However, here are three reasons why this tank-entry (manual) cleaning often falls short:

1. The lack of air in the confined space of the tank suffocates the plumber, so he’s in a hurry to get out of the tank often before it’s thoroughly clean.

2. Often, the plumber will just use some of the dirty water in the tank to wash it before he scoops it out with a bucket.

3. Even when the plumber washes his feet before he enters the tank, he then steps into contaminated water, and he cannot clean his dirty footprints on the tank floor when he exits the tank.

Since tank-entry cleaning is rarely thorough you have to spend more money to clean your tank again SOONER than necessary.

You can save both money and time with non-entry tank cleaning technology, which doesn’t involve anyone entering your tank.

High-Pressure cleaners are non-entry machines that will make your tank look like new in minutes. They use an intense, powerful water spray to blast away the dirt blocking your tank in no time.

1. The color of your tank, and
2. How often you pump water into the tank from your borehole.

Before we go further into these two factors, here’s something you may not know about your water storage tank: it begins to get dirty (with mostly sand and bacteria) as soon as it starts to receive water from your borehole.

Borehole water often contains particles – sand in particular – and even if you filter the sand, the sunlight that hits your water tank promotes the growth of microorganisms – typically bacteria your eyes cannot see – that still contaminate the water.

Furthermore, if like many Nigerians you don’t drink directly from your borehole/storage tank, the contaminated water can still make you sick because you brush your teeth with it, shower with it, and cook with it.

This would depend on a variety of factors such as:

• How many people are using water in the home daily?
• What aspects of the running of the home can/will the water be used for?
• How often would the tank be called into use?
• How many days/weeks would the household usually need to rely on the alternate water supply from the tank?
• How easy is it to replenish the tank if all the water has been used?

How to replenish the tank

Your water tank can be replenished from the existing municipal supply by connecting your tank to the existing municipal system, with a cut off valve to stop the flow to the tank once it is full. It the system is relying on rainwater harvested from a suitable rooftop, then calculations and predictions become a bit

But what about harmful bacteria, parasites , and viruses, and the risk of infection?

“We’ve spent generations of science and effort to try and protect people from drinking raw water. It seems extraordinary that people want to go back to medieval times when millions of people died from infections that were carried by it,” says Val Curtis, Professor of Hygiene and Director of the Environmental Health Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

According to global health expert Curtis, the purpose of water is not nutrition – it’s hydration. “We need H20,” she says. “If we need any other minerals or magic compounds, we get them from our food. Water is not for nutrition, and the dangers of raw water outstrip any benefits by far.”