The Chem-Tainer 540 gallon rectangular open top tank is a polyethylene reservoir built for batch mixing, settling, and bulk water staging where you need top access and a flat footprint instead of a round profile. Listed in our catalog as a rectangular open top tank, it holds 540 gallons and carries roughly 4,504 pounds when filled to the brim with water - the load-driving number on this tank, so plan the structure under it before anything else.
Specifications
- Capacity: 540 gallons
- Material: polyethylene
- Type: rectangular open top tank
- Full water weight: ~4,504 lb (drives your pad design)
- Ships from: West Babylon, New York (LTL, quoted live to your ZIP)
Will it work for your application?
An open top rectangular tank earns its place when you need to reach into it: manual additions, dip sampling, gravity batch mixing, or holding water between process steps. The flat sides let you set these tanks against a wall or in a row without the wasted space a round tank creates, and the open top means no lid clearance to engineer around. This is a water-service tank in polyethylene - fresh water staging, rainwater capture, grey-water and HVAC condensate aggregation, or process water holding. No outlets or bulkhead fittings are listed for this open top configuration; if you need a specific outlet size or fitting layout, call us at 866-418-1777 and we will confirm what is available before you order. To match capacity to your draw rate or size a train of tanks, run the numbers through our Tank Sizing Calculator and the Tank Sizing Guide before you commit to a footprint.
The mistake to avoid: the foundation
The single biggest error on a 540 gallon open top tank is undersizing the pad. At full water weight this tank puts about 4,504 pounds onto its flat base, and unlike a cylindrical tank that base is rectangular, so the load is not distributed the way a round tank's is - you need full, continuous, level support under the entire footprint with no voids and no overhang. A flat-bottom poly tank flexes; set it on uneven ground or a pad that is too small and the wall-to-floor transition takes stress it was never meant to carry. Pour a properly sized slab. Our guide on concrete pad sizing for above-ground polyethylene tanks walks the ACI 360R-10 framework so you get it right the first time.
Multi-tank and reuse layouts
Because the flat walls let these tanks line up tight, the 540 is a natural building block for staged storage. If you are aggregating rainwater, grey-water, or condensate into quality-banded storage, our writeup on industrial water reuse tank topology covers how to sequence treatment stages across a tank train. For rural fire-water reservoir duty, the fire-water reservoir design guide covers NFPA 22 sizing discipline and cold-climate freeze protection.
This tank ships LTL freight from the Chem-Tainer plant in West Babylon, New York, quoted live to your ZIP code - freight is separate from the list price and is not included. Because this is a heavy, bulky open top tank, get an exact number before you order with our Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 and we will quote it and answer any sizing or install questions on this tank.
