gallon Black Vertical Water Storage Tank is a 3,100-gallon polyethylene vertical tank built for bulk water storage where you need real capacity in a stable, compact footprint. It stands 96 inches tall on a 102 by 102 inch base and is rated to a 1.0 specific gravity - sized for water and water-equivalent liquids. Because the base is wider than the tank is tall, the center of gravity sits low, which is a genuinely stable, low-tip-risk geometry for an outdoor vertical. The black exterior blocks light to slow algae growth, which makes it a practical pick for outdoor water storage, rainwater harvesting, and fire-water reserve duty.
Will it work for your site
Filled to capacity, this tank holds roughly 25,854 pounds of water, so your foundation has to carry that load. Spread across the 102 by 102 inch footprint (about 72 square feet), that works out to roughly 358 pounds per square foot of bearing load - a concrete number you can hand to your pad engineer. A vertical storage tank this size belongs on an engineered, level concrete pad sized for the full water weight - our concrete pad sizing guide walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework for above-ground poly tanks. The footprint also determines how you set back from structures and property lines. If you are matching tank capacity to demand, the Tank Sizing Calculator and Tank Sizing Guide help you confirm 3,100 gallons is the right size before you buy.
Fittings and outlets
The tank comes with a vented manway up top and a 2-inch bulkhead fitting for your plumbing tie-in. A bulkhead fitting seats with its own gasketed seal through the tank wall, so you do not need a separate welded or threaded boss to make a watertight connection. See the technical drawing on this page for fitting placement and dimensions, and confirm the outlet location works with your pad layout and supply line before you set the tank. The vented manway matters on a closed water tank - it lets the tank breathe as the level rises and falls so you do not pull a vacuum on draw-down or pressurize on fill.
Common uses and the mistake to avoid
This black vertical tank is well suited to rainwater harvesting and rural water reserves. If you are storing harvested rainwater, plan the inlet side properly - our Bushman rainwater harvesting guide covers first-flush diverter sizing per the Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting. For private fire-protection duty, size the reserve to your demand using the fire-water reservoir design guide and its NFPA 22 sizing discipline. Building a grey-water or condensate reuse train? The industrial water reuse topology guide covers quality-banded storage trains. The mistake to avoid: this tank is rated to a 1.0 specific gravity, which is the weight of water. For any liquid heavier than water - acids, brines, or liquid fertilizers - you need a tank rated to 1.5 SG or higher, not this one.
This vertical water storage tank ships LTL freight from a single plant in Washougal, WA, quoted live to your ZIP code. Because there is one Pacific Northwest origin, LTL cost scales with distance, so quote your ZIP early. Get your LTL freight quote with our Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 to lock in your order and confirm lead time. Listed before freight - we quote LTL to your delivery ZIP.
