Fabrication vs buying a plastic tank?
Plastic (polyethylene) tanks from a shop are moulded in standard sizes — fine for many homes. Steel tank fabrication means we cut, roll, weld, and finish steel plate into a tank built to your diameter, height, and fitting layout.
Choose fabricated steel when you need:
- Non-standard capacity or very large volume
- High mounting on an existing steel tower or concrete deck
- Heavy-duty fittings, multiple outlets, or manways for cleaning
- Municipal or industrial duty with documented welding quality
- Food-safe or specific internal coating systems
Three ways clients use our tanks
- Ground-level storage
- Tank on a concrete plinth — pump fills it; booster or gravity to buildings. No tower required.
- On a steel tower
- We fabricate the tank; our tower team mounts it on a galvanized structure for gravity pressure.
- On concrete or steel deck
- Institutional projects with an existing RC tower — tank fabricated to sit on engineered deck loads.
What goes into a quality fabricated tank
- Material grade — carbon steel plate to specification; thickness for hoop stress at full capacity
- Welding — continuous seams, tested joints; no pinholes at floor-to-wall junction
- Corrosion protection — primers, epoxy coatings, or galvanized finishes depending on water chemistry and exposure
- Fittings — inlet, outlet, overflow, drain/washout, air vent, level nozzle, optional manhole
- Structural details — stiffeners, lifting lugs, base ring for bolting to pad or tower head
We agree a drawing before cutting steel — you see nozzle positions and capacities before fabrication starts.
Sizing your tank — litres you actually need
Too small and you run dry at peak hour. Too large and you pay for steel you rarely fill — especially if your borehole cannot recharge overnight.
- List daily users or livestock and litres per capita
- Add irrigation blocks if the same tank feeds crops
- Allow reserve (often 25–50%) for dry days or pump maintenance
- Match refill window to pump + solar hours from equipping design
We cross-check against borehole sustainable yield so your tank is realistic, not cosmetic.
Workshop to site — delivery options
- Supply only — fabricated tank delivered to your site for your team to mount
- Supply & install — we set on pad or tower, connect pipes, hydro test, and commission
- Full water system — tank plus pump and tower as one Kisima package
Maintenance clients should plan for
- Annual inspection of coatings, vents, and overflow screens
- Periodic washout to remove sediment — manway access makes this practical
- Check bolts and tower interface if elevated
- Monitor for external rust at base — touch-up coatings early
Cheap tanks — hidden costs
- Thin plate bulging or splitting when full
- Poor welds leaking — water loss and foundation erosion
- No anti-corrosion — rust through in a few seasons
- Wrong fittings — cannot connect pump or overflow safely
