Polokwane-based distributor of steel panel water storage vessels Rainbow Reservoirs has extended the maximum capacity of its product range from 1.3-million-litre tanks to 25-million-litre tanks.

Tanks of that size can be about 54 m in diameter and 12 m high; they have a dome roof and can be used in the potable water, waste- water, industrial liquids, bioenergy, dry bulk, petroleum, power generation, fire protection and agriculture markets, says Rainbow Reservoirs MD Wayne Thompson.

Rainbow Reservoirs recently concluded an agreement with US-based manufacturer of coated tanks and aluminium tank covers CST Industries to distribute its products, adding dry bulk storage tanks to the Rainbow Reservoirs offering.

The agreement will also enable Rainbow Reservoirs to add rectangular vessels to its current offering of cylindrical vessels, which will, in turn, enable it to tender for contracts involving reservoirs that are limited by space constraints, such as construction projects requiring the accommodation of support columns.

The company’s current range of panel reservoirs has a maximum storage volume of 1.3-million litres and CST Industries routinely installs tanks that have storage volumes in excess of 20-million litres.

The type of panel used to build a reservoir is what differentiates CST products from those of Rainbow Reservoirs, which will now be included in its offering.

Vitrium is a fusion of glass and steel, creating a single, strong, integrated material fused together at 815 ºC in a furnace and suitable for industrial and municipal liquid storage applications.

The hard, impermeable barrier on the interior and exterior wall surfaces is impact and abrasion resistant and guards against corrosion and the undercutting that it causes.

OptiBond is a premium epoxy-coated panel marketed under the Hydrotec, Bulktec and Petrotec brands for water, dry bulk and petroleum applications respectively.

OptiBond tanks can be erected and operational three times faster than field-welded or concrete structures.

Covers for all CST reservoirs are custom- designed and are manufactured out of aluminium. Structure types include domes, vaults, extruded flat covers, formed plank covers, truss-supported covers and space frames.

CST Industries has five factories in the US and one in the UK from which it has supplied more than 250 000 tanks to 125 countries. Rainbow Reservoirs is expanding the quantity and variety of its locally manufactured reservoir components, concludes Thompson.