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["Warren" <mogrits AT gmail.com>]

> Warren, if the drainage is good, what do you think about sterilizing
> it with steam, then coating the inside with a non-permeable paint or
> plaster?

I still wouldn't do it. http://www.cimind.com/ makes products I've used to
line containment and decorative ponds. They are NSF approved and could
certainly seal a tank off *if you could apply it to the outside of the
tank*. I have little confidence in sealing an old septic tank from the
inside and keeping it dry.

What would be stored in this tank assuming it could be sealed? That might
have some bearing.

Here's another idea as opposed to digging a new root cellar in solid rock.
Hire a backhoe operator to remove this old tank, break it up and dispose
either onsite as erosion control or wherever one might use rip-rap or other
coarse stone, or haul it off. Have a new concrete tank set in the same hole.
Waterproof the outside of the tank before it gets set off into the ground.

The only snag there is the delivery truck usually is equipped with the crane
to set the tank in the hole. It might be difficult to have them sit idle
onsite while you waterproofed the exterior. The tanks are not that
expensive.