Waterproofing Wood: How to Make a Wooden Water Tank

1. Use silicone to seal the joins, and then lacquer it heavily. Japanese soup bowls are made of heavily lacquered wood or paper. Indonesian fishermen also make boats out of heavily lacquered wood.
2. Use it as a frame for a very large plastic bag e.g. a garbage bag.

Melt wax or paraffin to a hot liquid state and brush on liberally, if you wish to avoid

strong chemicals. This will work for a time . The Lacquer solution offered above by Darth

will most likely out perform the wax.

Just an alternative!

Food grade plastic wrap. One roll is about $2.

Two things:

"Or is there a suitable technique to weld the joins in this type of tank"

PE sheet is easily welded with a hot air gun and filler rod. It is not expensive nor difficult. (Harbor Freight, usual disclaimer)You can also cover the attachment screws with this rod to leakproof the sheets. You can use PE fittings welded in place if you need to penetrate the tank below water level.

Calculate the pressure you will exert with 6 inches of water in your tank. You don't want the tank to split apart.

Have fun.

once the box is built sturdy enough to hold the pressure, get a large piece of poly (visqueen) or a 'Blue tarp" place in box fold corners and staple to top edge of frame. when I was a young boy my neighbor's dad made us a swimming pool with 2 x 12's on edge and on old surplus Army tarp.

suppose you don't know of a cooper in the area.

due to budget constraints how about somethng like this

p911

If your project involves measuring the volume of collected mist, then you are better off lining the tank with plastic or using it to hold a bag, as DVader suggested. Otherwise you will have error due to moisture absorbed by the wood, difficult to measure.

If your project involves measuring residual chemicals in collected mist, then you need to consider chemicals leaching from the contact surface. Plywood is notorious for leaching formaldehyde etc. Some plastics also leach chemicals - best known for estrogenic compounds. Check type of plastic.

If your project is intended to collect water for some biological use, consider the effects of the collector materials on the quality of the water. A food grade plastic liner may be your best solution - plywood sucks.

I once built a photographic darkroom sink out of 2 x 6's and 3/4 plywood, then painted it inside and out with a two-part epoxy paint. The drain was sealed to the bottom with a silicone- I don't remember exactly the specs I used, but today I would use something like 5200. The sink lasted many, many years with no problems, in spite of the rather corrosive chemical handling. It would probably still be in use, if digital photograhy had not come along...

naval Mineweepers use gelcoat to seal the the wood

Greetings,

There is a reason our grandfathers didn't build square tanks out of wood much higher than a standard water trough, knee high, if you are going to build it over 2 feet high it needs to be round. Coopers have been making barrels round for millenia. You have a chance this will work if you strongly renforce the corners and use straping aound the circunference, but no type of sealing will work on that design, except lining it with a plastic sheet, (like a red-neck pick-up bed hot tub). There is still enough pressure to bow the boards and bust the corners and bowing could pinch the plastic and cause leeks.

Why is this designed 2-3 feet high when the water will only go up 6 inches? this will hold 6" of water, to seal it use the large sheet of plastic like previous replys have suggested, fold the corners like making a bed and lap it over the outside and staple it to the outside. If kept out of the sun and direct sunlight this will last a year or more, baring punching holes in it. If this is for a reservior on a hydroponic system for your "plants" it will collect scum/alge and will need monthly cleaning and this is when you will put a hole it. Get the big sheets of plastic/visqueen used under concrete slabs and you wont have to join it or use tape.

One fairly inexpensive but requiring a bit of manual labor is as follows:

Step-1: Use a sander to remove all loose fibers and any grease oil on the surface to be water-proofed.

Step-2: Apply a coat of unsaturated polyester resin (isophthalic grade) with a hand brush (identical to paint brush) after mixing with appropriate quantity of cobalt octoate (accelerator) and peroxide (catalyst). Any resin supplier will guide you or your university's polymer engg dept can help you.

Step-3: immediately following step-2 lay a layer of fiberglass matt which is available in the market as "chopped strand fiberglass matt (CSM)" all over the coated surface. Simultaneously soak the applied layer with the "iso" resin as explained in step-2 . Ensure that there are no entrapped air bubbles in the process of impregnating the CSM over the tank surface. Also ensure that the matt layer is uniformly spread on all the surfaces, especially in the corners which are prone to bubble entrapment.

Step-4: Allow this coated tank to cure completely by either keeping in an hot air oven kept at 80 C for 6-8 hours or in bright warm sunlight over a few days.

This is a cheap solution to your problem, besides the tank will last for a few years!

You may also mix UP resin compatible pigments of desirable color with the resin prior to application.

Have nice day!

Muralidhar CS

Bangalore, India

Why not use the blue plastic 55 gal drums even cut in half and set side by side in a sorta

offset position side with the open tops pinched together with some short bolts and fender washers. It would limit the open spaces between the drums. and if you really need to collect all the water. Then cover it all with a heavy plastic or tarp. weight the plastic down in the center of each drum with a large weight and have a hole in the tarp so the water can drain into the drums. And the drums can be connected at the bottom with plastic fittings through the sides to each other to move the water to one point to use.

The drums are cheap online, next to the wood and all the effort to put it together and it might still not stay together if filled up all the way.

As to cost after the original outlay the tarp/plastic would be the only cost every few years to replace it.

As to the eco value your using something that would be disposed of anyway, verus using wood products plus there upkeep.

Just my 2cents Charles

A good protection layer all around & a thick-polythene bag to fit inside , cheaper to fabricate indigenously can do the job.

build you box, you probably will be rooting plants, line it with plastic and seal the drain with a bulkhead fitting.

*First of all you have to seal the joints of wooden pieces to avoid any leaking.

After setting the tank wooden tank assembly, seal the joints with PHENOL FORMALDEHYDE RESIN solution[ PF resin powder solublized in spirit], and allow it to dry set.

*The next part comes about surface sealing[ only inner sides and bottom or including outrer also], since wood is prone for osmotic seepage and get degraded. This calls for extra inlet and outlet lines with valve controls which you may have to make provisions.

*Now comes the surface coating of wooden parts. This can be simply enhanced by applying a water proof paint, one or more layer coatings and get it set.

Both the above said steps will give good service including cost criteria.

*The other option is using Fibre Reinforced Plastic coating involving glass fibre and resin solutions which could be much costlier.

Make test trials on a small piece made , check results and proceed.

Best wishes.

I have used old motor oil to seal off a garden cart project with good success (lasted a long time). I used a sponge to lay on 2 'coats' on some 1/4in. plywood. Of course you shouldn't use motor oil yourself but there are other biologically safe oils which might be utilized.

Do make sure to treat the materials before & after assembly. I used sheetrock screws to hold it together. Perhaps hot oil treatment would provide deeper penetration & effectiveness. cjv

I cannot see the dimensions but this seems like a fairly large amount of wood. This may not be as cheap as you want. Also at every joint gap you will have to fill the void with your sealing material. Added to the complications of using wood will be the swelling and warping that wood will do in a moist environment. Have you considered some plastic tubs or cheap Styrofoam cooler chests to catch your water?

Lots of good suggestions above, so a few miscellaneous comments.

My Grandfather was a cooper; unfortunately I was too young then to remember much. (One thing I remember, but quite off topic, is the saw blade used to cut circles--looked like a large Belleville washer with teeth on the outside edge.) Apparently there is slack and tight cooperage; is there some technology in this profession that would apply--whiskey barrels??

A large plastic bag: you might ask for something I call a barrel liner. I have seen them used in industry for trash bags in 55 gallon drums.

For plastic sheeting, use something like 4 or 6 mil polyethylene; someone mentioned blue tarps--in my experience they are not truly water proof, only water resistant.

The fiber glass application sounds like what you can get at an auto parts store. I used it last summer on some leaky metal tanks. Seemed to work well.

Hi friend, at first you join the total tank with febicall (wood adhesive) and wood dust.after that make a coting with water pudding inside of the total tank. it will be better for sue and lasting. thanks subhajit

Why not just use plastic 55 gal. barrels? You could bury them, and connect via a bulk head adapter and use a sump pump.

I think you're trying a little to hard to "reinvent" the wheel.

Contact a distillery, particularly one that produces whiskey. In the US, whiskey producers can only use thier barrels once. Once the whiskey has been packaged, the empty barrels are usually sold overseas to scotch manufacturers in ireland and scotland, or to tequila distillers in mexico where laws allow them to reuse barrels.

I'd be willing to bet you can buy a perfectly good used, leakproof wooden barrel pretty cheap. try these people: http://www.whiskeybarrels.com/

I just did an ebay search - you can buy 53 gallon used whiskey barrels on ebay for $100-$175 - probably less then all the lumber and sealent (not to mention the time) it would take you to build that contraption.

You can buy 55 gal. Plastic barrels locally for $10.00

DAS

If you do choose to use the proposed plank construction, you may want to consider using tongue and groove planks, as this would limit the amount of bow and twist which would most likely occur in such a hydro-rich environment. This may also make the entrapment of the water less challenging by offering more simple options for sealing the joints. A stacked dado head circular table saw, spindle router, or other such device may be used to create the joints. If you have access to a woodshop, cutting your own joints, though labor intensive, would be cost effective, as pre-joined materials tend to be less than favorable to a limited budget. Tongue and groove joints will expand, causing them to tighten when moist, or contract when dry. The application of an elastomeric caulk should do the trick, provided the hydrostatic pressure does not exceed the exfiltration resistance of the joint. I would recommend a gun grade, two part epoxy elastomer which should be available at your local hardware store. It will penetrate the cellular structures of the wood but maintain a high elongation (350%) percentage in order to preserve the integrity of the joint during expansion and contraction. A resinated glue, or other hard fastening agent would be destructive to the joint itself by splintering the wood as expansion/contraction occured. Also, as others have suggested, you must also seal the wood surface to prevent osmotic absorbtion. I hope this helps a bit. Good luck!

Z

Hello Montreal Newbie,

What do you put in the future or futuristic wooden tank? After that, we can talk about it's good or bad, and how to do it. In the late 50s, I visited Ugine plant in the French Alpes the oldest bleach manufacture - they invented it -, and the tank was the original, around 100 years old and still produced high quality and quantity of bleach. If you do the same, wood will fit to your project. On veut savoir qu'est-ce que vous mettait dedans ou/or we want to know what you put inside? All the best for your project, Gil.

Use EPDM rubber roofing material, I think it is self adhesive. Goggle rubber roofing material, you will find what you are looking for. Personally I would go to an agricultural supply store and buy a small aluminum stock tank.

I bought half of a wine barrel at the local Tractor supply for about $25. These can be found at the Home Depot as well during the spring and summer months. The staves were loose, so I didn't think it would hold water, After a little water spilled inside of it, it didn't leak at all. This may be a good option. If you are just wanting to prevent the wood from rotting, you might use linseed oil. Glue your planks together with "Titebond 3." Give us some more info and we can give you more ideas.

Hello Dag,

This is what I explained with the manufacturing of bleach. The tank was made, I am sure over one hundred years ago, and still operating. Wood, most of them, dry has a certain volume and when it comes in contact with water, expension occurs and all leeks are eliminated. Know the expension factor of your wood, and you are in business when you can use wood. Simple and efficient. When wood, oak is an example, contains enough phenolic and tannic products, wood is immune to rotting. All the best, Gil.

Lots of good advice,

Lets see if this rises to same level.

Assemble/reinforce box tightly, then apply two thick coats polyurethane furniture finish by brush.

I had a roommate that used the stuff to make dining room tables out of old Bowling Alley sections. Nice tables and tough but hernia making heavy to move.

Good luck with your project.

Hi Riffle47,

We, all of us, given lots of solutions, suggestions, and recommendations but we never get the answer from the originator of story what material will go in this wooden tank? I discover, in most of the occasions, we have questions without the goal of the project, and consequence of that, we are talking and suggesting but we never know if our collaborations get results. I would like to get the right idea concerning this students' project, doesn't make sense? Wait for the answer, Gil.