Heating Oil Underground & Above ground Oil Storage Tank Home Buyer's / Home Owner's Guide
Oil Storage Tank Leak Testing Options and Test Companies

What types of oil storage tank leak tests are available
- What are the pros and cons of alterative methods of testing for oil tank leaks?
Questions & Answers about choosing among oil tank leak testing methods
References

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Guide to types of oil storage tank leak tests available: this article discusses the types of oil storage tank tests that may be performed on buried oil tanks and above ground oil storage tanks to check for leaks or imminent leaks. Not all storage tank tests are equal in accuracy nor cost, and some are more appropriate than others, depending on other factors. We include a listing of oil and fuel storage tank testing companies and services, and invite (no-fee) listings from other companies providing that service. Many storage tank testing companies also offer storage tank removal and site cleanup services as well.

Guide to Oil Storage Tank Testing: Oil Tank Inspection and Oil Leak Testing Choices

This is a chapter of our "Heating Oil Underground & Above ground Oil Storage Tank Leaks, Testing, Problems & Solutions, Home Buyer's / Home Owner's Guide" which offers extensive free un-biased oil storage tank inspection and testing advice for property buyers and owners. Qualified service providers may be listed at this website at no fee.

Home buyers should be sure to review OIL TANK TESTING - Leaky Heating Oil Tanks - How Oil Tanks are Tested for Evidence Leaks, of Current or Previous Oil Spills and OIL TANK LEGAL ISSUES - Home Buyers and Home Owners Guide to Leaky Heating Oil Tanks - What to Do About & When to Report Oil Tank Leaks. Leaky Heating Oil Tanks.

Home owners who have old oil tanks above ground or any age oil tank below ground should also be sure to review OIL TANK ABANDONING PROCEDURE - Abandoning Commercial vs. Residential Underground Oil Storage Tanks (UST) - Procedures & Regulations A separate website addresses Septic Tanks.

Look for yourself: Before deciding to hire a tank testing company for professional inspection and testing, some basic information such as the age (property and tank), tank location, and type of oil tank, and for above-ground tanks, a simple visual inspection of the tank and its piping, can give you and idea of the risks involved. Look for obvious leaks such as oil stains on the ground or floor under or around the tank and around the oil fired equipment. Remember to look under the oil tank at its bottom, as most leaks occur in the lower portion of the tank.

Hire an expert: Specialty companies and some oil companies have equipment to test buried tanks for leaks. Soil testing, simple low-psi pressure-testing and sophisticated electronic testing are commonly used. I advise home buyers to have a soil test performed rather than a pressure test of an existing oil tank, since even if the tank is not currently leaking we would prefer an assurance that it didn't leak before, say from a plumbing connection that was repaired.

In addition to oil tank inspection, oil piping inspection, and oil tank testing to "pass" or "fail" an oil storage tank, more sophisticated tests are available to assess the chances that an existing heating oil storage tank has leaked or is likely to have a serious leak soon. These include a oil tank corrosion analysis which adds to the basic tank inspection and tests an assessment of the level of corrosion of the tank walls and thus the chances of its leaking or failure, and soil corrosion or soil corrosivity evaluation which includes an evaluation of soil samples collected from around the tank in order to assess the degree to which the soil in which the oil tank has been buried will contribute to the process of corrosion of the (presumably steel) buried oil tank.

Testing for water in an oil tank (above ground or buried) is simple and can be done by any service person. Tank testing methods vary in risk to the tank, cost, invasiveness, length of time to complete, and more.

From a previous use, a buried oil tank may be present or may have been present at a property now served by an indoor, above ground oil tank or even by LP or natural gas. So don't assume that because you don't see a tank that none was ever used or present at a property.

OIL TANK LEAK TESTING COs / OIL TANK REMOVAL COs - Oil Tank Testing, Removal, Consulting Environmental Service Companies

CT: Enviro Tech of Fairfield County oil tank testing and locating services, Connecticut
CO: Tank Specialists, Far West Assoc, Colorado, Wyoming, S. Nevada, S., Baja CA
NY: Dorson Environmental Management, Inc., 45 Knollwood Rd., 3rd Fl., Elmsford NY 10523: 914-592-3117
OH: CTL Engineering, Inc., Columbus OH (HQ) - UST Management, Testing, Inspection, Analysis: 614-276-8123 614-276-6377 FAX.
ctl@ctleng.com Offices in NC, OH, WV, VA [Thanks for website support]
Jay Hodgens,P.E., Hodgens Engineering Service, Rapid City, SD 57702. Email: james@hodgens.net, for assistance with links and references to regulations regarding underground storage tanks as well as comments on other topics. Mr. Hodgens has been licensed as a professional engineer in eight states and has developed over 450 SPCC plans in compliance with reguilations in twelve states. Mr. Hodgens can be reached at 845-496-0494 or in South Dakota at 605-350-4367. His proposed amendments to US EPA 40 CFR part 112 can be read at http://www.hodgens.net/hes/10-07comments.pdf. 4/1/2013. Mr. Hodgens is a frequent contributor to InspectAPedia.com.
VA: Virginia Geotechnical Services, P.C. Email: W. Jerrold Samford, P.G.
Mediation, Environmental Dispute - KMG
Disposal, Hazardous Waste, SET Home Pg
Sound Pictures of Stored Waste
Tank / other Env Services Braun-Intertec (C)trap
Tank / other Env Services ENSCI Southeast US (C)trap
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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

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TANK FAILURE CAUSES discusses the causes of oil storage tank leaks in more detail.
The rate or frequency of oil tank leaks or oil storage tank failures, focused on underground storage tanks or USTs, is discussed in detail at TANK FAILURE RATES provides Oil Tank Failure Data - Oil Tank Failure Rates - Oil Tank Leak Probability as a Function of Tank Age, Location, Condition, Soil Conditions and Other Factors
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