The Chem-Tainer 37 Gallon PE Rectangular Open Top Tank is a compact polyethylene reservoir built for batching, mixing, parts washing, and point-of-use water storage where a low, accessible vessel beats a tall round tank. The open top gives you full overhead reach for filling, agitation, dipping, and cleanout, and the rectangular footprint sits flush against walls and inside containment curbs so you don't waste floor space. Filled with water, this tank carries 309 lb, so plan the surface, shelf, or stand under it around that loaded figure rather than the lighter shipping weight.
Will it work for your job?
This is a 37-gallon rectangular open-top tank molded from polyethylene. The open-top format is what most buyers searching for an open tank or rectangular open top tank are after: nothing covers the working surface, so you can drop in a mixer, a pump intake, a heating element, or simply scoop and dip by hand. Because it is open to the air, it is built for ambient, vented use rather than pressurized or sealed storage. Size it for the volume you actually batch at one time, not the maximum you might ever hold; if you are unsure how 37 gallons maps to your fill cycle, run the numbers in our Tank Sizing Calculator or read the Tank Sizing Guide before you commit.
Plumbing, mounting, and the surface under it
This is a plumbing-free open vessel: it ships without molded outlets or bulkhead fittings, so you fill and draw over the rim by gravity, scoop, or pump intake. Any outlet you want is a field addition you drill and seal yourself with a bulkhead fitting and gasket you source to suit your service. As for support, at 309 lb full a 37-gallon tank concentrates real weight on a small footprint, so the pad matters more than the tank. Set it on a smooth, level, fully supported surface that contacts the entire base, with nothing bridging gaps under the bottom, or an open-top rectangular tank will distort as it loads. If you are pouring a slab or curb, the engineering framework in our guide on concrete pad sizing for above-ground polyethylene tanks walks through how to spec it correctly. For grey-water, rainwater, or condensate collection trains where an open vessel feeds a treatment stage, see our breakdown of industrial water reuse tank topology.
The mistake to avoid
The most common error with an open-top rectangular tank is treating it like a sealed drum. It is vented by design, so don't plan to pressurize it, seal it, or stack heavy loads on a lid it doesn't have. Keep it to water and ambient aqueous service such as batching, parts-wash rinse, grey-water, rainwater, or condensate collection, which is what this open polyethylene vessel is intended for. Check the technical drawing on this page for the wall and base geometry and verify your mounting plan and any field-drilled outlet location against it rather than assuming dimensions.
This tank ships LTL freight from the Chem-Tainer plant in West Babylon, NY, and that origin is the single biggest driver of your delivered freight cost. If you are outside the Northeast, LTL from West Babylon can add up, so get a real number for your ZIP before you buy with our Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 and we'll walk the freight and sizing through with you.
