The Bushman 500 Gallon Dark Brown Rainwater Collection Tank is a 500-gallon polyethylene rainwater tank built for above-ground harvesting service, standing 71 inches tall on a compact 48 x 48 inch footprint. The dark brown color and round profile let it sit discreetly against a wall, fence line, or downspout while it holds a full half-thousand gallons of captured rain. Below it answers the three things that matter before you buy this 500 gallon Bushman tank: whether it fits your site and your water math, how it ships, and the one mistake to avoid with a rainwater tank this size.
Specs and fittings
This tank measures 71 inches high on a 48 x 48 inch base, so plan your pad and overflow routing around those dimensions and the technical drawing on this page. Filled with water it carries 4,170 pounds, which is also its maximum rated contents weight, so the foundation has to support better than two tons of full tank. The molded-in fittings are a 9 x 9 inch flat fitting pad, a 3-inch outlet/overflow kit, and a 1-inch bulkhead fitting in polypropylene with an EPDM gasket. That flat pad is a level landing for adding a gauge, vent, or a secondary tank-top fitting cleanly, instead of cutting into the dome. The 1-inch bulkhead is your draw line: match your plumbing to a 1-inch NPT thread and keep EPDM (not nitrile or Buna) replacement gaskets so the seal stays matched to water service. If you are sizing a collection system around roof area and rainfall, the Tank Sizing Calculator and Tank Sizing Guide help you confirm 500 gallons is the right step before you commit to a pad and plumbing.
Site, pad, and water weight
Rainwater stores at a specific gravity of 1.0, so the 4,170-pound full weight is straightforward water weight on the 48 x 48 inch footprint. That concentrated load is exactly why the pad matters: a level, properly sized base keeps the tank plumb and the outlet draining clean. Our guide on concrete pad sizing for above-ground polyethylene tanks walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework for getting that foundation right. If you are planning a larger harvesting setup or pairing this tank with first-flush diversion, the Bushman rainwater harvesting first-flush diverter sizing guide covers the inlet side per the Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting. Rural and remote sites holding stored water for fire reserve should also review fire-water reservoir tank design for NFPA 22 sizing and freeze protection.
The mistake to avoid
The common error on a tank this size is treating the overflow as an afterthought. A 500-gallon rainwater tank fills fast in a real storm, and the 3-inch outlet/overflow kit has to be sized and plumbed to pass peak storm inflow away from the foundation. If it cannot keep up with what the downspout delivers, surplus backs up and undercuts the pad the tank sits on. Match the overflow path to your inlet, size the diverter on the inlet side using the first-flush guide above, and connect the 1-inch bulkhead for your draw line rather than improvising a penetration. This tank is rated for water at SG 1.0; it is a rainwater and bulk water tank, not a chemical-service vessel.
Freight
This tank ships by LTL freight from Fairfield, TX, the single plant of origin for this Bushman 500 gallon model, and freight is quoted live to your ZIP code. Buyers outside the South should plan LTL transit accordingly. Get a number in seconds with the Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 and we will quote it for you and walk through delivery, accessories, and pad prep. List price is shown on this page before freight.
