Home Q&A: All you need to know about your property's oil tank

Many homeowners inherit an oil tank when purchasing an older property, writes Kya deLongchamps 

Many of us will inherit an oil tank when buying a rural, second-hand property, and aside from assurances from the vendors, it really is a pig-in-a-poke, writes Kya deLongchamps. Picture: iStock

THE humble oil tank is something that most of us pass in the garden or driveway without a second thought. It’s not exactly the star element of our landscaping fantasies. Sheer curiosity prompted me to take a closer look at mine over the Christmas holiday. I bought it when I built this house, and I went for the best bunded (double-skinned) 1000l tank I could afford as a ragged-arsed journalist. There are no obvious leaks, no terrible stench of kerosene, and the base support appears perfectly stable. Still, it struck me that I knew nothing about the tank’s overall condition.

What I do know something about is the potential lifespan of a typical steel or plastic tank. After a lot of mulling, research and urgent stabs on my desk calculator, I’ve decided to get ahead of any issues with my 20-year-old veteran and its connectors, replacing it, and swallowing down the additional expense of siting the tank slightly further away from my timber-clad house. Insured for spills? Yes, but hear me now: this does not cover tanks that have not been adequately maintained.