IBC Storage Tanks and Why You Might Need One
What is an IBC Tank?
An IBC tank is a plastic storage container typically caged with galvanized steel tubing. IBC is short for International Bulk Container.
Why Would I need an IBC Tank?
This is a very good question. There are many things these tanks can be used for. However, for an “Off-Grid Living” situation it could serve as water storage for things like drinking water, showers (hygiene), and watering crops.
For Water Storage
If you plan to use IBC tanks for water storage you have to first ask yourself, am I going to drink water from this?
If your answer is even close to yes, then you need to make sure you purchase a “Food Grade” IBC.
Why Food Grade? First, you have to understand that these are used to transport all kinds of stuff across the world including dangerous chemicals. Food Grade IBCs are used in the food processing industry and for the most part safer than non Food Grade.
Tips for Storing and Collecting Water
Okay, so now you must be thinking, “that’s great and all but how do I get the water?”
First, you are going to need some kind of pump to pump water from a stream, river, or some other water source. We purchased a Prostormer 12V DC 350GPH Electric Water Pump which turned out to be pretty sweet for what we wanted to do.
Pictured above is what is included in the package. A friendly tip on this pump, bring some kind of oil like vegetable oil with you and place some inside where the impeller is. Otherwise, you run the chance of melting the rubber impeller. This should give it enough time to prime itself.
The whole reason why we chose this one is the cost. At the time of publishing, it costs $50.99. Another reason is it’s 12 volts. Thus we could hook it straight to our truck battery and no need for a large power setup with inverters, etc.
If you decide to get this Prostormer 12V DC 350GPH Electric Water Pump be sure to purchase some extra impellers, just encase. You can find those here.
Another way to collect water, as most people know, is collecting rainwater. Using this method is good so long as you get adequate rain, and have the proper means to get it to your IBC container. We won’t go into how to set it up as there is many ways one could do so. But, we will recommend an aftermarket 6 1/2 inch plastic IBC cap with a 2-inch threaded center plug that will help us in the process.
Using this cap we can now attach some PVC pipe fitting that you can pick up at your local hardware store to make all the connections secure.
Getting the Water to the Garden
So now we learned how to store the water in the IBC tank, now let us take our collected water and water our garden.
First, we are going to need an adapter to put on the drain port at the bottom. Pay close attention to the type of threads your IBC tank has. For the most part, they are fine-treaded. So you will need an IBC Tote Drain Adapter Fittings 2″ NPS Female x 3/4″ BSP/NPT Male. You could apt to get a few of these to keep on hand, which is also a great idea. If you are like me and didn’t look at the images and description properly and ordered the wrong ones (coarse thread) than you will need to purchase a IBC tote coarse thread to fine thread adapter. So please make sure you order the correct ones.
Now you are all set to attach a garden hose to your IBC tank. If you need more water pressure, you could use your Prostormer 12V DC 350GPH Electric Water Pump
Keep your water from getting algae
Keeping your water from forming algae is fairly simple. Remember, light is the enemy here. For this, we used an IBC Tote Water Proof Protective Cover. Which keeps all light out and is waterproof.
With all the products mentioned here in this article
Patriots Prep Independent Product Rating:
out of 5 Stars
