Water Tank Talk

All you need to know about Rainwater Tanks

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.

Although, 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

Water tanks at the Settlers Hall use a tank level indicator

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.

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All you need to know about Rainwater Tanks

Tank Maintenance Maintaining your rainwater tanks is just as important as monitoring your water level says Garry Stephenson, the owner of Healthy Water Tanks. "People often ask me if they can get their water tested. When I shine a highpowered torch into the tank, I should be able to see the bottom and if I can’t and there’s debris in the water, the tank needs to be drained, scrubbed out and refilled. The old water can be used on the garden or around the property, so it doesn’t have to be wasted, but if the water is murky/brown, the water is obviously bad and most likely contaminated,” he says.

However, if you shine the torch into your tanks and you can see the bottom, through crystal clear water, the tanks are likely to have had a full service in the past three to four years. In this case, Garry says you can opt for a vacuum service. Tanks can be vacuumed when full of water and you will only lose around 30-40cm of water in your tanks. Vacuuming will remove the layer of sediment that settles on the floor of the tanks over a year or so, without losing the entire tank contents.

But in what seems like a weird twist, the key to clean water actually lies in the gutters of your roof. Because, whatever is in them will end up in your water tank. So keeping gutters clear will pay off. Filtration One of the horror stories of rainwater tanks is when an animal gets inside the tank, drowns and ends up contaminating the water. To prevent this it’s critical there are no entry points, says Garry. “Gaps caused by smaller pipes feeding into larger pipes often provide spaces for birds, mice and rats to get in. However, possums usually fall into tanks when people leave the lid off.”

How do you know this has happened? Garry says that by the time you can taste that there’s something wrong with the water, you’ve been drinking contaminated water for a couple of weeks.

“In my opinion, if you’re catching water off your roof, you need to add UV filtration. Although these systems cost over $2000 they help guard against Ecoli, Giardia and Campylobactor infections and add to the value of your property,” he says.

This summer, Auckland Council has encouraged rural residents on rainwater tanks to increase their storage capacity by installing an extra tank if needed. Garry advises people who have done this to make sure they don’t isolate their tanks (i.e. use one tank at a time).

“You need to use water from all of the tanks at the same time and have them fill up at the same time, otherwise, if a tank remains unused for three or four weeks, the water will go stagnant and start to smell bad then it’s only good for the garden,” says Garry.

Lastly, changing the water filter cartridges in the blue canisters every six months is another maintenance task that will help to keep your water fresh. If your water pressure drops all of a sudden it can be because your filter cartridges are full of sediment. Mitre 10 and Bunnings stock these or you can call a plumber to do it for you and put your feet up. 

Tank Tips from North Harbour Water 1. The average person uses 180 litres of water per day. 2. Most 4-person families use 11,000 litres (half a tank) of water in 2-3 weeks. 3. Keep a ladder beside your tank. 4. Check your water level once a week and if you do it at the same time you do another weekly chore, like putting out the rubbish, it becomes a habit. 5. Buy a tank gauge. You won't regret it.

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