Water Table and Reservoir Tank Build

Hey @Jeremy, Could you tell me where you got the anode and 1/2" bung?

I had an idea for a storage tank… any thoughts or comments would be great. I was just going to fab a stainless 10 gallon tank with a fitting on the top, and about an inch up on the side. The fitting on the top would have a hose going to the drain in the water table. The fitting on the side would have a ball valve and a hose that you could place in the water table so when you apply air pressure (not too much) to the tank, it would transfer the water back to the water table. I was also going to either make the top of the tank bolt on, or put a small clean out door in the bottom. Am I crazy, or would this be an easy way to transfer water without all the extra time and money on a pump? I’m open to any constructive criticism… so let’s have it lol

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Yes this will work im in the process of doing this right now. I will post pictures when complete. You will need a regulator to control the air pressure going into the tank. You will also need a bypass valve on the regulator side. This will allow trapped air to exit when draining the water back into the holding tank.

I made the 1/2" bung, but you can source them on amazon as a “weldable 1/2 NPT aluminum bung” The anode is from amazon as well, just search

“Caterpillar Engine Zinc 6L2288 Zinc Anode 1/2” NPT Plug (E-2)"

I was just thinking of welding a piece of small stainless tubing to the top for a breather and to just press the rubber end piece of my air wand against to pressurize the tank to transfer the water back to the water table… you would just have to be careful with how much pressure you put in the tank or it might end up looking like a balloon

Or Old Faithful out of the “drain” :grin:

I put a pressure regulator going into my tank to pressurize it with air to push the fluid up into the tank back up through the drain hole and it works awesome. I was originally worried about it shooting the fluid up into the air but it just bubbles up nicely and fills the table in about 2 minutes.

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You guys are just complicating it with regulators and whatnot. Only thing I’d change about my setup, would be drill and tap the plastic pipe plug in my tank’s fill hole, for 1/8” pipe. Instead of drilling an extra hole in the tank for my blow gun. You could realistically leave the hole open, I like the idea of the tank being sealed if you still have it on casters and move it. It really doesn’t take more than 2-3psi to move the water out of the tank into the pan. Put a piece of plate over the drain hole as a deflector and I can fill mine in under 30 seconds. The tank obviously swells a little, but it’s 1/8”, I’m not worried about it.

Quite a few pics in my thread, even a video

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I have a hose with the paint gun pressure regulator and air hose quick connector so I simply plug my air hose into the hose that is connected to the tank. My tank is plastic and the lid is plastic and it is not designed to be pressurized so some sort of regulation is necessary so it doesn’t get fed 125psi ever.

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just hold the air down till you hear the second bong;) haha

hey @Jeremy, i’m currently building the tank and the pump system just like yours, mind first if i ask you how well the pump has been working and has that coolmist #77 working out good for you? can you describe how you hooked up everything to the reservoir (including pump), i’m not sure what to go out and buy for extra pieces to make this work. Your help is much appreciated!!

Here’s what I plan on doing with the water-table (a picture is worth 1000 words) :

Water%20table

Side note: there will be a PVC union on that vertical pipe leading to the water-table,and flex hoses where necessary to allow for easy removal of the tote for cleaning, filling, etc.

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what is the anode for??

Anode not needed on SS water table.

Are you sure the sterlite tote will be strong enough to hold water? When I’ve filled them up for my kids water ballon fights they don’t seem rigid enough to use as a reservoir

Mine is doing very well

Nice. Definitely a cheaper and easier solution than the RV water tanks. But The pro holds 12-13 gallons and I’m storing about 22 between my two tanks.

What are you using for coolant? I’m in the process of doing a similar upgrade. My water pan is stainless (gift from a friend), I also am extending my Y axis. I bought the lead screw material from McmasterCarr, the 2 x 2 is by .187 wall was also a gift from a friend. I’ll post some picture once I get it a little further along.

Why make it so nice that you cant use it? :laughing:

Looks good!

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Two years now and no issues

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