A lot of thought needs to be put into water tank installation where you can put it. I am afraid that you will have to source that information from your local authority. But before doing that it would be a good idea to have an idea where you would like it, how and why. I have found the worst thing one can do when approaching a local authority is to go and ask them what you can do. If you go and just ask them that you are considering water tank installation and ask them what you can and cannot do then that immediately puts in their minds that you do not know anything.

I have found that it is best to go and present them with what you want to do, complete with diagrams. They then have to tell you what you cannot do in your diagrams. Whenever they say, “you cannot do that” always ask them “Why”.

There are a lot of tank placement scenarios but the most common is either along the side of the house or if it is a large round tank down in the corner of your block. There are several scenarios shown in posts on my blog which will give you a good idea what sort of diagram you need to construct to present to your local authority. This is important because you may have a flat block a upwards sloping block or a downwards sloping block.

Before we discuss tank placement scenarios I should mention that I am not a plumber and all the ideas that are portrayed are practical ideas and should be presented as such when approaching tank installation suppliers.

We must also consider that there are plumbers and there are plumbers. The plumbing industry is not one that has a particularly good public face. We, having moved and improved a lot of houses have come across good and bad plumbers. We have come across plumbers who just want to do a standard job and any variance is a pain in the butt to them even though what you want to do is perfectly legal and according to all the plumbing regulations.

We have been involved in several plumbing situations for old houses we have renovated. We have always wanted to keep as close as possible to the original design of the building. On asking plumbers to do what we require we received continuous resistance. Not because it isn’t allowed, but because it was non standard. It was amazing that when we said that that’s what we want and were prepared to pay for the extra work, plumbers were still resistant to performing the work. It often took us a while before we found the right plumbers to do it and when we did weren’t they good!

One thing we always did with a plumber when asking them to do a job in a way they resisted. We asked why it could not be done and did it contravene any plumbing regulations. We then made the decision. If it was because it contravened regulations we accepted it. (But in a lot of cases we got a second opinion) If we considered the plumbers reason was valid we accepted it. If the plumber said that’s not how it was done, (believe me this was the reason a lot of the time), we did not accept it and told the plumber to do it how we wanted it. If the plumber refused as far as we were concerned he was not doing what we wanted and fired him and looked for another plumber. We refused to kowtow to arrogant plumbers. They were there to do the work we wanted and were paying for, not the work they wanted to do for their convenience. If the work took twice as long and cost twice as much so be it.

As I have already said, what I will be presenting in later posts to my blog these are practical ideas. Obviously there are things that have to conform to regulations and there’s no getting around these and you shouldn’t no matter how ridiculous you may think they are. (believe me some are)

One example of a good regulation is that the overflow pipe from the tank has to be at least the same diameter as the inlet pipe from the roof. I think most people would realize that when the tank is full and the inlet pipe is delivering a full flow then the exit has to be the same size to get rid of the excess. If not your down pipes would fill up and in the absence of anywhere else to go the gutters would overflow.

So put together your idea of where you want to put your tank put it down on paper present it to your preferred plumber, get all the objections out the way and present to the local authority (if you have to of course some you don’t). Then go ahead with your water tank installation and think of all that lovely rainwater you are going to collect.

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Bit more to it than you can see but there are a few things to consider:

* Where to put the tank.
* Where to pick up the water from the down pipes.
* Where does the overflow go?
* How big the pump? (if needed)
* Where to put the pump.

There are other technicalities to consider but the plumber will put you straight there. (Hopefully.)

Where to put the tank.

Where it can’t be seen! Easier said than done. I have shown it at the back of the block in the corner. Easily screened and takes up the least amount of room. This of course brings up other complications. The corner of the block may be a long distance from the house and the pickup points for the roof water. Other types of tank (flat) are usually placed somewhere against the house and are also usually at the side of the house where they cannot be seen. These types of tanks are normally of a smaller capacity (2000 – 5000 liters or 450 – 1100 gallons). Water is very heavy so the tank should be placed either on a concrete base or a firm crushed gravel bed that extends beyond the boundary of the tank bottom.

Where to pick up the water from the downpipes?

Most down pipes go to a common junction point and then out to the storm water drains, these usually run along the street or sometimes are an easement at the rer of your block. This junction point would need to be located, broken and then a pipe laid from it to the tank. The diagram shows all down pipes going to the water tank. This would be probably only required if it was a large capacity tank (22,500 liters or 5000 gallons and up) For smaller tanks only one or two of the down pipes may be required.

Where does the overflow go?

This goes back to the junction point and reconnects to the storm water drain. Obviously this would be laid at the same time as the pipe from the down pipes to the tank.

How big a water pump?

In general not a very big one is needed if one at all. This depends what you are going to use the water for. If you are just going to use it for garden water maybe not but if you are going to supply the house it is quite probable that you will need one to provide a constant pressure. Often you may even see specials for water tanks that include a pump. The main thing is that it should be a constant pressure pump. That is, it is a pump that has a bladder under pressure that ensures the water is delivered at a constant rate.

Where to put the pump.

Once again where it cannot be seen but will need to be near a power point as most water tank pumps are electrically driven. If your house is elevated put it under the house but make sure it can be got at if servicing is needed. My pump is under my veranda and in 10 years have not had to get at it for servicing. Needless to say the pump should be at the house end of the pipe not close to the tank. If your house is not elevated it should be somewhere under cover.

The above are the basic things to think about if considering putting in a water tank on a straightforward block. If you just want a tank to water the garden then things are simpler. You don’t have to worry about pumps or pipes to the house you just need a tap on the tank unless you were considering using sprinklers then you would need a pump.

Now what if my house is on a sloping block? Well blocks slope two ways, down to the street or down from the street each having unique requirements. Visit my website where you can read articles on these types of tank installations.

Simple it may look but there are some basic things we need to discuss here. One of the main things is what is the water going to be used for and water pressure.

I use my water for everything, drinking, washing, watering the garden etc. In the city you may not want to use it for drinking and it may be that the council will not allow you to. But, you can use it for everything else. This is where water pressure comes in.

I did a little experiment with one of my tanks which was full to the brim. (22,500 liters or, 5,000 gallons) It is a round tank 9ft (2750m) wide and 7 /1/2ft (2290mm) high.

I placed a 2 gallon (10 liter) bucket at the base of the tank and timed it filling up straight from the tank. It took 18 seconds. I did the same in the house sink where the water is delivered from the tank through a water pump. It took 23 seconds. All pipes were the same diameter with the exception of the pipe to the tap in the house which were half the diameter. Did this mean that the pressure straight from the tank was higher than that through the pump. No it didn’t as the house water was restricted by the diameter of the pipe and the tap outlet. Pressure is needed for a few things. One is so the valves in your toilets will deliver until they can fully close off the water when the cistern is full. The other is so that if more than one tap is turned on the pressure does not diminish from the taps.

Do you need a water pump to pump water to the house? Well this depends on how high above your taps the tank is. The higher the tank the greater the water pressure. This then poses the problem of getting the water into a tank that is raised off the ground. Later on this.

Also the lower the water level in the tank the lower the pressure.

As the inlet valve on a toilet is on the average about 700mm above the ground it is instantly obvious that if the water level in a tank sitting on the ground dropped below this then you would not get any water delivery if you did not have a water pump. The same with taps to basins which can be even higher. On top of this if you live in a double story house then the delivery problems are even worse.

By the way folks we are not talking about old fashioned toilets here. They are another problem.

So it looks as for any scenario you most probably will need a water pump in your rainwater systems.

It should also be mentioned that water delivery rate is also dependent upon the size and length of the pipe from the tank to the house. Water flow can also be affected by the number of bends in the pipe. Test this with a hose pipe. One that is still rolled up against one that is pulled right out. (dependant on what your water restrictions are of course on using a hose pipe)

Lets look at some more practical scenarios starting with a standard house on a standard flat block as applied to rainwater systems.

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