The clearwell at a 3 MGD plant is 102 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep. What is the surface area of the tank in square feet?

To determine the surface area of a cylindrical clearwell tank, you can use the formula for the surface area of a cylinder, which consists of both the lateral (side) surface area and the area of the two circular bases. However, since the question clearly asks for the surface area of the tank, we will focus on the lateral surface area plus the area of one circular base, as typically only the top surface is considered in practical applications for this type of tank.

First, the lateral surface area ( A_{lateral} ) can be calculated using the formula:

[

A_{lateral} = 2 \pi r h

]

where ( r ) is the radius and ( h ) is the height (or depth). The radius can be determined from the diameter, which is 102 feet, hence ( r = \frac{102}{2} = 51 ) feet and ( h = 20 ) feet.

Now, substituting these values into the lateral surface area formula:

[

A_{lateral} = 2 \pi (51) (20)

]

This calculation gives:

[

A_{lateral} \approx 2 \times 3.14 \times