Logan Voss
Whether you’re a new homeowner with a large plot of land or a business owner looking to expand into an old factory, the property you’re on could hold a nasty surprise. An underground storage tank leftover from a bygone era could still lurk below the earth on your property, making working and living there a little more complicated. You want to take care of a problem like this right away, so keep an eye out for some of these signs of an underground storage tank on your property so that you can deal with it sooner rather than later.
Large Earth Depressions
To install these underground storage tanks, builders of the past had to remove a lot of earth to put them in. Over time, the dirt they put back on top of the tank can start to cave in on itself, creating large depressions in the ground around the storage tank. It’s one of the more obvious signs of an underground storage tank on a property, but you should still call in an underground tank specialist to make sure your hunch is correct.
Basement Pipes
If your home has a basement in it, you might notice pipes that lead into walls that don’t seem to connect anywhere in the house. This could indicate that they connect to an underground storage tank nearby. You can also look for fresh concrete patches on the basement walls or floor. These patches could show where there once was a pipe that may have gone to a storage tank.
Hidden Yard Pipes
Do a check through any existing plants, shrubs, or bushes on your property. Back in the day, many underground storage tanks had pipes that stuck up from random places in the ground. To hide these, people often planted greenery around them. You could have a pipe from an underground storage tank in your yard and not even notice because it’s hiding inside of a bush or shrub.
Upturned Coffee Cans
As strange as it may sound, the presence of old, upturned, empty coffee canisters in your basement or around your property could indicate a hidden storage tank. To prevent unwanted debris or animals from getting into the storage tank, previous owners would sometimes use these coffee canisters to cover up pipes that stuck out of the ground. Keep an eye out, and if you do find signs of a tank on your property, call in a professional to deal with it.
