Patriotic Tank Earns New Flag to Fly

This 1.5-million-gallon water tank in Cocoa, Florida, which was originally built in 1957, was recently named Tnemec’s 2015 Tank of the Year after a recent renovation using high-performance coating systems.

Located on Florida’s east coast near the John F. Kennedy Space Center, the 156-foot-tall water tank was originally constructed to supply drinking water to a developing NASA space program. In 1976, the tank became a community landmark after Old Glory was painted on it to commemorate the nation’s Bicentennial. The flag on the water tank has since been tripled and now three larger-than-life American flags surround the structure.

The structure’s exterior was prepared in accordance with SSPC-SP 6/NACE No. 3 Commercial Blast Cleaning. Exterior steel then received a prime coat of Series 90G-1K97 Tneme-Zinc, a moisture-cured, zinc-rich primer that is single-component for easier application, followed by an intermediate coat of Tnemec’s next-generation water-based epoxy, Series 27WB Typoxy.

In an effort to extend color and gloss retention beyond the demonstrated performance of a urethane finish coat, the City decided to utilize an advanced solution fluoropolymer finish, Series 700 HydroFlon. This coating outperforms other finishes for water tanks, offering unprecedented protection against weathering and UV light degradation. Using Series 700 in Old Glory Red and Blue, the flags were repainted on the tank to scale.

“Based on the importance and the cost of this renovation, the owner wanted to make sure that they had the best system available to extend the tank’s maintenance cycle,” said Bill Langer, Tnemec coating consultant in Florida. “We were able to show them the options and they chose the finish with the highest performance characteristics.”