Why Water Tanks Can Be Bad For Schools And Homes

By Fred Anderson


The many county engineers and painting contractors have found it a problem having suburban areas expands. Long ago, it was procedure that the county commissioners and zoning officials would place the water tanks far from schools and houses. With the growing population, many water tanks are now surrounded by residential neighbourhoods, causing changes in the method of repainting and maintaining water tanks.

The assistant chief, facility design of the Bureau of Engineering for the Department of Public Works of Anne Arundel County in Maryland, faced this dilemma in 1988. The tank that had lead paint was located amid homes and a school with a playground.

The engineer said that when the tank was built, it was located in a field away from people. With children in the area, they decided not to specify open abrasive blasting that could cause airborne paint particles. Instead they looked into more ways to maintain the tank.

How the Department of Public Works went about maintaining the tank surface started by power washing followed by an application of DTM or direct to metal enamel. How the coating was chosen was based on its ability to provide good adhesion without lifting the previous coating, good corrosion resistance, long term flexibility, and good gloss and color retention. It has been a while but the enamel is still protecting the tank, and the coating procedures in Anne Arundel County have changed.

It is now safe to use abrasive materials to either bare metal or remove the original prime coat without releasing paint particles into the atmosphere. In terms of containment the previous coating was removed down to the original primer, and in some cases down to the bare metal. We contained the paint using tarps and ground cover to avoid inconvenience to residents though the paint was considered not a hazard.

Also part of the system was surface tolerant sealants and adhesives. The selection of the primer was based on its adhesion and corrosion resistance properties plus its excellent surface wetting qualities.

In choosing the intermediate coat, chemical and moisture resistance is needed in a high build coating system. Also, it provides a chemical and moisture barrier, and also can be top coated in just 18 hours to 14 days. In temperatures between 35 degrees F and 120 degrees F at 85 percent relative humidity is when the primer and the intermediate coat are best applied. Though weather conditions were not as perfect, the job still went on.

It was due to its performance and aesthetic qualities that the top coat was chosen. To clearly cover every part, each coat has its own color. In choosing the primer, beige was the color. For the top coat, it got medium blue while the intermediate coat had light blue. The total square feet that was coated was about 37,000.




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