The Norwesco 850 gallon black vertical storage tank is a 48-inch-diameter polyethylene tank standing 118 inches tall, built for above-ground bulk water storage where you need real capacity in a tight footprint. Molded in black polyethylene, it carries a 1.5 specific gravity rating, which means the tank wall is engineered to hold contents up to 1.5 times the weight of water. For straight water service that gives you genuine headroom: full of water the tank holds roughly 7,089 pounds, while the wall rating allows for contents weighing up to 10,634 pounds before you reach what the resin is designed to carry. That 1.5 SG rating is the spec worth noticing - the same tank handles heavier-than-water liquids up to 1.5 specific gravity without de-rating, not just the plain water most water-only tanks are limited to.
Will it work for your site?
The numbers that matter for planning: 850 gallons in a 48 x 48 inch footprint, 118 inches of vertical height, and a black resin build. The compact 4-foot-square base makes this Norwesco vertical storage tank a strong fit where pad or floor space is limited but you still need meaningful volume. Fitting sizes and locations are confirmed on the technical drawing on this page - check the outlet, fill, and lid against your plumbing before you order. The black resin is a quiet practical advantage too: it blocks light to limit algae growth and picks up some solar heat gain, which helps in cold-climate service. Still settling on capacity for your draw and refill cycle? Run the Tank Sizing Calculator or read the Tank Sizing Guide. If this tank feeds a rural fire-water reservoir or a private fire-protection stack, our guide on fire-water reservoir tank design and NFPA 22 sizing walks through the engineering, including freeze protection where the black-tank heat gain helps.
Foundation and the mistake to avoid
A tank of this height and weight needs a flat, fully supporting base. Filled, this vertical tank approaches three and a half tons of water resting on a 4-foot-square footprint, so it has to sit on a level pad rated for that point load - not bare soil or partial support. The most common and most expensive mistake is undersizing or skipping the pad: an uneven base puts uneven stress on the tank floor and shortens its life. Our guide to concrete pad sizing for above-ground polyethylene tanks covers the ACI 360R-10 framework so your foundation matches the load. Plan for mechanical offload as well - at this size the tank cannot be hand-unloaded, so have a forklift or equipment ready at the receiving end. If you are aggregating grey water, rainwater, or HVAC condensate into a storage train, see our write-up on industrial water reuse tank topology, and for rainwater harvesting setups our first-flush diverter sizing guide.
Freight
This vertical storage tank ships LTL freight, quoted live to your ZIP. We stock it at three plants and ship from the one nearest you to avoid cross-country LTL: east of the Mississippi we ship from Griffin, GA; West Coast from Hanford, CA; and Central and Plains states from Shawnee, OK. Get a real number for your address with the Freight Cost Estimator, or call our team at 866-418-1777 and we will quote freight from the closest plant and confirm the right Norwesco vertical tank for your job.
