The Norwesco 12000 Gallon Black Vertical Storage Tank holds 12,000 gallons in a single vertical tank with a 141-inch diameter footprint and a 193-inch overall height (roughly 16 feet 1 inch tall). It is molded from black polyethylene at a 1.5 specific gravity rating, which means it is engineered to safely hold contents up to 1.5 times the weight of water. For high-volume water storage, fire-protection reserves, irrigation, and industrial process water, this is a serious piece of site infrastructure, and the numbers below should drive both your pad design and your delivery planning.
Will it work for your site?
Plan around the real loads. Filled with water, this tank carries roughly 100,080 pounds of contents; at its full 1.5 specific gravity rating it is built to hold up to 150,120 pounds. Those figures do not include the weight of the tank shell itself, so your foundation has to be designed for the loaded mass plus the structure. The footprint is 141.0 x 141.0 inches (about 11.75 feet square in plan), and the tank stands 193 inches, so confirm overhead clearance, doorway, and gate or bridge constraints for an oversized delivery before it arrives. Per the technical drawing on this page, the lid has been revised to 22 inches; confirm your lid hardware, gaskets, vent, and any fill or draw fittings suit a 22-inch lid opening before you order accessories, so you do not end up with a mismatched gasket or fitting.
1.5 specific gravity is headroom you can use
The 1.5 specific gravity rating is not just a water spec. This same shell is built to hold fluids up to 1.5 times the weight of water, so one tank can cover heavier-fluid service down the road instead of buying a second vessel later. Whatever you store, verify your fluid's actual specific gravity stays within the 1.5 rating before you commit. To pin down whether 12,000 gallons matches your draw and refill cycle, run your peak demand against your refill rate through our Tank Sizing Calculator and review the Tank Sizing Guide. If this is a fire-water reserve, size the required duration per NFPA 22 using our fire-water reservoir design guide, which also covers cold-climate freeze protection.
Size the pad and the foundation correctly
A tank this large lives or dies on its foundation. A six-figure water load concentrated on a square base demands a properly engineered, level, full-contact bearing surface. Our concrete pad sizing guide for above-ground polyethylene tanks walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework and where the ACI 318 boundary applies, which is exactly the analysis a 100,000-plus-pound water column calls for. For reuse and aggregation systems, see our industrial water reuse tank topology guide.
The mistake to avoid
The most common error on a tank this size is under-building the base. The 1.5 specific gravity rating describes what the tank wall can hold, not what your pad can support, and contents heavier than water push that load toward 150,120 pounds. Do not pour a pad sized for a smaller tank or set this on uncompacted or uneven ground. Match the actual loaded weight to your foundation design first, then order.
This Norwesco vertical storage tank ships LTL freight, quoted live to your ZIP code. It ships from the nearest of Norwesco's plants in Fairfield, TX; Hanford, CA; St. Bonifacius, MN; and Washington Court House, OH, so freight is typically lowest when your site is closest to one of those locations in California, Minnesota, Ohio, or Texas. Get an exact LTL number with our Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 and we will quote it and walk you through delivery and offload for a tank of this size.
