A jet of water appeared through a hole in a tank floor during a manned entry tank clean for a customer site in the North of England.
Eurotank had been called to the forecourt after the filters on two pumps were getting blocked when the team discovered a leak as it removed sludge and compacted rust during the cleaning process.
Jack Aplin, Eurotank Group Sales Director, said: “When the tank was emptied, a jet of water started coming up through the tank floor – the sludge and rust, which was causing the pump filters to block, had basically been plugging the hole.
“This leak point could have caused severe water ingress and vehicle breakdowns if it was not identified quickly enough through the gauging equipment.”
The single-skin steel tank had never been cleaned before, but by carrying out proactive tank cleaning, the chance discovery has served as an early warning sign of things to come for this tank and others on the site.
“Single-skin steel tanks are at greatest risk of failure,” added Jack. “They are now at least 35 years old and unless regularly cleaned, a build-up of sludge and compacted rust could be masking significant corrosion.”