News & Insights

Storage Tank Applications: Fire Suppression

March 9, 2015 | Posted in Blog

In rural areas, public water infrastructure is often insufficient to meet the needs of firefighting efforts. Fire trucks dispatched to a fire can only hold so much water, and there may or may not be static natural water sources to draw from such as lakes and ponds. To solve this problem, underground storage tanks can be installed at strategic locations in order to aid in fire suppression in the event of a fire.

Fire Suppression
Fire suppression storage tanks create a known location for a large volume of water that can be used by fire departments to supplement or act as the main source of water in fire suppression.

Howard County
In Howard County, for example, the county government is investing in a program to install a number of fire suppression tanks. The tanks are being installed in the western part of the county, which is its most rural area.

The project began in 2006 and has secured funding through 2017. Tanks Direct supplied and installed the fiberglass underground storage tank for the first installation in 2007 in Clarksville, and has done the same for almost half the tanks that have been installed as a result of the program. The county is spending $1.25 million a year from 2013-2017 to install 5-10 tanks annually. If the initiative continues to receive funding, 104 tanks will be installed by 2020, and the county will have one 30,000 gallon fire suppression tank within one square mile of any possible fire.

Xerxes Fiberglass Storage Tanks
For this project, Tanks Direct has installed 30,000 gallons Xerxes fiberglass storage tanks. Fiberglass storage tanks are ideal for fire suppression for a number of reasons.

1. Fiberglass doesn’t rust, which means the water will not become contaminated will rust even after years of storage.
2. Water will not corrode fiberglass, meaning the tanks can be relied on as a source of water whenever they are needed.
3. Xerxes fiberglass storage tanks are watertight.

To learn more about fire suppression with underground storage tanks, contact Tanks Direct today.

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