"bassett" writes:
Anyone who buys a gal-tank these days has rocks in there heads.

Maybe, maybe not. The OP didn't say exactly what he/she wanted it for
or where he intended to locate it. But he did indicate that he lived in
the mountains.

I do know that after house fires there are usually two structures left
standing: the firebrick chimney, and the gal tank, and no one has
successfully seen out the loss of a house in a firestorm by taking refuge in
their chimney!

As for concrete tanks, Sure there OK, IF you can afford a large crane to
install the thing and if you can get the thing into the back yard in the
first place.

The OP never mentioned a yard, or a back yard, AFAIR so I made no assumptions.

When I was buying a tank 4 years ago, for the size we wanted we could get a
prefab concrete tank delivered ready to site on a lowloader with crane for
about the cost of a poly tank half its capacity. The concrete tank likewise
had a long life guarantee, and a guarantee that it would not be cracked
during install. I may be wrong, but I reckon that a cement tank should keep
the water cooler, in scorching summer heat, than does a PVC tank.

But I would agree that todays steel tanks are probably a mere shadow of the
quality of those that were manufactured 50 years ago. Though they must still
offer some advantage or they wouldn't be still being sold. Fire resistance
or melting point may well be one.

I think it cost around $500 for our pressure pump; quite a robust unit and of
capacity more than required for 98% of the time but the tank was to be used
for house, laundry and 2 garden taps simultaneously at times.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)