EFFECTIVENESS OF SOME METHODS USED TO REDUCE WATER T EMPERATURE FROM RESIDENTIAL W ATER T ANKS UNDER H OT AND HUMID C LIMATIC C ONDITIONS

During summer months, hot water coming from residential water tanks represent a serious problem for residential and agricultural buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) where water tempe rature may exceeds 50 º C. Based on that, numerous methods and practices were utilized to reduce the outlet water temperature of incoming from the tanks, the ef fectiveness of these methods is vary ing from one to another, so that the decision to choose the appropriate method mainly depends up on the information available from manufacturers. In addition, scientific publication about this problem is relatively scarce . Therefore, in this study, a field and laboratory tests were conducted to determine the effect available various practices (e.g. insulation materials, color, orientation, shading, and cooling techniques) on the thermal performance of the water tanks reach ing to the best practice to be adapted to thermally protect water inside the tanks from the harsh external environment (intensity of solar radiation, ambient air temperature, and air relative humidity).