Residential Tank Scans
If heating oil is stored in an aboveground tank it will be easy to find. However if the home has an underground tank it may be more difficult to find. All active tanks have a fill pipe where the oil is delivered into the tank and a vent pipe that allows the tank to breath. To find where the underground tank is buried look for the fill and vent pipe. The fill pipe is usually located directly above the buried tank. The fill pipe can be opened and a dip stick can be put down into the tank to check the level of oil. Vent pipes are usually attached to the siding of the home within 10 feet of the buried tank. If you can find the vent pipe then the fill pipe should be nearby. If you can't find the buried tank give us a call. Our experienced DEQ licensed heating oil tank supervisors will be able to find it.Many home buyers are having tank searches conducted even when there is no evidence that the home has used heating oil. This is done during the pre-purchase inspection period and has become a standard component of the inspection process. Doing this inspection will reduce a new homeowner's future liability by eliminating the possibility of an undisclosed tank.
There are several things you can look for in or around a home to try to determine if there is an abandoned underground tank. Take a look around the outside of the home and look for a fill cap or vent pipe. If you find one of these then there is a tank that has been abandoned and has not been decommissioned. Take a look in the basement and look for copper lines coming through the basement floor or wall or concrete line patches in the basement floor. The presence of cooper lines or concrete patches could indicate that the home was heated with oil in the past. If there are any signs that the home was heated with oil in the past, a thorough underground tank search should be conducted to determine the tank location. Once the location is found we can determine if the tank was decommissioned properly.
Soil Solutions utilizes state of the art locating equipment to search and locate buried tanks. Our tank locate personnel have many years of experience doing work related to residential underground tanks and additionally are licensed by the DEQ as heating oil tank supervisors. We can usually schedule for a locate within three business days. For a thorough tank search we need to get inside the home to inspect the basement or crawlspace. Additionally the area around the home should be clear of large metal object such as cars, boats, and RVs so the entire area can be scanned.