Norwesco 305 Gallon Black Vertical Storage Tank

Where a short, wide 305 gallon tank goes

Norwesco makes 300 gallons in a tall shape and in this one. At 50 inches tall the manway is at chest height and the tank fits under a low roof, under a deck, beside a gutter outlet or on a trailer deck, with no step to fill it and nothing to brace. The price is a 46 inch footprint, so it needs more floor than the tall 300 gallon tank and will not go through a standard door. Rainwater collection is the common job, because a short tank sits under a downspout without a pump; the others are stock water, a sprayer fill point, a garden or orchard reserve, a household water buffer on a slow well, and a fire or drought reserve on a rural lot. Full of water it weighs 2544 lb spread over a 46 inch circle, so it needs a flat, continuous, level base: a concrete pad, a sound slab or a compacted gravel pad with a sand cap, never soil. Our guide to bearing surfaces under polyethylene tanks covers what the pad has to do. For roof water, the piece on sizing a first flush diverter explains why the first water off the roof should not go into the tank.

What goes in it

Water, liquid fertilizer and the treatment and cleaning chemicals that polyethylene handles are the normal loads. Check anything else in our chemical compatibility guide first, and ask us about anything that is not listed. Liquids heavier than 1.5 times water need a heavy duty tank, and nothing hotter than 120 F belongs in it. If the tank is a fire or drought reserve on a site that freezes, our piece on reservoir sizing on remote sites and freeze protection covers what keeps the water liquid; a wide tank holds its heat better than a slim one of the same volume. The tank sizing calculator and tank sizing guide confirm the volume before you order.

Openings and fittings

1. Outlet. A 2 inch polypropylene female NPT bulkhead fitting, factory installed low in the side wall. A 2 inch valve, camlock or hose adapter threads straight into it. Fit the valve before the first fill and support it and the first length of pipe on their own so the fitting carries liquid, not hardware.
2. Manway. A 16 inch threaded vented manway on top, within reach from the ground: wide enough to fill from a hose or a pump, to drop a float or a suction line through, and to reach inside to clean. The vent lets the tank breathe as the level changes.
3. Extra fittings. An overflow near the top, a return line or a second draw-off is a bulkhead fitting through the wall. Tell us before the order and we quote it with the tank. Dry-fit, then hand tight plus a quarter turn.
4. Drawing. Norwesco's drawing for this tank, linked under Technical Drawing on this page, gives the outlet height and the manway position.

Sizes nearby

The same tank in white, where you want to read the level through the wall: the 305 gallon white vertical tank. The tall alternatives at almost the same volume, for a tight footprint: the 300 gallon black vertical tank and the slimmer 310 gallon black vertical tank. The colour swatches above the price switch between the versions of this tank.

Shipping and receiving

The tank ships LTL at freight class 300 from the nearest of Norwesco's plants, which include Fairfield, Texas; Griffin, Georgia; Hanford, California; Owego, New York; Shawnee, Oklahoma; Tooele, Utah and Washougal, Washington. On the pallet it is 46 by 46 by 50 inches and 64 lb, a near cube that rides upright. The listed price is before freight; the freight cost estimator gives the lane cost to your ZIP. At the tailgate, check the part number against 40398 on the bill of lading, look over the wall and the fitting for transit damage, make sure the manway lid is on and turns freely, and fill the tank with water the first time so any problem shows up with something harmless in it.

Questions before you order? Call 866-418-1777.