Blog

April 19, 2019

Use Oil Tank Scanning to Solve your Underground Mystery

Does your home hold a mystery underground? Sometimes,older homes can be home to underground oil tanks that were used for residential heating systems. While out of sight is often out of mind, an underground oil tank is one mystery you want to uncover before any environmental damage occurs. One way to solve the mystery is through oil tank scanning.

As oil went out of vogue as a primary heat source for houses, and natural gas become more common around 1975, many people made the switch, but forgot all about their underground oil tank. These tanks can reside anywhere on a property, other than directly beneath the original footprint of the home.

As tanks age and degrade, they may start to leak oil and contaminate the soil. Even if you don’t know it’s there, as the homeowner, you are responsible for any environmental damage that occurs on your property. If you have an older home that was built before the 1970s, the safest option is confirming what’s underground through oil tank scanning.

Thanks to modern technology, companies can effectively scan the ground for oil tanks, without disturbing landscaping. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a unique scanning process that can detect hidden oil tanks in the ground, even if the tank is under concrete or stonework. While most tanks sit at a depth of 1 meter below grade, and generally measure about 2.5 – 3 meters in length, they can be located anywhere on a property, due to a lack of installation rules.

The cost for a GPR scan is similar to the cost of a home inspection. If you are purchasing an older home, it is something you might want to consider doing as part of the home inspection process. If there is an oil tank underground, you will want the current owner to ensure it is removed and that any environmental impacts are addressed. The last thing you want to do is purchase a problem underground.

Locating a tank as early as possible and having it removed is important for any property owner. If the tank’s contents start to leak, the owner will be responsible for any environmental clean-up and remediation costs. Obviously, those costs will be significantly more than having oil tank scanning and oil tank removal done by a reputable company.

If you have an older home and think you might have a mystery tank hiding underground, take the right course of action and call a reputable company for oil tank scanning today.