Last week an owner phoned in despair. Customers who had filled up at his pump had their engines seize up, and he faced heavy compensation. The cause was water in the tank, the most common problem in the monsoon. It is also preventable with sensors.
How water gets into the tank
- Rainwater through a leaking tank cover
- Condensation from vapour as the temperature changes
- A tanker that delivers contaminated fuel
- Poor sealing, with leaks in pipelines or valves
- Flood water that reaches an underground tank
Manual testing versus sensors
- Manual testing is done weekly or monthly. Water has often spread by then, small amounts are missed by eye and you may only learn about it after a customer complains
- Sensors watch 24/7 and send an SMS as soon as a water layer appears, and they show the trend over time, so you can act before any customer is affected
How the sensors work
- A bottom sensor catches the first water entering the tank
- A middle sensor measures the thickness of the water layer
- A top sensor tracks the fuel level
- Weather-based warnings tell you when the risk of contamination is highest
When water is detected
The risky season runs from June to October. If an alert comes in the night, mark the tank out of service, stop dispensing from it and remove the water the same day. That is far cheaper than a line of damaged engines and months of lost trust.
Want to see how this works at your station?
Talk to the FuelMatix team and get a free site survey for your pump or depot.
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