It's All about Water!

It's funny to be thinking about water during the winter when the earth is saturated and the seasonal streams are flowing briskly. However, for the experienced gardener up in these hills, the hot dry summer afternoons are not far from my memory where the fields are parched, the ground is hard and brittle and every living thing is pining for H2o to survive the heat of the Sun. The heart of my agricultural summer water availability is the concept of storage. The tank pitured here is a modern 2500 gallon plastic tank that is a part of my system. However, this past year, the 9000 cement tank has been progressively leaking due to a crack along the southern side. By all accounts, most likely this has been caused by expansion and contraction as the tank has a cement lid that is embedded with steel in the side walls. As the summer sun heats up, the tank expands and in the cold it contracts. Easy to say now, but, this is way too much movement for a container that holds water! When the tank was designed back in 1980, it was experimental, and no one could have guessed this would happen. So, the plan is to cut the roof off the tank and remove it entirely, thus eliminating the possibility that the whole tank can expand. Expansion will still happen, but to a much smaller degree. To fix the crack, heavy duty foundation wire, known as "re-mesh" will be rolled around the outside of the tank, cinching it upon itself. This will set on a new cement base. Galvanized gofer wire will be applied over the foundation wire. Then, the plastering will begin! The entire outside surface will be re-plastered and with any luck, the leaks will be repaired. With the roof gone, it will be easy to get inside and sandblast the interior and apply Thoroseal to that clean surface which will seal the cement against tiny hairline cracks. With these modifications in place, the tank should give another 30 years of service, we hope!