Ferro-cement Water Tanks

he word “Ferro-cement” was coined due to use of

Ferro (Iron) & Cement as the main raw materials.
Ferro-cement tanks are lighter in weight (wall
thickness of 500 liter is one cm) and higher in strength as
compared to re-inforced concrete tanks. It involves
minimum skill, lesser project cost for fabrication, maximum
utility and service-ability. Ferro-cement tanks can replace
costly steel/ mild steel tanks. As compared to PVC and
steel tanks, ferro-cement tanks are eco-friendly and the
quality of these tanks is that here the water gets less
heated in summer.

Ferro-cement tank have diversified applications in addition to water tanks such as grain
storage silos, septic tanks, animal feed, cup-boards, boundary wall, door shutters,
segmented roofing sheets, man-hole covers (light, medium and high duty), irrigation
channels, ferro-cement earth quake resistant houses, flower pots etc. All these products
can be fabricated in the same unit with the use of different moulds.

While tanks upto 1000 L capacity could be fabricated at factory premises higher capacity
tank could be fabricated casting the cylindrical surface in four segments which are later
joined together with base in situ. These segments are transported in trucks carrying the
material for large number of tanks.

Water tanks of capacity ranging from 200 L to 10,000 L are in great demand for storage of
water due to the problem of water scarcity. These are being used in residential houses,
governmental organizations such as housing boards, slum clearance boards, Public
Health Engineering Departments, municipal corporations, rural community water supply
etc. CSIR Labs have transferred this technology to more than 150 parties and ferro-
cement tanks are in use in various parts of the country.

Raw Materials

High tensile galvanized wire mesh, mild steel bars, cement, sand and water food grade
resin are the main raw materials.

Plant & Machinery

a) 3/2 ft concrete mixing mechanism

 b) Welding transformer
c) Bar bending benches, levers
d) Moulds, masonary tools

Civil work

i. Shed of 20’x20’
ii. Curing tank
iii. Casting yard

In the Ferro-cement techniques high strength galvanized wire-mesh is sand

witched between layers of cement and sand mortar in the ratio of 1:2.

Ferro-cement water tanks have replaced M.S. and concrete tanks due to cheaper
cost, lightweight and long life requiring almost zero maintenance. There is good
demand of water tanks in urban as well as rural areas. CSIR laboratories have
transferred this technology to more than 150 parties and ferro-cement tanks are
in use in various parts of the country.

In a semi-mechanised process wire mesh is wound tightly around cylindrical

mould and cement sand mortar (ration 1:2) is applied in such a way that wire
mesh is sandwiched between the layers of mortar so as to achieve wall thickness
of 12 mm for tanks upto 500 L capacity. Base and cover are casted separately.
Base is joined to the cylindrical surface. The tanks are water cured for 15-20 days
by sprinkling water or immersing in water. The inside surface of the tank is
coated with anti-fungal/anti algal food grade resin. Outer surface is painted with
silver paint to reflect heat.

Investment

Production capacity of 10 tanks of 500 L capacity requires investment of Rs. 3.50 lakhs

Fixed Capital

Equipment & moulds 1.50 lakh

Shed 20’x20’ 1.50 lakh
Utilities & Miscellaneous 0.50
Total 3.50 lakhs
Selling Price of 10 tanks per day @ Rs 15000/day
1500/tank
Cost of Production 10,000
Profit 5,000/day
 The following products also can be manufactured in the same production facility
with minor addition of moulds
moulds:

• Ferro-cement
cement grain storage silos/bins.
• Ferro-cement door shutters.
• Ferro-cement roofing sheets.
• Ferro-cement manhole covers.
• Ferro-cement irrigation and drainage channels for rain water harvesting.
• Ferro-cement earth quake resistant house.
• Ferro-cement cupboards.
• Ferro-cement septic tanks.
• Ferro-cement flower pots.
• Ferro-cement animal feed units
• Ferro-cement
cement tree guards

Entrepreneurs interested in technology transfer and training may contact the

author or CBRI, Roorkee, SERC, Chennai
Chennai.

Sanjeev Sachdeva,

Ferrotech Engineering

Sanjeev Sachdeva has done his B.E. (Civil Engineering) in 1985 from Samrat Ashok
Technical Institute (SATI), Vidisha. Imme
Immediately after his B.E., he was recruited up by
“Diamond Centers” in Damoh to work as an engineer with them.

The seed of entrepreneurship

He continued with this job until 1987, when he fortunately became a part of a technical
seminar which was organized in Chennai. The seminar sowed a seed of doing
something of his own within the field of Civil Engineering
Engineering, in his mind.

Ferrotech Cement Tank was the first product that came to his mind when the idea of
entrepreneurship first originated. The ferrotech cement tank, being a low investment
project with good returns option became his first choice to start off with.

Sanjeev made his mind to get into a new challenging venture and hence resigned from
Winning customers

It was the customer satisfaction of his existing clients that made him forge
relationships with new customers. The strategy was to approach all the top
builders of Bhopal. His dedication paid off well and now Ferrotech Engineering has
more than 35 builders and colonizers in his clientele list.

Rolling out new expansion plans

• While ferrocement tanks manufacturing unit was the primary business of

the company but there was still a large segment of the market that prefers
plastic tanks. So, as an expansion Sanjeev diversified into manufacturing
plastic water tanks (with the brand name Aqua Safe) for its clients on
demand. The plastic tank being light in weight and easy to install is a juicy
product. And the growing demand was directly proportional to revenue
generation.
• Next expansion plan was to get into strengthening of bridges in Madhya
Pradesh. The procedure to get the contract was through tenders.
Strengthening of bridges involves processes like gunting, epoxy pressure
grouting, filling cavity etc.

The daily grind of hard work gets a person polished

For Sanjeev, it’s the hard work that wins over the luck because luck becomes good
only to those who work hard.

The success secret

New entrepreneurs should prepare well. A perfect plan of action with product
manufacturing process, its marketing and sales, product fluctuation, market
survey should be chalked out. New entrepreneurs should take three areas into
consideration before starting their business:

• Technical
• Administrative
• Financial

Music for recreation, Music for wealth creation

Sanjeev has passion for playing Accordian. He has developed his hobby into a
means to treasure wealth by introducing a collection of ten soulful songs on
Hawaiian Guitar and Accordian. The Collection “Instrumentally yours” includes
songs from the era when melody was the queen. His other collection includes
Panchams forever with Times music.
Generating Funds

To give the action plan an entrepreneurial edge, the first step was to get the technology
from NRDC which was a time consuming process. The next step was to buy land to
start a factory. The venture required an investment of about 3 lacs. So, 2.5 lacs. was
arranged through loan while 50,000 came from sanjeev’s personal savings.

Swimming against the tide

Manufacturing of the product was not as difficult as its marketing and selling. So,
Sanjeev decided to conduct a market survey to know the marketability of the product.
A sample was taken from the builders and residents in Bhopal. The survey
questionnaire was based on the market demand of the product, the comparison of
ferro-cement tanks with other alternatives available in the market, the competition, the
cost, weight and installation of the product, the problems that the customers are facing
with the existing product etc.

The market survey analysis report came the fact that ferro-cement tank is relatively
less expensive than plastic tanks. However, the installment of the tank is a difficult
process as the tank is heavy. Finally the conclusion was drawn that it is a marketable
product and will survive in the market.

It was in 1990, when the foundation of the “Ferrotech Engineering” was laid off and the
product came into being.

The response; Thick and Fast

The company started manufacturing tanks and Sanjeev was in the process of making
new customers for the product when one very fine day, while scanning the newspaper
he came across a tender notice of PHE, which invited tenders for 20 tanks. He
approached the advertiser with his quotation and convinced them to become a
customer of Ferrotech Engineering. And the ball starts rolling.

The Elephant in the room

Manufacturing ferrocement tanks is completely a labour oriented work. Managing the

labour force and convincing them to work regularly with lesser gaps was a difficult
task to win. Another difficult task was installing the tank on the terrace of buildings
with at least eight labours. Any type of carelessness may lead to an accident or injure
labours.

Earlier the tanks were of 500 mm thick walls. The tanks manufactured by “Ferrotech
Engineering” are only 10 mm thick. Educating people about this was yet another hard
task.
M. S. Virdi
Ex-Director, CSIR, Bhopal. H-15, Sterling Castles, Hoshangabad Road, Bhopal.
E-mail: virdim@yahoo.com
Note: The author may have used various references in the preparation of this article. For further details please contact
him/her.

Disclaimer: Articles & information in the e-zine Science Tech Entrepreneur contain views expressed by individual authors
or are taken from various sources Science Tech Entrepreneur does not own any responsibility for their authenticity.