The Chem-Tainer 3200 Gallon HDPE Vertical Liquid Storage Tank is a high-capacity natural white polyethylene reservoir built for bulk liquid storage, where one large vessel does the work of several smaller ones. It stands 117 inches tall on a 96 x 96 inch square footprint and holds 3,200 gallons. The "IA" rating on this SKU is the key spec: it carries a 1.9 specific gravity rating, the heavy-duty wall engineering that separates this tank from lighter-rated siblings.
Will this tank work for my job?
This is a vertical storage tank rated to 1.9 specific gravity. That rating is what the wall is engineered to hold: water sits at 1.0, so a 1.9 rating leaves a wide margin for ordinary water service and supports denser liquids up to 1.9 times the weight of water. Filled with water, the contents weigh 26,688 pounds; loaded to the full 1.9 SG ceiling, contents can reach 50,707 pounds. If you only store water or liquids under 1.5 SG, a lighter-rated tank may be the more economical fit; choose this IA tank when your contents exceed 1.5 SG and you need the heavier wall. Run your numbers with the Tank Sizing Calculator and the Tank Sizing Guide to confirm this 3,200-gallon vertical tank matches your draw-down and refill cycle before you commit.
What about the foundation and setup?
A tank this size needs a flat, fully supported base. The square 96 x 96 inch footprint spreads the load across the full bottom, so the pad has to be level, continuous, and rated for the real loaded weight, which means building for the 50,707-pound maximum if you are storing a dense liquid rather than the 26,688-pound water figure. Our guide to concrete pad sizing for above-ground polyethylene tanks walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework and where the ACI 318 boundary applies, which is the right starting point for a reservoir at this weight. Review the technical drawing on this page for the overall dimensions and the fitting layout before you set the pad and plumb your connections.
The mistake to avoid
The most common error on a tank this large is treating the specific gravity rating as a suggestion. The 1.9 SG rating is a ceiling, not a target: storing a liquid denser than 1.9 SG, or under-building the foundation for the 50,707-pound maximum, is how operators get into trouble. Match your liquid's specific gravity to the rating, build the pad for the loaded weight, and inspect the upper wall over time. As our analysis of HDPE wall thickness at the vapor-saturated headspace explains, premature failures often start above the liquid line where routine liquid-side inspection misses them, and the ASTM D1998 sizing logic is worth understanding for any tank at this scale.
This HDPE vertical storage tank stands 117 inches tall, so plan truck and forklift access accordingly: it ships LTL freight from our plant in Hummelstown, PA, quoted live to your ZIP. Get an exact number with the Freight Cost Estimator or call 866-418-1777 to talk through delivery on a tank this large. For background on how the major polyethylene brands compare at the vertical-storage scale, see our Snyder, Norwesco, and Chem-Tainer vertical storage tank comparison.
