1. Tanks should be cleared out and re-excavated during the dry weather months when the level of the subsoil water is at its lowest. Work should be commenced in January or February and completed before the middle of May, but these dates must depend more or less on the locality, as in some parts of the Province the prevalence of heavy thunderstorms in May might make it advisable to complete the work before then. 2. The re-excavation, until water-level is reached, should be carried out in regular layers of 1 foot in depth, an offset of 1 foot being left on the bank side for each layer. This, when dressed off, will give a regular side slope of 1 to 1 to the tank. When water-level is reached, if it be considered necessary to excavate below this, and if pumping machinery to dewater the tank is unavailable, the area must be divided up into compartments of suitable size, separated by bunds, one, or more of which, can be dewatered by bailing into the adjacent ones, when the excavation can be continued to the required depth, the other compartments being similarly treated in turn. [Illustration: TYPE DESIGN FOR FENCING IN TANKS FIG. 10. ] [Sidenote: Disposal of Spoil.] 3. The spoil from the excavations should be placed on the outside of the embankment formed round the tank when originally made, and should be deposited in such a position to preclude, as far as possible, its being washed back again by rain water. [Sidenote: Dressing and Turfing.] The crest of the embankment should be dressed off to a slope of 1 in 12 away from the tank, with side slopes on the outside of 2 to 1. This will prevent direct contamination of the tank by spill water from the crest, where persons or carts, may have encamped. All slopes should be neatly dressed off; all those above highest water-level being turfed during the commencement of the ensuing rainy season. This is very important as it prevents the chance of a considerable quantity of the excavated earth being washed back into the tank.