How to Find the Volume of a Water Tank

Cylindrical Water Tank

• 1

  Measure the height of the tank, from top to bottom. As an example, assume the height is 20 feet.

• 2

  Measure the diameter of the tank. The diameter is a straight line from one end of the tank to the other, crossing the center point. Divide this measurement by 2 to calculate the radius. Continuing with the example, if the diameter is 10 feet then the radius is 5 feet.

• 3

  Use the mathematical equation of the volume of a cylinder to calculate the volume of the water tank. The equation is: volume equals pi times radius squared times height. Pi is equal to 3.14159. In the example provided, volume equals 3.14159 times 5 times 5 times 20=1,570 cubic feet.

Angular Water Tanks

• 4

  Measure the length, width and height of the water tank. As an example, assume the length is equal to 60 feet, the width is 30 feet and the height is 100 feet.

• 5

  Calculate the volume by multiplying the length times width times height.

• 6

  Finish the example for calculating the volume of an angular water tank using the equation in step 2. Volume equals 60 feet times 30 feet times 100 feet or 180,000 cubic feet.