Ferro-Cement Water Tank


How Will the Intervention Help?
· Most homes have no easy access to water requiring 1-3 hours per day of carrying water up and down mountainsides from distant sources
· Significant time and calories are expended getting water. This reduces the nutrition of women and children that carry water and takes away precious time from a mother's day that could be better spent caring for her children
· Most homes are above local water sources, therefore, piping water and using gravity to deliver the water is not an option

What is a Ferro-Cement Tank?
· The walls of a ferro-cement tank are made from cement plaster applied to chicken wire wrapped in barb wire.
· Ferro-cement tanks are very strong and have survived earthquakes and can last more than 40 years
· Ferro-cement tanks can cost half the price to build than cement block tanks

Required Materials
· PVC piping and valves
· Cement
· Sand
· Gravel
· Ree-bar and binding wire
· Chicken wire and barb wire
· Water
· A form – often made from roofing sheet
· Roofing sheet for the roof

Building Process
· Build an iron re-enforced concrete slab with PVC plumbing installed
· Create a circular form – we use roofing sheet
· Wrap the form in chicken wire and a spiral of barb wire
· Plaster the outside of the chicken-wire-wrapped form and allow to cure
· Remove the form and plaster the inside of the chicken wire-plaster structure
· Create a roof – can be out of ferro-cement, but we use roofing sheet

Total Monetary Cost
Approximately $1,300 for a 4,500 gallon tank that is 12 ft diameter and 6 ft high

ferrocemement-tank-schematicFerroCementFoundationHole