Leaking Slatted Tank

sucklerfarmer

Hi all,

I have recently installed a new underground slatted tank and have no cattle in it yet. I noticed a large leak on one of the walls at a joint --- leak about 1 foot long on a joint . The crack is narrow but a lot of water coming in. I am just wondering if anyone knows of a sealer/resin that could be applied onto the wall to stop the leak.

I came across an old teagasc report stating that styrene butadiene rubber sealed such problems but could find no info on this or where to get it.

I would really appreciate any help

Thanks

1chippy

get on to the lad that built it

moy83

Chippy is right , I'm not sure what the best fix is but get it sorted before cattle get to use it . If the coco come across this kind of pollution the water coming in will be the least of your problems .

td5man

sucklerfarmer wrote: »

Hi all,

I have recently installed a new underground slatted tank and have no cattle in it yet. I noticed a large leak on one of the walls at a joint --- leak about 1 foot long on a joint . The crack is narrow but a lot of water coming in. I am just wondering if anyone knows of a sealer/resin that could be applied onto the wall to stop the leak.

I came across an old teagasc report stating that styrene butadiene rubber sealed such problems but could find no info on this or where to get it.

I would really appreciate any help

Thanks

Can you dig a drain away from the tank, from the bottom if possible.
Have seen tanks like this before and sealing them doesnt really work as the water pressure can be fairly high.
Slurry will leak out for a short while but will seal the joint fairly quickly.
If you want to try a sealer you could try sikaflex.

GY A1

how wide is the crack,
have a look for sika 4a, have used it to seal water leaks and its absolutely brillant

Farmer Pudsey

If it is on a joint I would call back the lad who did the tank, an engineer's to look at it might not go amiss. Td5man is right if you can get the water away from it I would do that if it is possible. It is easy now to do a proper repair job that will not cost a fortune. If part of the joint is weak all of it may leak over time so just repairing the bit that is leaking now may not be the answer

You do not want a situation in 10 years time where your tank is full of watery slurry the First of December

dharn

Probably needs to be sealed from the outside could you dig down to it outside the tank and plaster over the joint

maxxuumman

I wouldn't touch it. Get straight onto the builder, there's questions to be answered.

bob charles

did an engineer oversee the job from start to finish? its a must IMV for underground tanks

td5man

bob charles wrote: »

did an engineer oversee the job from start to finish? its a must IMV for underground tanks

An engineer is good for both parties.

td5man

sucklerfarmer wrote: »

Hi all,

I have recently installed a new underground slatted tank and have no cattle in it yet. I noticed a large leak on one of the walls at a joint --- leak about 1 foot long on a joint . The crack is narrow but a lot of water coming in. I am just wondering if anyone knows of a sealer/resin that could be applied onto the wall to stop the leak.

I came across an old teagasc report stating that styrene butadiene rubber sealed such problems but could find no info on this or where to get it.

I would really appreciate any help

Thanks

Can you dig a drain away from the tank, from the bottom if possible.
Have seen tanks like this before and sealing them doesnt really work as the water pressure can be fairly high.
Slurry will leak out for a short while but will seal the joint fairly quickly.
If you want to try a sealer you could try sikaflex.

Conelan

Had a similar problem in the past but maybe not as big. Have a "google" of hydraulic cements, the one I used went by trade name "Thoro Waterplug". Brilliant stuff and did the trick for me. Hope this helps.

sucklerfarmer

Thanks for replies.

I am in the process of digging drain outside tank to relieve water and then I intend on putting a sealer on crack inside and outside.

No engineer involved - the minute I go down that road the money goes way up

I might try Thoro Waterplug

sucklerfarmer

any ideas lads where I could source Thoro Waterplug in Ireland. It looks good stuff to seal the crack

GY A1

Sika 4a will seal any leak, comes in 1 gallon drum, think its about 40 euro, its a liquid,

I used something else like crystal plug but that came in 5 gallon drum powder form, and was way more expensive,

bob charles

sucklerfarmer wrote: »

No engineer involved - the minute I go down that road the money goes way up

Might be the best money spent in your situation, If the council are investigating a pollution case locally, it great to have certified tanks which is much easier done when new than when used, shouldnt cost more than a few hundred quid

GY A1

The other good one is kryton crystaline
Try company called construction accessories

td5man

bob charles wrote: »

Might be the best money spent in your situation, If the council are investigating a pollution case locally, it great to have certified tanks which is much easier done when new than when used, shouldnt cost more than a few hundred quid

It would be very hard to get an engineer to certify a tank thats already built.
How can he tell how much steel is in it?

td5man

sucklerfarmer wrote: »

Thanks for replies.

I am in the process of digging drain outside tank to relieve water and then I intend on putting a sealer on crack inside and outside.

No engineer involved - the minute I go down that road the money goes way up

I might try Thoro Waterplug

Bring a drain from near the top of the tank as well, i have seen water flowing over the tops of walls into tanks as well.

Farmer Pudsey

sucklerfarmer wrote: »

Thanks for replies.

I am in the process of digging drain outside tank to relieve water and then I intend on putting a sealer on crack inside and outside.

No engineer involved - the minute I go down that road the money goes way up

I might try Thoro Waterplug

I am no fan of engineers either however in thsi case I would get one to look at it. Especially if you intend to dig away outside so he can see both sides. No need to cost an arm or leg just a one off site visit fee. Get a price for the visit should not cost more than a couple hundred euro. Then he will reccommend the course of action and give you the names of materiald required as well as where you will get them.

Would I hire an engineer to oversee a tank in the morning the answer is No. I would always let the last hour be the hardest. However the issue facing us all now is that new health and Safty legislation is forcing us to either contract out total job or else employ engineers to project plan such jobs but that may be another thread

Farmer Pudsey

td5man wrote: »

Bring a drain from near the top of the tank as well, i have seen water flowing over the tops of walls into tanks as well.

No need bring drain from bottom make a soakway above top of drain to top of tank use drain pie to feed down to drain. Then if need be you can drain into this soakway

bbam

What has the lad who built the tank said?
I'd be loathe to do much work till I got his explanation.

td5man

bbam wrote: »

What has the lad who built the tank said?
I'd be loathe to do much work till I got his explanation.

Sounds like he didnt use a waterbar on the joint.

onyerbikepat

Maybe if there was an engineer involved from the start, this wouldn't have happened. :rolleyes:

bob charles

onyerbikepat wrote: »

Maybe if there was an engineer involved from the start, this wouldn't have happened. :rolleyes:

you would be surprised, what can happen even with professionals involved

moy83

bob charles wrote: »

you would be surprised, what can happen even with professionals involved

Im sitting in the van for the last two hours waiting for an engineer that drew a wheelchair ramp outside an apt . The gradient is twice whats allowed , yet he drew up a set of plans that were supposedly mm perfect .

td5man

bob charles wrote: »

you would be surprised, what can happen even with professionals involved

If its not in the text book it doesnt happen.
Best engineer i have worked with was a farmers son he had a common sense approach to things and would listen to the man on the ground.

bob charles

moy83 wrote: »

The gradient is twice whats allowed , yet he drew up a set of plans that were supposedly mm perfect .

A group of German ministers and Irish minsters were going into a conference in Dublin when they could harly see where they were going due to dust of a worker cutting the pavement with a consaw. German minister said that if this was Germany they would be using lasers and specialist machinery to perform the task that would be accurate to 100th of a mm. Irish Minister responded - that would be no good in Ireland, as here we have to be spot on

Conelan

Hi Sucklerfarmer,
Just to answer your question from this morning. Got the Thoro Waterplug stuff from U.K. Google Mike Wye (name of suppliers over there) Spoke to them over phone and they're very sound to deal with and will deliver promptly. It's dear stuff but very very good. Did job for me in tank and also has repaired old concrete water trough that was leaking so it's paying me back over time!! Still have half the tin at bottom of the hot press for any future jobs. There's supposed to be some guy in Kilkenny city who stocks similar hydraulic cements but knew this was the stuff I wanted so didn't ever actually find his premises.

moy83

moy83 wrote: »

Im sitting in the van for the last two hours waiting for an engineer that drew a wheelchair ramp outside an apt . The gradient is twice whats allowed , yet he drew up a set of plans that were supposedly mm perfect .

Well the engineer showed up . The gradient was wrong , but built it wrong he said and we will just have to rise the driveway to suit !

bbam

moy83 wrote: »

Well the engineer showed up . The gradient was wrong , but built it wrong he said and we will just have to rise the driveway to suit !

Didn't suggest lowering the apartment ?

sucklerfarmer

I got Sika 4a and used it to seal the leak - it sets in seconds and is great stuff. I also ran a drain pipe from half way down tank ato take away excess water.

Many thanks to all for your suggestions. Leak stopped, tank sealed and not too dear

sucklerfarmer

In case any smart ass is wondering - the drain pipe is draining water from outside the tank and taking it away

GY A1

sucklerfarmer wrote: »

I got Sika 4a and used it to seal the leak - it sets in seconds and is great stuff. I also ran a drain pipe from half way down tank ato take away excess water.

Many thanks to all for your suggestions. Leak stopped, tank sealed and not too dear

Yup, its serious stuff alright,
Good u got it sorted handy enouggh too