All you need to know about Rainwate One of the main adjustments when moving from a suburban home on mains water to a lifestyle block with rainwater tanks is learning to manage your new water supply. With more city dwellers making the move, some are finding a steep learning curve while they get to grips with this essential part of rural life.
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lthough, learning the ropes isn’t difficult, as the saying goes ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’. And discovering you’ve run out of water and can’t fill the kettle or even flush the loo until the water carrier arrives can be stressful. The information below will help you get through the summer without too many headaches. Getting to know your system The starting point is to take a look inside your tanks. This will show you how much water you’ve got and whether or not you need to book a delivery. However, to understand the significance of the tank levels you first need to know your capacity, i.e. how much water your property’s tanks can store. Generally speaking, most modern tanks contain 22,000-25,000 litres but some older concrete tanks contain less, 11,000 – 13,500 litres. In terms of appearance, not all tanks are equal either. Many are located above ground while some are partially or fully dug into the ground. There are also concrete tanks constructed beneath buildings and terrace tanks located
under the front steps of houses that you can’t see at all. Either way, access is via the tank lid and you need to open it to check out what’s inside. Once you have, there are tools to help keep track of water levels, including tank level indicators - the ball on a rod that rises and falls. Other options include smart apps like Tank Mate that send information to your phone, or the Kiwi ingenuity approach of a fishing line weighted on the outside and with a bottle on the inside of the tank. However you do it, monitoring your water level regularly is essential, especially if there hasn’t been much rain. When to book a load? Last summer’s drought caused a huge amount of stress for residents waiting for water to be delivered as well as for water carriers. Moving forward, many carriers are asking people to only book a delivery once water tanks are one-third full. Rachel Taylor of North Harbour Water, one of Coatesville’s largest carriers, goes further and asks people not to pre-book water their delivery. “Our experience is that deliveries that
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6 | THE COATESVILLE CHRONICLE | OCTOBER 2020
Water tanks at the Settlers Hall use a tank level in
are pre-booked are often not needed when the scheduled delivery date comes around. In addition, people who pre-book often book with several water carriers to cover themselves and then two tankers will turn up at the address, leaving one of the water carriers out of pocket. Someone else needing water can also miss out as a result. The cost that water carriers charge customers to supply water is primarily in the transportation (on-road costs) and the time taken (travel and driver wages). On average, it takes an hour to deliver a load of water and it’s a big expense for a water carrier to wear if they carry a load of water to an address and are then not able to deliver it,” she says.
