Properly caring for and maintaining your oil tank is essential to prevent costly repairs and pollution issues. Knowing what to do when there’s a leak is crucial to stop it quickly and get your tank repaired or replaced as soon as possible. Your fuel tank may be inside your home, outside above ground or underground, with each type of tank presenting leaks in different ways.

What is an Oil Leak?

Because oil tanks are made of metal, rust can develop over time when it’s exposed to the moisture in the air. Rust corrodes the metal causing above ground tanks to leak. Another type of corrosion occurs because of the low sulfur content in oil, which allows bacteria to thrive and corrode the oil tank from the inside out. Oil leaks are more easily discovered on tanks above the ground because of the sight or the smell of oil. Underground tanks can be more difficult to notice without regular maintenance. To prevent the cost of a residential oil tank removal Sullivan County NY, choose to keep your tank maintained and know the warning signs of an early leak.

How To Determine if You Have an Oil Leak

An indoor oil tank will immediately let you know there’s a leak through the strong smell of oil or a puddle on the floor. Knowing a leak is happening in an outdoor tank is trickier. If you or your neighbor’s have a well and the water becomes contaminated, that can be an early warning sign. Another sign can happen if you have a large digging project and the soil has an oily smell to it. Many homeowners have no idea they have a leak if they don’t have yearly maintenance on their oil tank.

What To Do if You Have an Oil Leak

If your tank is indoors you will want to contact the fire department to check for possible fire hazards, remove your family from the house for a few days and hire an oil cleanup contractor. Fixing an outdoor tank is more costly. You will need to contact an environmental expert to take a soil sample, your state to report the spill, a tank removal contractor and your insurance company to see if they will help with the costs of repair.

Oil tanks may be hidden on your land without you knowing about it. Be aware of the smell of oil and investigate to make sure any unknown tanks can be discarded before the leak spreads.