How to Clean and Maintain Your Water Tank by Yourself

Water tanks are often forgotten after being installed, the only time they are thought of is when some problem occurs because of it. This is where we go wrong, just because there’s no problem right now doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the near future. Regular inspections have to be made and most importantly the water tank has to be cleaned often.

You might not notice it but silt will gradually accumulate at the bottom of your tank, and sometimes algae might grow too if your water is stagnant for long. The accumulated silt can be removed by regular cleaning, and since your tank is cleaned periodically the chance for algae to grow is very minimal.

Inspection

Before we get to cleaning, let’s explore maintenance for a bit. You might have heard of the phrase- “Prevention is better than the cure,” it is very much relevant here too. You can save yourself from juggling the aftermath of a broken tank and your everyday responsibilities if you don’t ignore the signs.

Water tanks are usually placed on the rooftops, which means they will be exposed completely to the sun every day. Due to the high temperatures, some spots on your water tank might soften and then harden again after it cools down. This will weaken your water tank and make some parts of it brittle. You will be able to find these spots by checking for discoloration or cracks in your tank.

Other than this, you can check all the fittings, especially the lid. Make sure the lid is all proper and completely sealed. This is as much as you can do in terms of maintenance.

Cleaning Your Water Tank

Empty the Tank

If you don’t want to waste water you can set out to clean your tank when it is almost empty. I say almost empty because you can’t empty your tank completely through the outlet pipe as it is slightly above the bottom of the tank. To remove the rest of the water you will have to use a bucket, and when you can’t use the bucket to remove the last remaining water, you can use a sponge or a piece of cloth that absorbs water well.

This is the normal method, but if you look on youtube you will find easier and more creative methods to remove water from your water tank. One such method uses the concept of siphoning.

Using this method you won’t even have to remove all of the water in your tank, you will just need a plastic bottle, hose, a few other odd things that you usually find lying around in your home, and the power of science. Siphoning is using the difference in pressure and gravity to move the water. You can siphon off the silt and water directly without having to remove all the water from the tank. But this won’t clean your tank 100%, there will still be a few sediments left, so if you are unsatisfied or need your tank completely clean and disinfected it is better to remove all water and clean it. You can use the siphoning method to at least draw out the water, and later clean the tank manually.

Scrub and Disinfect

After removing all the water, remove any leftover debris, or sediments at the bottom of your tank. Now we scrub, use a mild detergent, or vinegar to thoroughly scrub every inch of the water tank.

Not everyone has pressure washers, vacuums, and other mechanized cleaning equipment lying in their closet. So usually someone has to get inside the water tank to clean it because reaching in from the outside is surely not an easy task. Unless you can comfortably clean the tank without having to get inside it, here are some things to take note of before you enter the water tank. First and foremost, be clean, the reason behind it is obvious, and the next thing is to make sure the tank and whatever it is placed on are structurally sound. You don’t want it to collapse when someone gets into it now, do you?

After you are done scrubbing thoroughly, rinse the tank with clean water a couple of times to remove any lingering traces of the detergent. Now you can fill the tank back and disinfect it with either chlorine or iodine. Although Disinfection is entirely up to you, it is safer to disinfect your tank.

Even if you have a water purifier in your home, the water for cooking, bathing, and everything else comes directly from your tank, not to mention your water purifier will be affected if the water quality in your tank is bad, hence it is best to clean your water tank at least twice a year. If you can’t clean your tank by yourself, you can enlist the services of professional water tank cleaners to get the job done for you.