SBS Tanks is a proudly South African, Level 2 B-BBEE manufacturer of engineered modular steel-panel water storage tanks. Headquartered in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, the company has delivered water storage systems for municipal, mining, fire protection, commercial and water conservation projects across South Africa, USA and international markets since 1998.
From its 5 700 m² manufacturing facility, SBS combines factory-controlled production, Galvalume steel-panel tank technology, custom-fitted liners, in-house engineering, R&D product optimisation, dedicated project management and specialist installation teams. With tanks ranging from 12 000 litres to the new 5.2 megalitres, SBS Tanks delivers storage infrastructure designed for quality, safety, durability and longevity.
Storage as a service-delivery asset
For municipalities, water storage is no longer simply about holding capacity. It is about protecting service delivery, reducing programme risk and building infrastructure that is fast to install, practical to maintain and resilient under pressure.
This was the context behind the Kirkwood Water Supply Scheme in the Sundays River Valley Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, where Amatola Water completed a bulk water infrastructure project to strengthen water security for Kirkwood and neighbouring settlements.
The scheme responds to a practical operating reality: the town relies on water from a canal system that must periodically be closed for maintenance. As infrastructure ages, more frequent maintenance is required. During these shutdowns however, the community are exposed to supply interruptions as sufficient water cannot be drawn from the system. “The project therefore had a very practical and public-service objective: provide additional storage capacity so that water supply could continue, while essential maintenance takes place upstream”, says Louis Fourie, from Gilgal-New Ground Joint Venture, the project’s consulting engineers.
As part of the scheme, SBS Tanks supplied two large ST31/09 (3.3Ml) modular steel-panel reservoirs, providing approximately 6 ML of additional treated-water storage, similar to a previous project completed on the North coast of KZN. One reservoir was installed at Kirkwood Town, serving Kirkwood, Aqua Park and Bergsig, while the second was installed at Bontrug to support Moses Mabhida and Msengeni.
For SBS Tanks, the project demonstrates the growing role of modular steel reservoirs in municipal infrastructure - particularly where public-sector projects need to balance costs, delivery timelines, site constraints, long-term maintenance and resilience.
Moving beyond traditional reservoir thinking
Municipal reservoirs have historically been associated with concrete structures. Concrete remains a familiar and proven technology, but constrained budgets, rising costs, limited specialist skills and pressure to deliver faster are encouraging project teams to assess proven alternatives.
On Kirkwood, concrete was considered. However, the consulting engineer noted that budget was the determining factor, with modular steel offering significant cost and programme advantages. The selected reservoirs also needed to fit tight site footprints, making a smaller footprint-tank advantageous.
SBS Tanks’ modular bolted steel-panel system supported the project through:
- ISO9001 Factory-controlled manufacturing, with consistent, repeatable and auditable quality inspection points.
- High-strength Galvalume steel panels and a fitted internal liner that isolates the stored water from the steel structure, reducing corrosion risks.
- Flat-packed components suited for remote and constrained access routes.
- Speedy ground-up jacking installation by experienced crews.
- Project management from order through to handover.
Site logistics and programme certainty
Access was one of the project’s practical challenges. The reservoirs were located on elevated sites, and moving large infrastructure components into position required daily planning.
The modular nature of the SBS system proved valuable as the materials could be delivered to the main construction camp and shuttled to the reservoir positions using smaller vehicles traversing up the hillside.
The two reservoirs were built in parallel by experienced SBS Tanks crews, using the company’s jacking methodology. SBS Tanks’s professional project management (PM) services provided a single co-ordinated point of contact from order placement through manufacturing, installation, commissioning and handover.
Enter climate change
The project also provided an important engineering lesson. During the commissioning phase, one reservoir was exposed to a period of extreme wind shortly after practical completion. SBS Tanks received notification on a windy Monday in July that visible inward panel displacement had occurred, and an engineering team was immediately sent to site the next day to inspect.
The tank had been designed for a standard 154 km/h, three-second wind gust in an empty state, far exceeding tender specifications and standard operating calculations for that region. However, wind data from a local weather station 4 km away showed that wind speeds exceeded this threshold, with gusts reaching over 200 km/h over several days in July 2024.
The event caused localised inward deformation across a nine-panel section, with slight buckling at the wind girts and uprights.
Engineering an in-situ solution
SBS Tanks investigated the incident, assessed the reservoir and recommended repairs with a solution engineered specifically for this site. After conducting a finite element analysis of the ST31/09 tank, the solution comprised three rolled tubular wind-ring stiffeners around the full circumference of the tank, fixed to the uprights at the top three panel bolt lines.
The strengthened model showed that general inward displacement of the upper shell was eliminated, with little-to-no displacement at the wind girts. Because the reservoir is modular and bolted, SBS could repair and strengthen the affected area in situ, without demolishing or reconstructing the asset.
The second reservoir, although not affected in the same way, was also strengthened as a proactive measure.
A stronger municipal case
The Kirkwood Water Supply Scheme shows how modular steel reservoirs can support modern municipal water infrastructure in practical ways:
- Speed: controlled factory manufacturing and rapid installation shorten delivery timelines.
- Cost certainty: cost-effective per kilolitre storage can improve the reach of public-sector budgets.
- Footprint efficiency: large capacity can be delivered on constrained sites.
- Llow maintenance: low-frequency inspections and liner cleaning reduce lifecycle complexity.
- Adaptability: tanks can be configured, expanded or strengthened as site conditions require.
- Project support: dedicated engineering, project management and SHEQ/HSE support from design review to handover.
At Kirkwood, the two SBS Tank reservoirs are more than steel structures on a hill. They form part of a broader water security system that helps protect communities from disruption during planned canal maintenance. The project also reflects a wider shift in infrastructure thinking. Municipal water storage must be cost-effective, fast to deliver, practical to maintain and resilient enough to adapt to changing site and climate conditions.
For SBS Tanks, the project reinforces the company’s role as a provider of engineered water storage infrastructure for municipal, commercial, mining, fire protection and water conservation applications. With large-capacity modular tanks now reaching up to 5.2 ML, and with in-house engineering, manufacturing and project support, SBS is positioned to support municipalities and contractors seeking alternatives to traditional reservoir construction.
In Kirkwood, the outcome was practical, but for the construction industry, the lesson is broader. The future of municipal water storage will not be defined by capacity alone. It will be defined by how effectively public-sector projects adopt proven technologies that help contractors overcome cost, access and programme constraints while delivering resilient, adaptable and long-term infrastructure for the communities they serve.
To watch aerial footage of the Kirkwood tank, and download our Municipal Leaflet, head to our website here.
