The Norwesco 15000 Gallon Black Heavy Duty Vertical Storage Tank is built for large-scale water storage where one vessel carries the load that smaller tanks would otherwise split across a yard. This is a 15,000-gallon vertical storage tank standing 186 inches tall on a 165 x 165 inch footprint, molded in black polyethylene and rated to a specific gravity of 1.9. That heavy-duty SG rating is the headline number: it means the wall is engineered to hold contents up to 1.9 times the weight of water. If you are storing anything heavier than water, or want headroom for fire-reserve duty and denser future service, the 1.9 SG wall is the upgrade over the standard 1.5 SG class of large Norwesco vertical tanks.
Will it work for your site?
Run the weights before you pour a pad. Full of water, this tank carries 125,100 lb of contents; at its maximum rated contents weight it reaches 237,690 lb. Those are the loads your foundation has to support, so the 165 x 165 inch footprint needs a properly engineered slab underneath it. Our concrete pad sizing guide walks through the ACI 360R-10 framework for above-ground polyethylene tanks of this scale, and the Tank Sizing Calculator and Tank Sizing Guide help you confirm 15,000 gallons is the right capacity before you commit. See the technical drawing on this page for dimensional detail, and confirm fitting sizes and locations before ordering. One thing buyers overlook on a 186-inch column: at roughly 15 feet of head, a bottom outlet and its gasket see real static pressure, so size any bulkhead fitting and gasket to the molded ports and rate them for that head, not just for ambient.
Common applications and the mistake to avoid
At this size, the black Norwesco vertical storage tank is a workhorse for bulk water, rainwater capture, industrial water reuse, and rural fire-water reservoirs. If you are sizing it for private fire protection, our guide to fire-water reservoir tank design covers NFPA 22 sizing discipline and cold-climate freeze protection, and for reclaimed and harvested supply the industrial water reuse tank topology and rainwater harvesting guides are worth a read. The mistake to avoid: treating the 1.9 SG rating as permission to skip the foundation math. The rating tells you the wall can handle heavier contents, but it does not change the fact that a fully loaded tank pushes well over 200,000 lb into the ground. Engineer the pad for the rated load, not the water weight, and verify the black exterior suits your UV and algae goals for the install.
Freight and delivery access
Norwesco molds this tank at four US plants -- Albertville, AL; Fairfield, TX; St. Bonifacius, MN; and Washington Court House, OH -- so we route from the origin nearest your ZIP to keep transit and cost down on a unit this size. It ships LTL, quoted live to your delivery point. Two things to confirm before it rolls: this tank stands 15.5 feet tall and is just under 13.75 feet wide, so verify site access and overhead clearance, and arrange crane or forklift offload at delivery to avoid a redelivery charge. Get a number to your ZIP with the Freight Cost Estimator, or call us at 866-418-1777 and we will confirm the closest origin, lead time, and offload requirements before you order.
