Keeping a steady supply of clean, potable water to your home or workplace relies on a well-connected system of tanks, whose operations, in turn, rely on routine maintenance, cleaning, and disinfecting. These tanks, which can range in volume from a couple hundred to thousands of gallons are critical to the day-to-day running of our homes, offices and commercial businesses, but can quickly become breeding grounds for range of bacteria, causing health problems, mould, foul-smelling water, and a host of other unsightly issues.
An easy solution to this is regular maintenance, which ensures that the tanks are clean and free of build up and biological contaminants like fecal matter due to birds and animals, decaying animal carcasses, dust, leaves and other corroded metals that can find their way into a water tank. Regular cleaning also eliminates sediment, which can clog filters, thus reducing the flow of water into your home or, when disturbed, causing brown or muddy water to run through your taps.
Residential tank cleaning can take any number of forms, the most common being the use of an industrial system which vacuums the water tank, removing the sediment without stirring it up. Other processes involve using a high pressure stream of water and soap to remove debris and build-up, or using specialised machines to strip tanks of layers of grime and dirt.
In the industry, tank cleaning is an important safety function in the shipping, oil and gas, food production, pharmaceutical, paper, beverage, and chemical industries. Here are a few common ways that industrial tanks are cleaned:
Orbital cleaners: These cleaners work on the basis of two rotating axes, one horizontal and one vertical. The special characteristics of this type of cleaner are the round-jet nozzles that rotate in two planes and produce highly focused high impact jets for intensive cleaning of the inside surfaces of tanks or vessels. Controlled rotating cleaners: These cleaners comprise of slowly controlled rotating cleaners that use targeted flat or round jet nozzles to spray the cleaning solution on the tank wall – achieving optimum cleaning results. Free rotating cleaners: Cleaners with a fast rotation around an axis. The optimum cleaning effect of the rotating spray cleaners is produced by fast moving high impact droplets. Retractors: The retractor In-Line Sprayer IS 25 offers a unique and highly valuable method of cleaning vessels and pipe work where a cleaning head cannot remain inside when the process is running. Its design makes the In-Line sprayer IS 25 in particular suitable for the cleaning of tanks with moving components, such as agitators and scrapers. Index cleaners: Index Cleaners provide high impact cleaning through their unique piston operated indexing mechanism. The advantages of this type of cleaner are that indexing function operates slowly and so efficiently that a larger amount of energy can be transferred to the cleaning jets than with any other cleaner in its class.
Most companies use a combination of orbital, rotating and static cleaners to achieve optimal cleaning results and safe manufacturing conditions. Debris aside, industrial tank cleaning ensures that harmful hydrocarbon vapours, liquids or residues are removed from the tank prior to human inspection, before a chemical process has started, or as part of a maintenance plan to keep a system running efficiently.
Interested in learning more about residential or industrial tank cleaning? Here's a handy list of local experts in Doha, Qatar to help you get started!