Tylercc
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I have a plastic container holding about 30 gallons of water, and it is bowing. Do I need to be concerned about it breaking?
Can a plastic container break from having too much water
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Yes. It depends on a lot of variables: density and dimensions of the container, which sort of plastic it is, age, shape, location (UV radiation), and probably some more. So in general, yes is the only answer possible.
Tylercc
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So it is inside, out of the way of uv radiation, it is rectangular, brand new, 28-3/4" x 21" x 18" h. Would building a wooden box around the container preventing it from bowing reduce the likely hood of it breaking? Is there anything else I can do to prevent it from breaking?
Tylercc
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I don't know if it was meant to hold liquid, I am using it as a extra water storage container for my evaporative cooler.
Tylercc
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If this is of the same consistency as those boxes they sell here in hardware stores, I wouldn't trust them. They are likely to split somewhere, bent or not.
Tylercc
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so it sounds like if I am considering using this over a few summers I should just buy a real water storage tank?
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Absolutely. Given those dimensions, you have something like 350 pounds of water in it. I doubt it was intended to hold this much.
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Those blue plastic barrels are pretty rugged and affordable.
Gold Member
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That container is not made for holding water. I have seem these used as sump for aquariums and they do occasionally fail.
A container built for holding water would have thicker walls, possibly have some cross braces, and/or be circular.
You have a water pump in there. If you had it hooked up to a float switch, you could use a smaller container (requiring less strength to hold the water; easier to find) to accumulate water until the switch turned on the pump. The pump would then pump the water away.
A container built for holding water would have thicker walls, possibly have some cross braces, and/or be circular.
You have a water pump in there. If you had it hooked up to a float switch, you could use a smaller container (requiring less strength to hold the water; easier to find) to accumulate water until the switch turned on the pump. The pump would then pump the water away.