We are facing a real problem of water reserves, and we are not talking only about Spain but also about Europe and many other countries. As temperatures rise, crop water requirements increase dramatically and this is a problem when water demand exceeds supply capacity, simply because it is not raining. Drought is a disease that seems to become a long-term problem.
Whereas in the past a well could supply a group of houses and even a farm, today these wells are very expensive to extract water or simply its quality is no longer suitable neither for agriculture nor even less for meeting human needs.
One way to reduce or remedy this problem in the long term, for small farms or to guarantee the supply of drinking water in rural areas, are flexible tanks, an innovation with very marked advantages over traditional rigid tanks.
What is a flexible deposit?
In order to easily understand the concept of flexible tanks, we are talking about a giant bag where water can be stored. It can be found from “bags” of a few cubic meters of water to huge reservoirs of 200 m3. They are made from flexible but very strong materials such as canvas (high tenacity polyester), which guarantees many years of life against the elements and easy repair of any punctures, as they operate without increased pressure.
What is interesting is that this flexible deposit fits perfectly into a rainwater harvesting system, since it is enough to connect the water collected in the gutters or pipes by means of a pipe and by gravity, for example, the roof of a house or a warehouse. If you were to install a rigid cylindrical tank, you cannot transport it elsewhere unless you have a truck or a loading crane. However, with flexible filing, you can change location in a few hours and even recharge it in a car.
For example, a flexible tank with a volume of 50 m3, weighs about 140 kg, it is about 8 meters long, 6 meters wide and 1.5 meters high. When folded, it can be transported on a small trailer.
The reality of this type of tank is that it is a great alternative when you need to store large amounts of water or other liquids. The example of the previous case, save 50,000 liters of water In a rigid tank, this means a cylinder over 10 meters high and several meters thick, which is not easy to install and has very high costs compared to flexible. On the other hand, with the flexible, we only need a few square meters of surface (in the previous case, less than 50 m2).
Benefits of Flexible Deposits
- Easy folding: If you need to use a water storage system, for example, during high demand months but not the rest of the year, the bladder allows it to be folded up and stored, which you can’t. not do with traditional cylindrical tanks.
- Protected from external agents: the canvas is thick enough to prevent the passage of light. In this way, we prevent the proliferation of algae in the water and contaminants from bacteria and other microorganisms.
- Simple repair: As if it were a canvas mattress, in the face of a puncture, the repair is easy and durable. By not working with pressures higher than those of the atmosphere, the materials do not undergo any additional wear and tear than that of the weather.
- No evaporation: Facing an irrigation basin whose water evaporation is constant and very high in summer, the water stored in a flexible tank is not lost, since it is a closed system.
- No complicated installations: All it takes is a flat, smooth surface for installation, and it easily connects with a downspout filter. In addition, no specific project or construction permit is required.
- Different sizes and prices: It is a very economical solution compared to other water storage systems. In addition, we can find a very wide catalog of references, ranging from less than 25 m3 to 2000 m3 of options.
The possibilities of use are practically endless and it is the most comfortable, efficient and durable way to transport and store water where it is needed. We can see a clear example in the following photo, where the flexible tank does a great humanitarian job, without having to find a tank truck.
Image: By Bin im Garten – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0Are they for water only?
Really no. Bladder tanks have a large diameter liquid inlet, so they can be used to store any liquid, including those of a certain viscosity.
For example, for application in agriculture, it is interesting to be able to store liquid fertilizers in large volumes and in rural areas that are difficult to access with heavy vehicles. For cattle breedingalso makes it possible to store animal sludge and slurry at a very low cost compared to the construction of watertight slurry basins, imposed by law to prevent the leaching of these effluents into the ground.
Flexible tanks are an excellent economical alternative for the storage and subsequent treatment of animal slurry and sludge, especially on isolated farms.
Cover image: By Cjp24 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.