Every AL NISR DRAINAGE tanker carries 5,000 gallons. That figure is easy to say and harder to picture, so this guide converts it into units that are useful for planning, and shows how to work out how many loads a particular job will take.
5,000 gallons in litres and cubic metres
A gallon is not one fixed quantity. The imperial gallon, which is what the tanker trade in the UAE has traditionally used, is about 4.55 litres. The US gallon is about 3.79 litres. That gives two possible answers:
- 5,000 imperial gallons is roughly 22,700 litres, or about 22.7 cubic metres
- 5,000 US gallons is roughly 18,900 litres, or about 18.9 cubic metres
Either way, one load is a great deal of water. If an engineer or consultant needs the precise figure for a particular tanker, ask us and we will confirm which unit the vehicle's rating uses.
What one load means for common jobs
- A villa septic or holding tank: normally one load, in a single visit.
- An apartment building holding tank: one load for a small building; larger buildings may need two or more.
- A restaurant grease chamber and holding tank: usually one load, but collected far more often than a villa.
- A labour camp or factory: often several loads. With twelve tankers, we send several vehicles at once rather than making one tanker do repeat trips.
- A flooded yard, car park or excavation: depends entirely on the area and depth — see the estimate below.
How to estimate the number of loads you need
For a tank, take its usable capacity in litres and divide by the tanker capacity in litres, then round up. A 30,000-litre tank is two loads; a 50,000-litre tank is three.
For standing water, estimate the volume: length in metres × width in metres × average depth in metres gives cubic metres, and one cubic metre is 1,000 litres. A car park area of 20 metres by 15 metres under 0.1 metres of water is 30 cubic metres, or 30,000 litres — two loads, allowing for the water that keeps draining in while you pump.
If in doubt, tell us the numbers and let us decide. It is easier to send an extra tanker than to leave a job half-finished.
Why capacity matters more than it seems
A bigger tanker means fewer trips between your property and the treatment plant in Al Sajaa, which means the job finishes sooner and the tanker is not blocking your access for longer than it has to. It also means a large tank can be emptied completely in one visit rather than being left half full. For labour camps and industrial sites in particular, the combination of a 5,000-gallon load and a fleet of twelve is what turns a two-day operation into a morning. Read more on our labour camp drainage and wastewater removal pages, or, for site work, construction site drainage.