A water storage tank is a great way to deliver a steady supply of water for irrigation, drinking, cleaning, fire suppression, beverage production, and a million other uses. But if you live in a cold climate—specifically, one with freezing temperatures—keeping that supply safe from frost is critical.
It’s not just that winter climates can freeze your supply of drinking water; they can also damage your plumbing. Water expands as it freezes—the only molecule known to do so—and that threatens the structural integrity of any water-holding vessel. If you’ve ever left a glass of water in the freezer you know what this entails. What’s more, thawing out a frozen water tank will require a lot of time and energy, especially if it needs to be done in the middle of winter.
That’s why it’s so important to winterize your tanks well before the first frost. Here we’ll cover some of the tips, tricks, and procedures needed to keep your winter water supply safe, clean, and in liquid form.
One of the best—and cheapest—ways to limit the risk of freezing is to insulate the tank. This involves wrapping the top and sides with blankets made from fiberglass, mineral wool, ceramic fiber, or some other cushioning material. These wraps are also layered with sheets of aluminum to further reflect heat as it escapes the tank. Not all insulation wraps are alike, however, as some are pricier and have higher temperature thresholds. How much and what type of insulation you should use depends on the climate of the storage tank: The lower the average temperatures in winter the more robust and protective the insulation system needs to be.
What’s really nice about insulation is that it’s efficient and doesn’t require any energy input or maintenance beyond the installation process. Of course, you’ll want to keep an eye out for tears or loosened fabric, but for the most part insulation is a “set it and forget it” solution.
Before you purchase any insulation your should measure the size of the tank. You’ll need the diameter as well as the height of the vessel. You’ll also need to measure the surface area of the top of the tank. Add these together to get an estimate in square footage of how much insulation wrap you’ll need. In these cases it’s best to overestimate rather than underestimate.
Note: Don’t add any insulation to the bottom of the tank. Remember from science class that heat rises. You can make use of any residual warmth or air in the ground by allowing it to warm the water tank as it rises.
Installing the insulation is a simple matter of wrapping it around the tank and securing the blankets with straps, which usually come included with the material. You should also take this time to insulate any pipes running to or from the tank, be they for plumbing or rain harvesting. These pipes will freeze a lot quicker than your water tank, so you’ll need to wrap them, at the very least, in foam insulator. A better idea is to purchase some heat tape or cable, which applies a low voltage of electricity along the length of the pipe, preventing frost.
While pricier than simply wrapping your tank in insulating material, a water heater is a surefire way to prevent your tanks from freezing up. There are a few ways to go about this: One option is to buy a submersible electric water heater, which delivers current from a heating element to a conductive material like steel, thereby heating the water around it to prevent ice from forming. Particularly frigid climates may require several heating elements or a combination of insulation and submergible heaters. It’s a pretty simple idea and not very costly to install.
Another option is to buy an electric heating blanket, which combines the zero-energy benefits of insulation with the direct heat of a submergible heating element. These handy blankets wrap around the tank like a jacket and generate heat from an electrical source. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and offer temperature controls to precisely regulate temperatures in response to weather conditions. They’re more expensive and require more upkeep than insulation material, and you’ll need a power supply to run them, but they are an effective way to prevent your tanks from freezing.
A third option is to install a heating system that heats the tank from the exterior. These machines typically sit beneath the tank and apply a larger amount of energy. They’re big, complicated machines that can be difficult to install—not to mention costly. Most experts only recommend these systems for very large water storage tanks with a high risk of freezing.
If you can’t afford either insulation or a heating system, or if your tank is in a climate with minimal risk of freezing, there are some steps you can take to reduce the chance of your water freezing up.
1.) Get as big a tank as you can – Small volumes of water freeze faster than large volumes. Use this basic law of nature to your advantage and get a tank that is slightly larger than you think you might need.
2.) Avoid square or rectangular tanks – For the same reason that larger tanks take longer to freeze, rounded tanks insulate better than similar sized rectangular tanks. Why? Because they have smaller surface areas and, thus, less room for heat to escape.
3.) Monitor the tank for cracks or leaks – This applies to the network of pipes running to and from the water tank as well. Any leaks that form will accelerate the pace of heat loss and quicken the freezing process. You want to make sure your water system is all buttoned up before the first frost arrives.
4.) Avoid flat tank covers – Don’t give your tank the chance for ice to form anywhere around it. A flat cover dramatically increases the likelihood of ice forming because rain, snow, or overflow that accumulates on the surface has nowhere to go. If the cover is sloped, the water will just slide off to freeze somewhere else.
5.) Burry your tank – This isn’t always an option but underground tanks enjoy more stable, consistent temperatures, even through winter. They’re harder to access, pricier to install, and more difficult to maintain, but they’ll get you most of the way there in terms of frost-prevention.
6.) Buy a plastic tank – There’s no signifiant difference in the rate of heat loss between a plastic and metal tank. But in the event that water does freeze, plastic can better withstand the force of expansion. Metal, on the other hand, is more likely to crack when water turns to ice. Also, because plastic is cheaper and more malleable, you have more options for choosing the right shape and size to suit a water storage system that can survive the winter.
6.) Keep water moving – Moving water is more energetic and, thus, requires colder temperatures to freeze. Preventing frost can be a simple matter of jostling the tank from side to side on particularly cold days, installing some sort of flow system to keep water agitated and moving, or periodically flushing or plumbing system. if the tank is hooked up to a pressurized water line you can run the taps to keep water moving through the pipes.
If all else fails, or if you’re unsure how to best protect your tank from the coming cold, it’s probably a good idea to hire a plumber or water storage technician. With the right training and experience, an expert can survey the specifics of your system and provide a detailed plan as to how to cost-effectively prevent your water storage tank from freezing.
Whatever type of storage tank you’re looking for, Go To Tanks has a variety of styles, shapes, and sizes to fit your needs. Our tanks are made from a resilient polyethylene plastic that will suit any winterization plan.
Call 1-877-468-2657 and we’ll help you find a tank that can deliver clean, potable water during the most frigid months of the year.
SALES@GOTOTANKS.COM 
