MarkandS

Hello

We are thinking of getting a water tank to save water, and money!

We have not got lots of room so are looking at the slimline tanks of either 3000L or 5000L. Will hope to plumb it in to use for 2 x toilets, washing machine, and occaisionally top up the pool.

Any comments or suggestions as to if this is realistic and if so does it save you money?

Am living in northern suburbs of Brisbane

Regards

Max&Ozzy

Hi,

After a few years owning a farm in drought stricken South Aus and an irrigating permit I have plenty of feelings about the cost of water. We also had well over 15 thousand gallons of rain water tanks to supply the house. Now I've moved to NFQ I feel like I'm the kid in the sweet shop when it comes to water. After experiencing $10,000's p/a in water bills I'm delighted to see the average house hold block bill feels like peanuts.

If you want to spend quite a bit on plumbing, storage and pumping to use captured rain water that is a very personal thing I reckon. I suspect it will take many, many years to see the relative savings, if any. What is the kilo ltr charge down in Bris these days? About $1.20? So about $3.60 for a full tank. And the cost of the tank, plus irrigation lines / plumbing and likely power / pump to feed it back into a line?

In my experience it is a lot less saved than the electricity / solar schemes.

You are making such a miniscule (excluding the social well being and feel good statement) on what is a basically a small cost in the first place.

Just my opinion, from a experienced and painfully paid up irrigator.

Oh, just remembered, the tanks spend quite a bit of time over following (in winter, so guess QLD wet season equivalent) That is very annoying and you fee like it is such a waste of resource, but you can't do much about it.

MarkandS

Thanks for an informative and thought provoking reply.

Having recently bought and moved, am looking at the options of what to do first, solar, water tanks, few other small jobs etc.

I think i already know the answer, see how much solar is required and the cost

perth tiger

i heard the productivity commisioner talking about water last week. her conclusions were more or less that all the savings that are been used are pointless.
http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/urban-water/draft

Effectively the commission is saying that people who are prepared to pay more to use water the way they want should be allowed, and that the cost of supplying water is so cheap that providing a subsidised low-flow showerhead, for example, just isn’t cost effective. For example, the commission cited one report that found that cost per megalitre of water saved ranged from $770 for AAA shower roses, to $9069 for rainwater tanks, to $33 395 for AAA dishwashers, as compared to a price for water of between $750 and $1300 per megalitre.

One of the reasons the Commission is so concerned with these non-price mechanisms is that they enjoy a high-level of support from the community, despite the Commission’s view that they are economically ineffective, and so they represent a barrier to utilising price more to manage demand.

KJCherokee

Right now SE Qld has plenty of water and a tank is not a practical investment - but it isn't that long ago that we were on Level 5 water restrictions: no watering the garden, no washing the car, no hoses etc. etc., and having a tank in those times was the difference between keeping the garden alive and letting it die.

So if you want a tank in the Brisbane area, look on it as insurance against future droughts which are like Pantene shampoo - they won't happen overnight but they will happen.

DadAgain

Been in my house for 11 years - through many years of drought. I never once wataered my garden and STILL I cant kill anything.

How do you people manage to get plants to die? I just do not understand it. I've tried everything and the bastrd things just grow and grow and grow.....

Industrial strength lawnmowers, chainsaws and all manner of nasty chemical shite and still the stuff just keeps on growing...

(I dream of some kind of impenetrable concrete yard that provides some kind of shade and miraculously lets water drain away WITHOUT growing!)

Antney

We have a 10,000 ltr tank and it collects all the rainfall from the roof. It's not connected to any grey water as we have a biocycle and all that water gets recycled and used on the garden anyway.

It wasn't too expensive (about $2000) and cost about $150 to connect to the downpipes. We mainly use it to water the parts of the garden not near the biocycle or fill up the swimming pool.

We also have a 1.5kV solar system and that's magic as it saves us about 25%on our electricity bill per year ($1000). I think you need to act fast as the state governments are beginning to reduce the rebate on the systems.

Ours cost $9,500 and we got a $6,000 credit from the government.

Rambi

Bloody agapanthus.

lesleys

The real advantage of a water tank in Brisbane (and have mains water) is not the cost but the option to use the water for the garden, cleaning the car, hosing the path etc when water restrictions make it illegal to do so with regular water. As soon as El Nino comes back you'll understand.

MarkandS

Thank you for a differnet perspective and one helps put things into perspective

MarkandS

Again a good thought provoking reply. I am leaning more now to solar as a better way of 'saving money, than water tank in the first instance.

We do not have a water demanding garden!! Looks like i will be doing a bit more research and number crunching!

Thank you

Rambi

Personally I don't think water tanks have an economic benefit. They won't save you money. But if you have a pool and/or garden there is a benefit when water restrictions make it difficult to water the garden or fill the pool.

steve`o

thats the reason we fitted one

Rambi

Same here. I've now got 70kl capacity. We now only use mains water in the house. Last year my pool went badly green so I just emptied it, pressure cleaned it and then filled it up again from the tanks. What I didn't know but it has come as a pleasant surprise is that the water is now so well balanced I've hardly used any chemicals since the refill.