The Norwesco 1500 Gallon Black Heavy Duty Vertical Storage Tank is built for bulk water and high-density liquid storage where wall strength is the deciding factor. It holds 1,500 gallons in a vertical polyethylene body standing 116 inches tall on a 64 x 64-inch footprint. The "heavy duty" designation comes from its 1.9 specific gravity rating: the tank wall is engineered to safely carry liquids up to 1.9 times the weight of water, well above what a standard 1.0 or 1.5 SG vertical tank is rated to hold. The black resin adds UV shielding for outdoor installations and limits light penetration, which helps suppress algae growth in stored water. This is one of Norwesco's workhorse black vertical storage tanks for sites that need real density headroom.
Verified specifications
- Capacity: 1,500 gallons
- Dimensions: 116 in height x 64 in diameter
- Footprint: 64.0 x 64.0 in (28.4 sq ft)
- Full water weight: 12,510 lb
- Maximum rated contents weight (1.9 SG): 23,769 lb
- Specific gravity rating: 1.9
- Material / color: polyethylene, black
Will it work for your site?
Run the foundation numbers before you set the pad. Full of water, this tank carries 12,510 pounds of contents; at its maximum rated 1.9 SG fill it holds up to 23,769 pounds. Spread that load across the 64 x 64-inch base (4,096 square inches, about 28.4 square feet) and a fully loaded tank exerts roughly 836 lb per square foot at 1.9 SG, or about 440 lb per square foot water-only. Check that bearing pressure against your slab and the soil beneath it before you build. A properly engineered slab is not optional for a tank this heavy - our concrete pad sizing guide walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework and where the ACI 318 boundary falls. If you are still comparing capacities, the Tank Sizing Calculator and Tank Sizing Guide help match volume to demand.
The 1.9 SG envelope, and sizing it into a system
The 1.9 specific gravity rating is the real reason to choose this tank over a lighter-duty vertical. It carries any liquid up to 1.9 times the density of water, which covers most concentrated solutions, brines, and high-density water-treatment liquids - where a standard 1.0 SG tank is effectively water-only and a 1.5 SG tank tops out lower. If your stored liquid is denser than plain water, buying up to the 1.9 rating is what keeps the wall within spec. At 1,500 gallons this vertical also sits at the entry point of bulk storage and is a common building block for rural fire-water reserves, water reuse trains, and process buffering. For a private fire-protection reservoir, our guide on fire-water reservoir tank design covers NFPA 22 sizing discipline and cold-climate freeze protection. For grey-water, rainwater, and HVAC condensate aggregation, see our industrial water reuse tank topology breakdown. Any vented atmospheric tank also needs adequate vent capacity - our API 2000 vent sizing worked examples cover thermal inbreathing, liquid-movement outbreathing, and combined sizing for 1,500-to-10,000-gallon verticals.
The mistake to avoid
The most common error on a heavy-duty vertical like this one is treating the footprint diameter as the only foundation concern. At a full 1.9 SG load of 23,769 pounds, the pad and the soil beneath it govern whether the installation holds up - undersize either and you risk settling, cracking, or tank distortion. Confirm your inlet, outlet, and vent layout against the technical drawing on this page before you order, and verify your foundation against the loaded weight, not the empty tank.
This Norwesco vertical storage tank ships LTL freight, quoted live to your ZIP. Because Norwesco molds this model at multiple US plants - Fairfield, TX; Griffin, GA; Hanford, CA; Owego, NY; St. Bonifacius, MN; Tooele, UT; and Washington Court House, OH - we ship from the location nearest your delivery address to keep transit short and freight controlled. Get a quote to your ZIP with our Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 and we will quote the nearest plant to your delivery address.
