So I'm bouncing ideas around for a water tower for our IBC tote water collector, and I figured it may be wise to ask some input cause someone out there knows a lot more than me about engineering.
The goal is to get this thing off the ground. That'll increase the pressure and the area we can use it. But 2500 pounds of water is kinda heavy.
Don't freak out yet! There's no weight on it, and there's no system in place to fill it yet. It's safe as it sets. This is a dry fit.
My intent is to install gutters that will run to it and overflow into the swales. This will be one of many totes all over the yard, and this one will be not for human consumption, so a simple screen filter will he used.
My plan is to use screws to secure the pallets and I'll put cross bracing on the front, but I'd like to keep it largely open to put bikes and yard toys under there.
My concern is 2500 pounds of water four feet off the ground. That's the heaviest load I've ever made a support structure for, and it's no small matter if it decides to fall due to shitty redneck engineering. I'm on a very strict budget of whatever a box of screws costs, and the pallets are my materials. I could simply stack the pallets and gain about two feet of height, but that seems an inefficient use of the space and wouldn't give me the whole four feet, though that height isn't strictly necessary. Three feet would put it above the highest point on property.
This spot it is on has supported the full container for a series of months and has sustained no cracks. It is a concrete pad of unknown thickness. I am currently unable to install another pad elsewhere, but that is my intent on successive tote projects.
Seeking input. What say the steemians? Positive input please, don't just call me an impoverished retarded redneck and run off ;)
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