Heating oil is fantastic for keeping your home heated and your water hot, but if it is able to get into water courses or soak into land, then it can have seriously negative affects for wildlife and vegetation. Due to this, it is essential that homeowners with bunded fuel tanks maintain these tanks properly and ensure that no leaks occur as far as possible. Accidents may well happen and unexpected problems might surface, but as long as you are maintaining things properly, for the most part everything will be fine. Here are some tips on maintaining your bunded fuel tank.
Don’t Buy Too Much Oil
It may make sense to buy as much oil as you can when prices are lower (since oil prices do fluctuate throughout the year and even from week to week depending on a variety of external factors), but this can lead to problems when it comes to trying to maintain your bunded fuel tank. Too much fuel makes it much easier for an overflow situation or leak to happen. When you think that just two litres of heating oil seeping out of your tank is enough to pollute the same volume of water you would find in an Olympic sized swimming pool, you’ll see just what devastation can occur.
Regular Inspections
If you live in a home that has a bunded fuel tank, it is important that you carry out weekly inspections of the tank. This sounds like a lot, but if you add it into your weekly chores and do it at the same time each week (perhaps when you’re taking the rubbish out, or when you’re hanging out washing on the line, for example), it becomes easier and you’ll form a habit. Checking your tank every week means that you’ll quickly be able to spot any problems before they become big issues that have major consequences and cost a lot to fix.
Things to look out for include damage, vandalism (particularly important if your tank is located near to a road or footpath, or is kept out of sight of your house in any way), general wear and tear, and dirt and dust forming. You should also make a point of inspecting not only the tank but also the shut off valves and pipe work. Remember to keep bund lid locked when not in use – they are tempting to vandals who may not even realise the problems they can cause when they try to use them.
Keep The Pipework Fittings Tightened
Loose pipework fittings can be a big problem when it comes to bunded fuel tanks, and they should be visually checked, regularly. Pipe work checks can be added to the weekly inspections. It is recommended the pipe work is checked annually by a qualified Engineer such as a plumber or boiler technician.
Clean The Interior
It isn’t always possible to keep the interior of your bunded fuel tank clean – if you use it constantly, for example, you won’t be able to shut it down for long enough to empty it and clean it safely. However, if you can do so, then cleaning the interior of the tank can really make a difference to how efficient the tank is. Sludge will build up within your fuel tank, no matter what you do, and it is this sludge that will need to be removed.
Is it imperative that you never try to do this work yourself; it is highly dangerous and only qualified specialists with plenty of experience and all the right safety equipment should ever be the ones to do this job. You run the risk of injury or even death if you try to do it yourself, and even if you do make it out safely, you could invalidate the insurance or warranty on the tank by disregarding safety protocol.
Additional Checks When It Rains
Problems can occur with your bunded fuel tank if it has been raining heavily for some time. It is important to check the bund itself to see if the rain has got inside. When bunding your tank, the rule to stick by is that the bund should be able to contain everything that the tank can hold, plus an additional 10 percent. If some of that space is taken up by rainfall, there could be a big problem if the tank emptied into the bund and there wasn’t room for the oil to be held.
