Waterplex offers a full range of transportable and static flexitanks for the bulk transport of food-grade liquids nationally and internationally.
Unlike dry goods transportation solutions, the shipping of liquids has traditionally been expensive with either bespoke solutions that limit the use of the transportation tank or the use of smaller transportation units such as 200 litre (44 gallon) drums. Flexitanks have changed the dynamics of bulk liquid transport by enabling larger transport units previously used for dry goods (such as 20' and 40' containers) to be used for bulk liquid transport.
Flexitanks are well established internationally and have been used for more than 20 years in international and domestic shipping applications.
A flexitank is a flexible bulk liquid container that is placed inside an ocean container for the transport of most types of non-hazardous liquids. Flexitanks are a commonly accepted solution for the transport of bulk liquids and are also approved by stringent international bodies for the carriage of bulk liquid products by sea.
In other words, a flexitank converts a standard sea-going container into a bulk liquid transport tank.
A flexitank is usually constructed of multiple layers of polyethylene with an outer covering of woven polypropylene. A typical flexitank will hold between 14,000 and 24,000 litres. Flexitanks can be used in:
- standard 20' containers
- standard 40' containers
- refrigerated containers
Flexitanks offer a dynamic, flexible, safe and cost effective solution for all bulk liquid transport requirements.
The two key advantages of using flexitanks are:
- they cost less because they:
- significantly reduce the amount of packaging required to hold liquid in a container. The alternatives to using flexitanks in shipping containers are glass or plastic containers or larger metal drums all of which cost more than flexitanks for a smaller amount of liquid storage
- flexitanks cost less to load and unload. Instead of requiring the individual packaging of smaller containers and then loading and unloading by forklifts, the liquids are kept in their bulk storage format and simply transferred by pump to and from the containers
- they are more efficient because they:
- significantly increase the capacity that can be transported inside a container because the reduction of packaging such as pallets means there is more room for liquid storage
- are superior to individual smaller containers which waste space due to their shape and the empty space left in an ocean container
- Flexitanks allow bulk liquids to be transferred closer to the final destination in the supply chain before the liquids are then packaged for resale or used in production processes.
The traditional flexitank requires the installation of an independent bulk head in every container that a flexitank is installed in.
The installation of flexitank bulkheads can be problematic because:
- they take two people approximately half an hour to install; and
- it has to be done "just right". If a traditional flexitank is not installed in such a way that the flexitank fills exactly into the corners and is not skewed or folded in any way there couldbe problems.
- The smallest mistake might result in failure.
These risks can be managed if trained and experienced staff are used for the installation of flexitanks with bulkheads.
The range of self supporting flexitanks from Waterplex addresses these issues:
- the E Flex flexitank takes one person five minutes to install
- the E Flex flexitank is self supporting so it does not require a bulkhead. The installation process is significantly easier and carries much less risk of getting it wrong.
