A Guide To Bulkhead Fittings

Flou Water Tanks and bulkhead fittings

When purchasing a water tank through Flou, It is important to remember that fittings do not come standard on our products, meaning you will have to select and buy a fitting with the tank,

So, what is a bulkhead fitting? 

Our bulkhead fitting (pictured above) is a plastic National Pipe Thread (NPT) cap that is installed onto the side of a Flou water tank to allow for male thread attachments (hoses, fixtures, heaters, etc.). 

If you want to purchase a tank for water storage or rainwater harvesting, it is highly recommended that you buy a fitting from us to install it on your tank. When purchasing a Flou tank and fittings, we install them at no additional cost.  

When filling out a Request for Quote form, we will ask you the following questions:  

1. What size of a fitting are you looking for (3/4", 1", 1.5", 2")? 
2. Where on the tank do you need the fittings placed? 
3. How many fittings will you need?

If these three questions are answered on your quote, our team can quickly provide you with an accurate price. 

Some key words to understand when ordering fittings:

• Outflow: an area where a fitting can be placed to allow for easy access to use/drain water.
• Inflow: an area where a fitting can be placed to input water into the tank. 
• Overflow: an area where a fitting can be placed to allow excess water to escape or flow into another reservoir. 

Our fittings come in multiple sizes to suit the measurements of the attachments you are working with. I bought a larger size and later found out you need a smaller one. No problem. Most hardware stores will carry NPT thread adapters to shrink the fitting size. 

If you are using an adapter for your outflow, remember that going from a minor fitting to a large adapter will affect the pressure of flow coming out of the tank. 

Some Common Placements for fittings are as follows:

• 3-4" from the bottom of the tank for outflow
• 1-2" from the top of the tank for overflow
• 3-4" from the top of the tank for inflow
• 1-2" from the bottom of the tank for heaters 

Fittings can be placed wherever on the tank to suit the needs of your project. Should multiple custom placements be necessary, we ask that you create a diagram using the shape of our tanks to show the distance between fittings on the tank. 

This information will be helpful information when ordering your Flou water tank. Should you have any questions, please email us at sales@flou.ca.