Oil Tank Replacement

[conny]

Had the oil tank serviced yesterday and the guy has put a sticker on the oil tank stating, 'Immediate Danger. Do Not Fill'
His explanation is that the tank is developing hair line cracks/splits so the tank needs to be replaced. He showed me the 'split' which looks like a small scratch.
Can any of our oil/gas engineers give an opinion? Marks are on the radius towards the right just above the label near the reflection of light.

Personally I don't think it's of any immediate danger and thankfully we had it filled, (now at the 3/4 level), 3 days ago.
House is rented and I know landlord will get it done but just don't want him being 'fleeced' for something that may not actually be necessary. I don't know how old the tank is but we have been here 6 years.

 

[Bosswhite]

Contact the Landlord as soon as possible and inform him of the problem, looking at the state of the tank I would guess it is quite old and does not contain an inner tank , so if the Tank splits it becomes a major issue if the oil penetrates water level or underneath foundations . You have been informed of the state of the tank so Insurance Companies will not be interested in paying out compensation and the pollution would be a criminal offence .
It is a simple matter to decant the oil and replace with a new tank with interior bund , less than a Days Work >

 

[conny]

Engineer has said he will contact the LL regarding it, along with a quote for rectifying.
Regarding a replacement tank, the engineer says it has to have 300mm clearance all round for inspection, must be at least 1.8 metres from the property, (currently 1.95m), and be at least 300mm from combustible surfaces, (fences, sheds etc). The current tank holds 1800l so my wife has been looking at replacement ones out of curiosity and found a circular one which holds 1,000l It will fit the distance measurements, (current one actually doesn't quite make it apparently), but only if it is sited on the edge of the concrete base on the garden side. Would this be acceptable or does it have to sit centrally on the base? If not, is a new base required or can they extend the current one to make it bigger?

 

[Bosswhite]

Had the similar problem when replacing our tank with not being able to put new tank central on concrete pad, the engineer checked concrete pad that it was not breaking up and managed to get the tank to sit on the pad with no overhang , I did not bother for the additional cost of an electronic tank capacity gismo as I had an idea what the capacity of oil was in the old tank when it was decanted I made up a Dip stick ,( One has to check the batteries in the transmitter and receiver do not go flat) .

 

[conny]

Thanks Bosswhite. I agree about the receivers being unreliable. Had a top up one day, (500 litres), and the receiver dropped to 2, should have been around the 7 or 8 mark as we still had a good quantity in the tank, it was just that the oil price was cheap at the time but showing signs of going up. Changed the batteries on the sender and a few hours later it registered correctly. Next morning it had dropped to 5 and in the afternoon rose back up to 8 Made a dipstick after that and don't bother with the gizmo.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

, must be at least 1.8 metres from the property, (currently 1.95m), and be at least 300mm from combustible surfaces, (fences, sheds etc).

Surprising how regs vary from different countries. Many Americans have the oil tank down in the basement, often close to boiler.

 

[Bosswhite]

Oil Price for 500 litres at the present moment is about £70 .00 more than this time last year . The Oil Companies delberately parked up tankers off Weymouth shore to make the price go up .

 

[conny]

I think ours cost around £255 for 500 litres at the start of last week, (Mon/Tues).
Sem to remember one delivery early last year was very cheap so we doubled the usual quantity to 1,000 litres and it last right through to about March this year.

 

[transam]

If I recall there were some historic issues with a certain make of plastic oil tank that was manufactured in Ireland ?

any replacement it is advisable to always have a bunded tank ?

oil spills from tanks can cost literally thousands if the council / enviromental bods get involved

 

[conny]

I've been thinking about bunded tanks, (double walled), and I don't see how you will know it's leaking until the outer skin also breaks.
Surely a small surrounding wall or tray would be the better way?

 

[Bosswhite]

Oil Level in inner tank would drop drastically .

 

[transam]

I've been thinking about bunded tanks, (double walled), and I don't see how you will know it's leaking until the outer skin also breaks.
Surely a small surrounding wall or tray would be the better way?

they come with an alarm (well some do any way) should have a bunded tank if you live near a water course of some description

most people do

 

[conny]

I live in the countryside where there are a number of water courses and surrounded by agricultural land so seems a very good idea.