Most manufacturers that have a 20-year + warranty do so mainly because it is a great marketing initiative rather than because the tank will last longer.  

They're are a few other factors to look out for too though to make sure you're buying a good tank with a good warranty you can count on.

Of the top largest manufacturers in Australia, all have been manufacturing for over 30 years now, and I'm sure all would have rainwater tanks that have been in the field for that long without failing. At Rapid Plas we’ve been manufacturing rainwater tanks now for 35 years and still have thousands of tanks out there in the field. 

Will all poly water tanks eventually fail, yes they will. The sun will eventually break them down. The most similar product I like to relate this to is a corrugated roof. You can see an old and faded roof pretty clear, and just like that, a roof of tank will discolor and fade over time being that the roof gets the most exposure to the sun. How long this will take we don’t really know, but we do know that some brands have already lasted over 30 years.  

The difference 

The difference between a good poly rainwater tank manufacturer to a great one is the tank design, and the understanding and science behind cooking the tank. This essentially means that if a tank is going to fail in the field because of a bad design or faulty workmanship, it will fail within the first 1 to 2 years. Most manufacturers won’t tell you this.  

I'd go as far as to say no matter what brand of tank, I'd be reasonably confident to say that if a tank gets to 10 years in the field, it will get to 20 or 30 years.   

Raw material warranty 

Sorry I'm risking getting a bit technical here now but it's important to note that the raw material suppliers of all manufacturers in Australia provide and recommend 10 years warranty on the raw polyethylene bead that gets ground down and colour and other additives added to it.  

Check how long the owner of the manufacturer has owned the business.  

Most of the large rainwater tank manufacturers have changed hands a number of times and if you ask, some may be honest enough to tell you how long the current owner has owned the business. 

A Family owned and operated business generally has more skin in the game and cares immensely about their reputation, and yes there are some very good family owned manufacturers out there that I'd say make a very good product and will stand behind it.  

At Rapid Plas we’ve had the same owners, and same family from day one back in 1990 and have consistently gone above and beyond in sorting a warranty claim. A number of happy customers could tell you about one of the owners coming on site to check out their concern. Even if the tank is over 10 years, we’ve helped out many customers especially on the old industry issue in the 90’s of the pole that use to go into the tank to hold the roof up. That's of course before we had the unique Crown Force roof design.  

Yes, we’re not perfect and tanks have been delivered that should never have left the factory. Some manufacturers say they have the best service, I'm not a 100% sure I can say that because there's always more to improve on, but as a family and as a business we do certainly strive to make it easy when there is an issue.  

As always, we’d love to help you get on your journey of saving Australia's water so please get in contact if you have any questions. 

Written by Roy Firth