Oil Tank Leak

[old wrinkly]

oilboffin thanks for the reply. The firm I used for the emergency pump out has the OFTEC logo on their site so assume they are registered. Is there a standard charge for emergency pumping and is worth speaking to OFTEC.

I haven't ordered any new tank as yet, will be speaking to them on Monday and will also contact a couple of other installers as well for price comparison. If I find I have been ripped off with the emergency pumping I will probably go elsewhere just out of principal.

I have checked a couple of sites and I am sure that I do not meet any of the requirements for needing a bunded tank (I can always just store 2000 litres max).

Not being funny but at our age late 70's we don't want to spend out more than we have to and a single skin steel tank is about half the price of plastic. When our current tank was installed in 1994 plastic was all the rage. I have also been looking at single skin steel tanks as they have a longer lifespan (will outlive us) and thoughts???

Our tank is behind a fence so completely hidden from view so steel wouldn't be an eyesore.

 

[Agile]

I am surprised that steel tanks are so much cheaper than plastic.

They are rarely seen now so perhaps this is because the handling and installation are so much higher than plastic that there is no saving once installed.

It is disappointing that your pump out company seems to have fooled you about the need for a bunded tank. Perhaps that was accidental because they ( wrongly ) assumed you needed a 2500 li tank.

As for what they charged, it is likely that you were so concerned about getting it sorted quickly that you did not concentrate on getting the lowest price because you were just thankful to find someone to do it quickly.

Tony

 

[Bosswhite]

You've been had mate you don't need a bunded tank if it's under 2500 ltrs I'm OFTEC registered
it's better to be bunded but not law yet as for the charge for temp tanks outrageous if I did it
you'd get charged for a new tank and time I have temp tanks I would think£850-00 for the tank
and £300-00 labour you should have gone to an OFTEC firm my sympathies to you and your
wife just a case of old people being ripped off

This information is helping me as well so I am taking notice of it.

What about the clear plastic sight Tube Problem, as I mentioned before I was informed that these are no longer allowed on Oil tanks as they can rot away or be damaged and cause a leak allowing the oil to get into the water table
So one now has to pay for a built in radio transmitting oil level indicator, or is sticking a bit of cane in the top of the tank still allowed .

Re Agiles comment regarding supply of single skin oil tanks I have found are few and far between now,

 

[Tipper]

Have you looked at the OFTEC website info pages on oil tanks?

Protection from fire and oil leakage causing environmental pollution are the two main issues as I recall it having retired over 10 years ago...but things do change!

http://www.oftec.org.uk/consumers/domestic-oil-tanks-and-storage

 

[oilboffin]

Just make sure the tank base is 300mmwider on all sides and make sure the tank is 750mm from
a boundary and foliage is at least 600mm from the tank. and yes you can dip a tank how do you
think we find out if there is water in the tanks I do hate the plastic sight tubes should be outlawed

 

[oilboffin]

Just because a firm shows the OFTEC badge it does not mean theyre registered ring OFTEC give them the c number if they ain't registered then report them I've just had a bloke have to take
all his signs off or face court action

 

[halfway]

I find the action of your insurers strange. Had your oil spread all over adjacent properties, I expect that they would have had to pay out. You have saved them money by your prompt action. Perhaps you should seek an opinion from the insurance ombudsman or similar person. A customer of mine had it all covered some years back, but perhaps his cover was different.
He had first gone after the oil company because he saw boot prints on top of the tank and assumed it was the driver that caused the problem. Oil company denied it, but luckily his insurance paid out over £250,000 to remedy it all.

 

[old wrinkly]

Many thanks for all the replies.

The first thing to say is that the emergency pumping was not quite what I thought and eventually came out to £350.00+£70.00 VAT=£420.00. Not insignificant but not as bad as I thought. Might have saved a bit by ringing around on Saturday but I will never know and the main priority was to stop the leakage.

As regards the replacement have decided to go for an Atlas 2500BHA bunded tank at a total cost (incl VAT) of £1980.00 and this is to be installed on Thursday. There were a number of reasons behind my decision but the primary driver was that I have a large soakaway in my front garden and the tank is less than 20 metres away and although I could have gotten away with a single skin by not declaring this the risk factor was a bit high for my liking.

I did look at steel tanks but the price differential is not that much, the warranty period on these is also very short and they would need to be installed on piers and overall not happy with what I heard. One firm I spoke to who only supply steel tanks were not VAT registered so could have saved some money but in the end decided to go plastic again.

The more I spoke to the firm that did the emergency pumping the more I felt they knew what they were talking about and I would get a good job done and everything would be registered with OFTEC and meet their requirements. The new Atlas has a 10 year warranty and is UV stabilized.

At the end of the day my wife and I decided that whatever happened we would have a substantial bill to pay that we had not expected. We have made decisions in the past solely on cost and they have not always worked to our advantage so this time decided to go with what we felt gave us the best value in all respects.

Again, thanks to everyone for their contributions, I have learnt a great deal about oil storage tanks in the last few days!!!!

 

[Bosswhite]

As I am about to embark on the same situation I assume that the price is for Tank and Labour which I estimated prior to this thread,
What about disposal of old Tank, is that included.

 

[old wrinkly]

Sorry for the delay but was waiting until after the installation. Everything went off OK and really pleased at the very professional job that's been done. As no other invoice has been presented I am assuming that disposal of the old tank is included.