WATER TANK PLASTIC OR STAINLESS STEEL THE BIG QUESTION

[sailingrbg]

I am in the process of changing my 25 year old steel water tank which has quite bad corrosion internally and am wondering of the merits of stainless steel verses rigid plastic. My Port side water tank was replaced by the previous owner a few years ago but has a taint to the water taste. (Could be down to the pipes?)
To this end I am considering stainless steel for the starboard tank but at an approx cost of £500-600 think that this is quite expensive. The tank will need to be custom made to fit the shape of the hull and will only hold about 11 gallons.
My main problem is that I a wondering if the welding of stainless steel tank will hold up over the years if it is subjected to continual movement on a mooring. Or whether there is some form of plastic tanks which will not taint the water.
If I bite the bullet and go for the expensive option of the stainless steel, can anyone suggestions of what thickness of stainless steel to go for

Any thoughts gratefully received

 

[boatbuilder]

Contact a company called caktanks.co.uk , they have loads of shapes off the shelf. Sorry don't know how to make links.

 

[Dave99]

Plastimo have quite a selection of plastic ones, but you can not buy direct you have to go through a dealer - they are meant to be flavourless! Vetus do quite a range also and theres are all food quality obviously(taste-free,odourless) .

 

[Talbot]

Tek Tanks will do custm tanks at less than your quote. Suggest you talk to them

 

[Frontier]

I bought two flexible diesel tanks from Duratank, they were really helpful and custom made them in a few days.

They do water tanks as well. Think they are made from the same material as hovercraft cushion so really tough and easy to fit.

Duratank

 

[fishermantwo]

What about using old SS beer kegs. 2.5 mm SS, pressure tested and have a large threaded hole for the filler to be screwed into. Need to weld a smaller pipe with a threaded end as the outlet.

 

[Signed Out]

For fresh water SS may well be great, but avoid for gunk tanks. Apparently SS is not good with the acids in what you "emit"... Mine was full of holes and has gone to the skip. Will replace with plastic soon(ish). And there was I thinking SS was the be-all and...

 

[Richard_Peevor]

I recently got two quotes for a 8-10 gallon tank in a hull sided shape from duratank and tek tanks. Both quotes were approx £300. I bought a rigid plastic tank from ronco tanks in california. The tank was only about £80 and I had attachments fitted to my own spec. It looks great. They provided an excellent service too. Postage cost more than the tank!! and dont forget import duty as well BUT it still came to £220. (less than any UK company!!). Definately worth a look... They have some may off the shape tanks many fit where you thought you were going to have to get one made.

 

[Phill]

I've just replaced two 25 gallon fresh water tanks on my boat. Initially horrified by quotes from marine companies of about £300 per tank.
Got mine from CAK Tanks at £95.00 each including fitting of inspection hatches and tails. They have a very comprehensive price list and cataloque that you can order from their web site. www.caktanks.co.uk