The Norwesco 6502-gallon vertical liquid storage tank is a tall, blue polyethylene tank standing 196 inches high on a 102-inch diameter footprint, built for bulk water and high-density liquid storage where headroom is available and floor space is at a premium. It carries a 1.9 specific gravity rating, the spec that matters most on a vertical storage tank this size: at 1.9 SG it is rated to hold contents weighing up to 103,031 lbs, well beyond the 54,227 lbs of a full load of plain water. That margin is what lets this Norwesco tank handle dense fertilizer solutions and heavier liquids, not just water. If you only need to store water, you may not need a rating this heavy — but if brine, fertilizer solution, or other dense liquids are in your plan, this is the build that covers you.
Will this tank work for your application?
At 6,502 gallons in a single vertical tank, this is reservoir-scale storage. The 102-inch diameter footprint keeps the ground-contact area compact, but the 196-inch height (16.3 ft) means you need real vertical clearance and a properly engineered base. Run your stored liquid through the Tank Sizing Calculator and review the Tank Sizing Guide to confirm this capacity fits your draw-down and refill cycle. If you are storing anything denser than water, match your liquid's specific gravity against the 1.9 SG rating before you commit — that is your headroom, and it is the number to verify first.
The mistake to avoid: the pad, not the tank
The most common and most expensive error on a tank this size is underbuilding the foundation. A full water load alone is 54,227 lbs concentrated on a 102-inch circle; at full 1.9 SG contents that climbs past 103,000 lbs. That load has to land on a flat, fully supporting, level concrete pad with no voids or high spots, or the tank wall will be stressed unevenly. Read Concrete Pad Sizing for Above-Ground Polyethylene Tanks before you pour. Outlet and fitting configuration on this size is confirmed at order — call 866-418-1777 to spec your outlet, bulkhead fittings, and gaskets before purchase, and see the technical drawing on this page for overall layout. For anything other than ambient water, confirm gasket and seal material compatibility (for example EPDM versus Viton on the bulkhead seal) against your liquid before filling: the polyethylene wall and the seal materials have different chemical-resistance limits.
Common uses for this size
A 6,502-gallon vertical Norwesco tank is a workhorse for rural and remote fire-water reservoirs, agricultural and industrial process water, and reclaimed-water programs. For reservoir design and freeze considerations, see our guide on fire-water reservoir tank design for rural and remote sites, and for grey-water, rainwater, and HVAC-condensate aggregation review our industrial water reuse tank topology guide. A full deep-dive on this exact model lives in our 6502 Gallon Vertical Liquid Storage Tank buyer's guide.
This model ships from a single Norwesco plant in Albertville, Alabama, so freight moves LTL and scales with distance to your ZIP — Southeast deliveries land cheapest, and a unit this tall and heavy always travels on its own LTL shipment. At 196 in (16.3 ft) tall with a max gross over 103,000 lbs of contents, confirm crane or boom-truck offload and overhead clearance at the delivery point. Get a freight number to your ZIP with our Freight Cost Estimator, or call 866-418-1777 and we will quote freight to your delivery point and confirm offload requirements for a tank of this height and weight.
