We provide specialist lining services throughout the UK for all types of water tanks and containment vessels. One of our recent projects involved installing 2 new water tank linings for one of our customers based in Cumbria.
Specialist Lining Services by Eurotank were called in to carry out a re-lining of a 61m2 water production tank at a company based in Ulverston, Cumbria.
The tanks were suffering from a catastrophic coating failure due to poor adhesion from the expoxy to the unprepared substrate. The tank was located in a sensitive loaction in a laboratory environment. It was therefore essential that the area was to be kept clean in addition to managing the odour during the water tank linings process.
Due to the sensitive area, SLS carried out the abrasive blasting preparation at the weekend, and carried out the water tank lining process at night. This prevented us from hampering the companies production.
To overcome the challenges presented by the working environment, a self-sufficient temporary work tent was designed. This would be used as protection to prevent abrasive ricochet leaving the work area, whilst also acting as an extraction system. This would effectively draw abrasive dust and solvent fumes outside.
Due to the open topped tank, SLS utilised a scaffold tower with outriggers. This gave us a sturdy platform to attach our comfined space safety winch. The temporary tent worked to its full potential on both the preparation, and the lining of the water tank. In addition, all machinery and the floor area were masked to keep a completely clean environment.
Preparation is 90% of the work when installing any GRP water tank linings. For this particular tank, abrasive blasting was chosen as the best solution.
Abrasive blasting removes all coatings, surface additives contamination, and provied an etch for the water tank lining to adhere to.
This tank had a white concrete screed and a failed epoxy coating system to remove. The original concrete cast needed to be exposed in order for our lining system to adhere to the water tank. The abrasive garnet was chosen due to its hard angular and low dust levels for this particular application.
Once the blasing was complete, the tank was thoroughly cleaned out and dry vacuumed in preparation for the resin prime.
The concrete was then primed using Isophtalic resin to seal it. Priming also aids in the absorption of the resin in the substrate when applying the water tank linings.
The primer would take a few hours to cure. In the meantime, our operatives cut the chopped strand matting and the chemical resistant tissue to size for the glass reinforced plastic lining system.
Specialist Lining Services by Eurotank then began laying 2 layers of 450csm matting to the water tank. This was embedded in an Isophtalic Resin. The first layer overlapped 50mm to create a reinforcement of the GRP system.
The second layer of chopped strand matting was staggered and laid up edge to edge, which created a seamless finish to the lay-up. The entire matting lay-up was allowed to dry before application of the next stage of the system.
Due to the high chlorination of the water the tank would be holding, it was of the upmost importance to protect the matting system. This was acheived by using vinyl ester resin which is 100% resistant to chlorine. The tank was hand sanded using 80 grit sandpaper to remove any imperfections in the matting system. Our operatives would then wet the wall using vinyl ester resin, before carefully applying the chemical resistant tissue to the walls of the water tank.
The floor was then coated with a flood coat of vinyl ester to protect the matting on the floor area. This was allowed to dry over a 4 hour period prior to the next stage.
Continuing with the protection of the matting and tissue lay-up, a vinyl ester resin coat pitmented in RAL 5012 was applied by rollers. In addition to giving the water tank lining its colour, it also helps to further protect the matting from future osmosis due to the chlorine.
Once the coat had dried sufficiently, our lining operatives sanded the entire water tank using handheld sanders to create adhesion for the final gel coat.
A specialist NPG gel coat with a high chemical resistance to chloring and many other chemicals was used. This was applied by rollers and finished with a brush to give an even finish to the tank. The water tank was then post cured using a heater before refitting the tank furniture.
This water storage tank was suffering from coating failure due to a screed being applied to the walls. This had resulted in a poor surface for the epoxy to adhere to.
The floor however was bonded due to the screen not being applied to the area. Specialist Lining Services by Eurotank would have to carry out abrasive blasting to remove the existing screed, failed epoxy coating, and also to reveal the existing concrete substrate. This would enable the new glass reinforced water tank lining system to adhere permanently.
Due to the sensitive location, the operatives had to concentrate on creating an excellent extraction sustem to remove solvent fumes and dust during the abrasive blasting.
Our operatives made a confined space entry to the tank using a ladder whilst attached to a fall arrest system. 2 PASMA trained operatives would install a scaffold tower which would be used to gain access to the tops of the walls for both the blasting and lining of the tank.
A self-contained work tent with an extraction system was used by SLS. This created a vacuum to extract the dust to an outside exhaust point which would help protect the equipment in the building from any damage.
Once the abrasive blasting was completed, the operatives would clean all the abrasive up and remove the work tent completely, ready for lining of the water storage tank.
The walls and floor were initially primed using an ISO resin and allowed to cure. The operatives then applied 2 layers of 450csm matting in ISO resin to the walls and floors and left to dry.
The operatives would then sand out any imperfections using sandpaper, before applying a layer of chemical resistant tissue using a vinyl ester resin to protect the matting from Chlorine.
Once the vinyl ester tissue lay-up had dried, our operatives would then sand out any imperfections before preparations were made for the next stage. All of this was carried out in out of production hours to not hamper the factories own works.
Specialist Lining Services by Eurotank operatives pigmented viny ester resin with RAL 5012 and applied this to the walls using rollers and brushes. This coat ensures no pinholes are left on the water tank lining system, whilst also further protecting the matting and tissue lay-up from the heavily chlorinated water in the tanks.
Our operatives allowed this coat to dry before thoroughly sanding the tank to create adhesion for the final specialist gel coat to adhere to.
All dust from the sanding process was completely removed and the rollers, brushes and gel coat were prepared for the final coating stage.
The final NPG specialist gel coat was applied using rollers, and finished with a large brush to give an even finish throughout the tank. The NPG gel coat offers an excellent smooth finish, whilst also offering the necessary chemical resistance to keep the water in the tank hygenic. The whole water tank lining system was given Specialist Lining Services by Eurotank 15 year guarantee against osmosis and delamination. This new system gives the client peace of mind against water leaking out of the tank, whilst also giving the concrete substrate improved structural integrity. Cleaning of the tanks can be carried out by simply hosing or sponge washing the lining system.
The whole project was a success from start to finish, and completed on schedule. Our operatives were courteous and ensured that protecting the factories premises was at the forefront of their minds during the operation. Before leaving the project, our operatives even got the floor scrubber out and dusted down the work area completely before removing all of the equipment and handing control of the tanks to the client.
Specialist Lining Services by Eurotank carry out GRP lining to a wide range of vessels, including cess tanks, water tanks, and coagulation tanks. We are able to work to a schedule that causes minimal disruption to your working environment, including working overnight shifts and weekends.
For more information on all types of water tank linings, contact us or call the office on 01782 969939 where a member of our team will be happy to take your call.