Ask the Expert Question-and-Answer Archive

by Ron Joseph

August, 2001

Painting of Fuel Storage Tanks

Q. What color should I paint a 1000 gal fuel storage tank. If it's white, please provide the paint manufacturer's code. Thank you.

A. Thanks for your email. White seems to be a good color for storage tanks, especially if you want to keep the temperature down. Unfortunately, I can't give you a manufacturer's code as it depends on the vendor from whom you intend to purchase the paint sand the resin system that you want to use, such as acrylic-modified alkyd, acrylic latex, polyurethane, etc. I suggest that you call a company such as Carboline (or get on their website) and ask them for a recommendation. You will need to tell them exactly what the condition of the tank is, the environment in which it is located, the condition of the existing coating, etc.