Why it's important to keep fuel clean

Why inspect and maintain storage tanks?

Water monitoring and removal is critical for all fuel storage systems. Poor operations and maintenance procedures can lead to:

degradation of fuel quality

subsequent vehicle performance issues

microbial contamination

phase separation

damage of the entire storage system

Industry regulators and organizations are recommending that tank owners, “Establish an operating and maintenance practice to monitor and remove water when it is detected and to have regularly scheduled tank bottom inspections”

Alcohol enhanced fuels require more tank maintenance.

Today’s new fuels, free of lead and MTBE, have great environmental and economic benefits, but they do require good housekeeping. Lead was a natural poison to the microbes that can grow in a moist environment. The new fuels are more susceptible to moisture accumulation. A regularly scheduled maintenance program for UST’s and AST’s will prevent phase separations or microbial contamination. Ultimately, this pro-active maintenance will result in less leaky tank situations for our environment.

Waiting until a tank shows problems wastes money.

Don't wait to clean tank bottoms until there are slow flows and frequent filter changes. Sludge may accumulated so much that it becomes very dense or calcified. In these situations the tank owner needs to have the tank physically cleaned by way of manned entry. This cleaning can cost the owner many thousands of dollars. We recommend to have UST’s and AST’s inspected and cleaned at least once annually to prevent the effects of water and microbial contamination.

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Our Fiber Optic system corrects false monitor readings.

We have inspected and cleaned tanks where the monitor read 1 ½ “inches of water and have found very little water. On the other hand, we have seen monitors that have read 0”inches of water and have removed 50 to 150 gallons of water and bacteria.

Most water and microbial growth are found near the probe and pump areas of the tanks, where an ATG probe rests. This often causes false monitor readings.

We pull up the probe, clean the probe of sludge and bacteria, clean around where the probe rests, and return to probe. We get accurate readings from the monitors.

Even accurate monitors don't identify some problems

A good percentage of tanks we have inspected have been sloped to one side. Monitors can only read or detect water around the probe, not water at the ends of the tank. The Fiber Optic system inspects the entire tank.