The Chem-Tainer 6400 Gallon Vertical Storage Tank is a large-format polyethylene reservoir built for bulk water and high-density liquid storage where you need serious volume in a single vessel. It's a natural white vertical tank rated to a 1.5 specific gravity, standing 150 inches (12.5 feet) tall on a nominal 120-inch diameter base, delivering 6,400 gallons of usable capacity for water supply, fire reserve, rainwater aggregation, and industrial process storage.
Will this tank work for your site?
The two numbers that decide your foundation are weight and footprint. Filled with water, this tank carries roughly 53,376 pounds of contents; at its maximum 1.5 specific gravity rating it holds up to 80,064 pounds — and 1.5 SG is the hard ceiling for this SKU, so size your pad for that full 80,064-pound load, not just the water weight. The tank has a nominal 120-inch (10-foot) diameter, so its bearing surface is a circle roughly 78.5 square feet in area sitting inside a 10-foot square envelope; your pad has to be engineered to carry the load across that full circular base. A tank this size belongs on a properly sized, level, continuously supported concrete pad — not compacted gravel alone. Our concrete pad sizing guide walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework for above-ground poly tanks at this scale. To confirm the tank matches your daily draw and reserve needs, run the numbers through our Tank Sizing Calculator or read the Tank Sizing Guide. Check the technical drawing on this page to confirm exact dimensional detail and fitting locations before you set your plumbing.
Common applications and sizing
At 6,400 gallons, this is a workhorse for rural and remote water supply, and it's a frequent choice as a fire-water reservoir where NFPA 22 sizing drives the required stored volume. If you're designing private fire protection for a site without municipal pressure, our fire-water reservoir design guide covers NFPA 22 sizing discipline and freeze protection for cold-climate service. This same large vertical storage tank format also anchors industrial water reuse trains — grey-water, rainwater, and HVAC condensate aggregation — covered in our water reuse tank topology guide. Comparing brands at the vertical tank tier? Our Snyder vs Norwesco vs Chem-Tainer comparison lays out how these builds differ.
The mistake to avoid
The most expensive error on a tank this heavy is under-building the foundation. An 80,000-pound loaded weight concentrated on a base this size will crack an undersized or unlevel pad, and a poly tank that isn't fully and evenly supported across its entire bottom will stress and fail long before its time. Do not set this on partial supports, timbers, or a ring wall — it needs full-bottom bearing on a level pad engineered for the maximum 80,064-pound rating. Remember too that at 12.5 feet tall this is a clearance and offload consideration on delivery, so plan site access and unloading equipment before the truck arrives.
This 6,400 gallon vertical storage tank ships LTL freight, quoted live to your ZIP, from our Albertville, Alabama plant. Because a tank this size is a dedicated freight load, get an exact number before you order using our Freight Cost Estimator, or call us at 866-418-1777 and we'll quote it and walk you through pad prep and delivery logistics.
