The Chem-Tainer 500 Gallon Vertical Storage Tank (SKU TC6353IC-BLACK) is a black polyethylene vertical tank built for above-ground water and bulk-liquid storage. It stands 53 inches tall on a 63 x 63-inch footprint, so before you commit to a site, confirm the pad and any doorway or gate clearance against those numbers and the technical drawing on this page. This page answers the three things that actually decide the purchase: whether it fits your job, how it ships, and the one detail most buyers miss.
Will it work for your storage job?
This is a 500 gallon vertical storage tank with a 1.5 specific-gravity rating, which means the wall is engineered to carry contents up to 1.5 times the density of water. Filled with plain water, the load is roughly 4,170 lbs; at the full 1.5 SG rating the tank is built to hold up to 6,255 lbs of contents. That headroom is what makes this black vertical tank suitable for heavier-than-water liquids as well as straight water service. One practical caution for dense liquids: at 1.5 SG that 6,255 lb ceiling works out to only about 333 gallons of a 1.5-density liquid before you hit rated load, so a heavy product does not fill the tank to 500 gallons. For general water storage, rainwater reserve, or backup supply, the round vertical profile keeps the footprint compact at 63 x 63 inches while the 53-inch height stays low enough to fill and inspect without special access. To match capacity to your actual daily draw and refill cycle, run the numbers through the Tank Sizing Calculator or read the Tank Sizing Guide first.
Fittings, site, and foundation planning
Inlet and outlet fitting configuration is confirmed per order — check the technical drawing on this page and call 866-418-1777 before you buy plumbing, rather than assuming a bulkhead or valve size. A full tank in this class also puts thousands of pounds onto a small footprint, so the pad matters as much as the tank. Set it on a level, fully supporting base sized for the loaded weight; a partially supported or uneven base is the most common install mistake with vertical polyethylene tanks. Our guide on concrete pad sizing for above-ground polyethylene tanks walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework for getting the foundation right. In cold-climate or fire-reserve roles, the fire-water reservoir design guide covers freeze protection and NFPA 22 sizing discipline.
The detail most buyers miss
The 1.5 SG rating is a weight and density limit only — it says nothing about whether a given chemical will craze, permeate, or attack the polyethylene wall. Before storing anything but water, confirm your intended contents are chemically compatible with the polyethylene wall and with whatever fittings and gaskets you add, and match the fitting hardware to the service. On a marginal chemical the gasket or O-ring elastomer, not the poly wall, is usually the first thing to fail, so spec those to the contents too. For layered or reuse-water systems, the industrial water reuse topology guide shows how a tank like this fits into a treatment train, and when you are comparing brands the Snyder vs Norwesco vs Chem-Tainer comparison explains what actually differs between the major vertical-tank lines.
This tank ships LTL freight from Hummelstown, PA, with the exact cost quoted live to your ZIP code — get your number in seconds with the Freight Cost Estimator, or call us at 866-418-1777 and we will size, spec, and quote it with you. Listed before freight; freight is quoted separately to your delivery ZIP.
