Reclaimed Water Tank for Data Center: Drought-Resilient Make-Up

Introduction

A reclaimed water tank for a data center stores tertiary-treated effluent as a drought-resilient, lower-cost alternative to potable make-up water.

Key Takeaway

reclaimed water tank data center is a lined, atmospheric bolted tank that captures and holds non-potable water — rainfall, greywater, reclaimed effluent, or recovered condensate — for reuse in cooling-tower make-up, irrigation, or process duty. It is sized from the recoverable volume and the reuse demand, built from corrosion-resistant GFS / FBE construction with an NSF-61 / WRAS-approved lining, and paired with the filtration and disinfection the downstream use requires.

Technical Explanation

Water reuse on a data-center site starts with segregation: a dedicated non-potable tank holds harvested or recovered water separately from the potable and fire reserves. The tank is a simple atmospheric vessel, but the value is in the system around it — first-flush diversion for rainwater, filtration and disinfection for greywater or reclaimed streams, and level control that matches supply to demand.

Condensate recovery is a special case: the cooling process itself produces water that, once filtered, can offset cooling-tower make-up. Capturing it reduces both potable draw and drain load.

Application Scenarios

Cooling-tower make-up is the largest reuse sink on most campuses, followed by irrigation and toilet flush. In water-stressed regions, reclaimed or harvested water can materially lower the site's potable footprint.

Greywater and reclaimed streams need tighter water-quality management than rainwater; the tank lining and the treatment train must be specified together, not separately.

Selection and Comparison

Size from the recoverable volume versus the reuse demand, with a buffer for dry spells. GFS and FBE bolted tanks are preferred for their factory-applied, NSF-61 / WRAS-approved linings that keep stored water clean and resist corrosion.

Plan the inlet (diversion / filtration), the lining (NSF-61 for potable-adjacent duty), and the outlet (treatment before reuse) as one package, and confirm local reuse rules before commissioning.

Treatment Train and Water Quality

Reuse water quality is set by the downstream use. Rainwater for cooling-tower make-up needs coarse filtration and typically disinfection; greywater and reclaimed streams need a fuller treatment train (screening, biological treatment where needed, filtration, disinfection) before they touch the loop.

Monitoring pH, conductivity, and microbial indicators keeps the stored water from scaling, fouling, or corroding downstream equipment. The tank lining (NSF-61 / WRAS) is only one link in that chain.

Sizing Example

Size the tank from recoverable volume versus reuse demand with a dry-spell buffer. A site recovering 20 m3/day of condensate and harvesting 30 m3/month of rainfall, serving 40 m3/day of cooling-tower make-up, would size the buffer to cover the largest supply-demand gap plus a few days of reserve — not to the annual average.

Regulatory and Acceptance

Reuse systems must satisfy local plumbing and environmental rules: backflow prevention between the non-potable tank and any potable source, physical separation of the reserves, and signage and sampling points for inspection.

Acceptance testing confirms the lining, the treatment train performance, and the level and control signals before the tank enters service; documenting these protects both the asset and the operating permit.

Water-Reuse Tank Factors

Factor	Guidance
Source	Rainwater / greywater / reclaimed / condensate
Tank volume	Recoverable volume vs reuse demand + buffer
Material	GFS / FBE bolted, NSF-61 / WRAS lining
Treatment	Filtration + disinfection before reuse

Technical Specifications

Parameter	Specification
Tank / vessel type	Glass-Fused-to-Steel (GFS) bolted tank
Primary design standard	AWWA D103-09 (bolted) / ASME Section VIII (pressurized)
Coating / lining	GFS enamel or FBE epoxy, NSF-61 / WRAS approved
Typical diameter range	4.6 m to 44 m (bolted modular panels)
Typical height range	up to 34.8 m (verified single GFS tank)
Operating temperature	1 °C to 50 °C (ambient / chilled water service)
Pressure class	Atmospheric (buffer) or pressurized (ASME)
Roof option	Aluminum dome / flat cover / internal floating
Reference capacity	project-specific
Certifications	ISO 9001, NSF 61, EN 1090, ISO 28765, WRAS, FM

Center Enamel's verified record includes potable, industrial, and fire-protection water tank deliveries, but no published data-center rainwater / greywater / reclaimed / process-water installation in the supplied case ledger. The technical guidance is supported by the company's certified bolted-tank manufacturing system (ISO 9001, NSF/ANSI 61, WRAS, FM, EN 1090) and its deliveries across 100+ countries; no specific project is cited as a case here.

Center Enamel Capability

Center Enamel (Shijiazhuang Zhengzhong Technology Co., Ltd) has manufactured bolted storage tanks and vessels since 2008, with product lines spanning Glass-Fused-to-Steel (GFS), fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE) coated, stainless steel, hot-dip galvanized bolted tanks, aluminum geodesic dome roofs, and ASME pressure vessels. For the Glass-Fused-to-Steel (GFS) bolted tank technology discussed here, the company's verified manufacturing system — certified to ISO 9001 with NSF/ANSI 61, WRAS, FM and EN 1090 alignments — supports the fabrication, coating, and QA discipline a demanding water-storage duty requires.

The engineering and quality system follows AWWA D103-09, ISO 28765, NFPA 22, EN 12845, NSF/ANSI 61, and EN 1090 where applicable, and the product range is certified to ISO 9001, NSF 61, EN 1090, ISO 28765, WRAS, FM, LFGB, BSCI, ISO 45001 and related standards. With approximately 200 enameling patents and export to more than 100 countries, Center Enamel supports specification, fabrication, and site erection for water-storage and dry-bulk projects worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is reclaimed or greywater safe for cooling towers?

A: With appropriate filtration and disinfection, reclaimed water can offset cooling-tower make-up; water quality must be managed to control scaling, biofilm, and corrosion, and local discharge / reuse rules must be met.

Q: How does condensate recovery work in a data center?

A: Air-handling and cooling processes produce condensate that can be captured, filtered, and redirected to cooling-tower make-up or other non-potable uses, recovering water that would otherwise be drained.

Q: Which material suits a water-reuse tank?

A: GFS and FBE bolted tanks with NSF-61 / WRAS-approved linings keep stored water clean; stainless steel is used where hygiene or pressure demands it.

Q: Does Center Enamel have a published data-center rainwater or reuse project?

A: No published data-center rainwater / greywater / reclaimed / process-water project appears in the verified record. Guidance is supported by the company's certified bolted-tank manufacturing system and water-tank deliveries across 100+ countries.

Q: What standards apply to a process water tank?

A: AWWA D103-09 for bolted atmospheric tanks, ASME Section VIII for pressurized vessels, with lining qualified to NSF/ANSI 61 and ISO 28765.

Q: How is a buffer tank different from a TES tank?

A: A buffer tank decouples flow and absorbs expansion near one temperature; a thermal-energy-storage (TES) tank stores energy as a temperature difference (thermocline).

Conclusion

Reclaimed Water Tank for Data Center: Drought-Resilient Make-Up comes down to matching the tank / silo type, material, and code to the specific duty and verifying the supplier's lining certification, fabrication quality, and references. With corrosion-resistant bolted construction and AWWA / NFPA / EN / ISO-aligned design, the asset becomes a reliable, long-life node in the site's storage or process strategy.

Suggested Next Step

Discuss your duty, capacity, and code requirements with a Center Enamel engineer, or request technical specifications and a reference list for a comparable project.

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