Water Tanks

What are the tank trailers that are set up on legs and used to quickly fill water truck called? You see them on big sites, where they don't want to wait for the pump to fill the water truck.

Porto Tower is a brand name, general term is quick fill

Klein Products Porto-Tower, here's a link to their site:

http://www.kleinproducts.com/achievements-innovations.php

in cali we called them klein tanks. and used it to foll this truck pretty darn fast

You are refering to "Water Towers," of which some can be factory manufactured models, other home-made. I've used a great many over the years of both types and even made some out of old 10000 gallon fuel tanks in Colorado on a large project. They can be made in many sizes to fit job requirements however, but most are in the 8-12000 gallon capacity range these days. Most are portable with wheels and can be hydraulically raised or lowered for quick hook up and use. Klein and Mega are two major makers, there are a lot of others. These towers were not too common untill dust control became a major issue with various government entities in the eighties. Now, a job site without one or two is rare.

Story. On a jobsite up east a compatriot of mine -- who shall go un-named -- had his mechanics set up a rental tower for a road job in New Jersey. They hooked her all up and opened the feed water valve to fill it. The water wagon driver set his rig under the pour spout and when all was ready, he opened the 12" valve there so as to fill his wagon. Taking the time to smoke a faggot, he heard a sudden loud groaning noise and looked up to see the water tower implode. Not knowing what else to do he ran like hell to tell someone about this strange event. Investigation reveled that the mechanics had forgotten or overlooked removing the pipe cap on top of the tank and installation of the vent valve. This of course, caused a huge vacuum inside the tank as the water rushed out and it simply collapsed. Very costly.

Nother story. On road job next to one I was on in California, that contractors mechanics also forgot to remove the pipe plug on top and they didn't properly install the float valve. When they turned the hydrant on, the tank filled, then blew out one end of the tank, nearly drowning the mechanic who was still standing there putting his tools away in his truck.

On one of my jobs in Colorado, our shop-built tanks had to be raised by a crane, then the legs pinned in place. My boys got the tank up, had it all plumbed and everything, started filling the tank and were feeling pretty good about life, till one end of the tank slid down and the whole thing went toppsy-turvey on it's nose. Oops! Have to put ALL eight leg pins in fellas, not just six! That tank was ruined and we had to build another one to replace it.

In Kentucky, we used a 40,000 gallon tank that came from a coal tipple. Propped it up on a hillside and ran the hose down to a load-out stand pipe. We needed another one for another mine site so I had an old Klein water wagon tank towed about 25 miles from a reclaimed mine to where we needed it. My welder built a stand for it and we hooked up a 12" water valve. Both worked great, but the water wagon hands weren't very happy as they no longer had any time to goof off. Their water wagons filled in about 5 minutes and off they had to go.

Lots of good memories with water towers.

surfer-joe :
I just had to say I along with everyone else really enjoy your stories, keep them coming, Thanks.

Those are some good ones Joe.

I can remember some good water tower stories as well.

Like the one set up at the end lot of the subdivision, right next to an occupied house. Workers never bothered to correct the leaky hose. After some time, it undermined the tank legs, and over it went. When it hit the ground, it split open, and sent 12,000 gallons right through the wall of the house, washing the living room contents out the front door.

I have set them in the Palm Springs area, and there, due to the wind, you bury a concrete deadman on each side, and cable it to the top of the tower on all 4 corners. If not, you will come back to find it on its side.


About the tanks, they allow the water trucks to fill fast enough to have a chance of keeping up with dust and compaction.

generically,they are called "stand tanks".generally 10 to 12k gallons.they use a detachable gas powered hydraulic pump to pressurize cylinders that lift the tank.
if anyone knows the specs for the pump,i'd be interested.we purchased one last year,had it set up in pahrump,nv.had the pump "secured" in our shop,which was broken into,the pump,with other items,was stolen.valew wants $1800.00 to replace,i'd bet a weeks pay they are half that to build,but,can't get anyone to give me specs.most use a honda 6hp engine,i need to know the gpm for the pump.

I've got some H20 tower stories...
But due to excessive foul language from having to move the dumb things by myself especially when it's 115+ deg's outside,
I'll step back and quietly say , "I have the right to remain silent".

Load a 4000 gal truck in 2 minutes, also get you wet if the sock comes out of the hatch. Cold Dec. morning and I was filling in on the water truck, didn't get the sock centered. It was filling OK but the sock was moving around a little finally it flipped out my direction. 12" of water gets you wet in a hurry
They are a good tool and can speed up the whole job.

Yeah, our general superintendent learned very quickly on the Grand Junction project that water towers have to be well supported. He had his boys put the first one up and just set it on a cleared patch of ground, no cribbing. It worked OK for a couple of days, then the spilled water caused the underlying soil to turn to mud and over it went. He set up a second one with some cribbing and it lasted a little longer, but the same thing happened, one side went to mud and the cribbing slid out. Over that one went. After that, he turned the erection of water towers over to my maintenance crew and we didn't have any more trouble, excepting the one the fellas forgot to pin completely. I can believe the windy problems in the Palm Springs area. I was just through there and all the wind turbines were spinning like crazy. A few years ago the contractor I was working for did a pipeline for the Indians there under I-10. The crew hated working there because of the wind and several came back with one side of their faces red and raw. A couple of the trucks they left on site for a couple of weeks came back with a lot of the paint worn off one side. One learns to appreciate the way the wind generally blows and that usually dictated the way a water tower stood for me. On a mine job in Nevada, the superintendent had a trucker come in with a lobed and loaded a water tower on the trailer still erect. The trucker said no problem, it was only going about a mile you see. Well, after a few hundred feet the tower started going over and it took the trailer with it. He did have it well chained down, but there was just too much weight above the center of gravity and on a slight side hill lean it was too much. That trucker was pretty sore about that, especially as I'd warned him it might happen in advance. But you know truckers....

Interesting hoeman600, I worked for Twin Mountain for a year in New Mexico. I wasn't sure the division was still in business.

surfer-joe said:

..... On a mine job in Nevada, the superintendent had a trucker come in with a lobed and loaded a water tower on the trailer still erect. The trucker said no problem, it was only going about a mile you see. Well, after a few hundred feet the tower started going over and it took the trailer with it. He did have it well chained down, but there was just too much weight above the center of gravity and on a slight side hill lean it was too much. That trucker was pretty sore about that, especially as I'd warned him it might happen in advance. But you know truckers....

Click to expand...

That one is priceless!:duh