How Much Does it Cost to Rent a Dunk Tank?

If you have ever been to a party or a carnival, for sure you have seen a dunk tank. This is a large tank filled with water, in general with a diameter of five feet and a depth of four feet. This is made up of three basic elements.

There is a structure like a chair above the tank, where an individual sits and a metal arm with a target protrudes from the side of the tank. Usually, the target is hit with a baseball. Once this happens, the arm releases the chair and the person sitting in falls into the water.

How Much Does it Cost to Rent a Dunk Tank?

Be prepared to spend anywhere between $160 and $550 per day for dunk tank rental. This price varies depending on the place you rent it from, the capacity of the dunk tank, how long you need it for, and the place where you live.

At the rental company Arizona Bounce Around, based in Arizona, you will have to pay around $220 per day. This cost will include the setup, delivery, and three dunk balls.

In the table below you will find the average costs for renting a dunk tank, by capacity.

Renting a dunk tank overview

The estimated costs mentioned above should include the delivery fees, setup, and breakdown. Also, this should include the softballs with which to hit the target.

Most dunk tanks will come with a step ladder for easy access and a padded seat.

You might also like our articles about the cost of a bounce house, a mechanical bull, or cotton candy.

You can rent dunk tanks for up to six hours and for almost any event at most companies.

Two common types of dunk tanks are available. There is the regular tank that can hold one hundred to five hundred gallons of water and comes in a variety of sizes and shapes; and the fun flush tank, which does not actually dunk the people in the water but rather splashes them with a PVC-pipe like a hose from above.

Also, the size of the targets on the side of the tank may vary, ranging from a diameter of five to eight inches.

Which are the additional expenses?

Most companies will offer the delivery service for free, but some may charge an extra $2 to $4 per mile if they have to travel outside their area.

Also, most renting companies will require you to fill the tank up with your own water hose. In case you don’t have one, you can rent it. For an extra $55 to $110 you can get a professional-grade commercial hose that is hooked up to a water delivery truck.

Plan on spending another $25 to $40 per hour if you need the rental company to send you a staff member to be there during the time the dunk tank is rented.

In case you want your dunk tank to be delivered to a public park, you may have to pay for a permit fee, if it is allowed by your local city.

Important things to consider

Depending on the capacity, it takes around half an hour to one hour to fill up an average dunk tank with a garden hose.

The minimum height for most dunk tanks is five feet and the maximum weight limit is around 250 pounds.

The ideal surface where to install a dunk tank is asphalt or concrete. It can also be installed on grass, but the water may get dirty fast because the people will walk in and out with their wet feet.

Also, you can install a dunk tank in your backyard as long as your fence is a minimum of six feet wide. Otherwise, the dunk tank cannot be lifted over.

Tips for saving money

Contact local companies and try to negotiate the price because most rental companies are more than happy to work with a budget as long as it is reasonable.

Usually, the companies that rent out dunk tank offer also other items like cotton candy machines, games, slides, and others. You may get a bundled discount if you were to combine other items.

Search on Groupon or other websites where you can find daily deals at the local companies.

In case you intend to rent a dunk tank more than three times, you should pay for all at once and, most probably, get a discount.

There is an alternative to the original dunk tank, that you can find on Amazon at the cost of a daily rental.