Water Tanks

Steve is furiously working to make sure the rest of the ferrocement tanks are built before the start of the rainy season in May. He is not personally constructing them this time around, but has contracted a man who learned from Steve to build them. And Filimon is doing a fantastic job. He is patient, thorough and careful.



There are 2 sizes of ferrocement tanks that are currently being built. Generally the smaller tanks are built for homes with one or two families, and the larger size is built for churches or schools.

Below is the smaller sized tank.


It's funny to think back to when Steve first started building the ferrocement tanks. Although they are common throughout the world, especially in Mexico and Thailand, nobody had ever seen them here before. When Steve first proposed the idea, everybody here thought he was crazy, especially since he had never actually built one. People asked him, Are you a mason? No. Have you ever built one before? No. All he had was a book and of course, his mechanical engineering degree.

But the whole idea behind these tanks is that they are relatively easy to construct and don't require any special skills or technology. All the materials are available here in the community. Which is why the tanks are a perfect example of "appropriate technology".



The basic idea is to fill a mold, using sawdust, rice or coffee hulls, then wrapping chicken wire and wire around the mold. Mix cement and plaster it onto the chicken wire, using two layers. After the concrete has cured in a few days, you can take out the mold, and then put another two layers inside the mold. And voila! You have a strong, durable and easily reparable water tank. These have been known to last more than 30 years in Mexico.