People Who Own or Clean or Manage a Rain Water Tank How Good Is It Now for You and What Do You Use Yours for

AlienC on 22/03/2021 - 11:43

Must be pretty great if you have a rain catchment or water tank right now.

Not that your outdoor garden needs any extra water right now but I can imagine if you use it to flush toilets or other uses it would be overflowing at the moment.

Every time it gets this heavy rain wise I can't help but think that all this water could have been caught and say put to good use like hosing down public toilets or something.. Washing down areas that need washing down like indoor stuff and seating or something.

I heard a friend who works at a school say they bought a rain water tank years ago but had no use for it or the installation wasn't completed or something so now it just sits there being useless.

I guess not all rain catching water tanks get used but for some places like maybe near public parks and toilets it can be used to hose down the facilities that don't get washed by the rain like covered areas etc.

No better feeling than just cleaning some really soiled area with a lot of water but feels bad using water from the dam when it's not overflowing like it is now.

From bushfires to floods what's next raining cats and dogs or koalas and emus.

Can you predict the next big natural disaster or event.

I feel like we might get a huge electrical storm next year or a mini tidal wave nothing japan tsunami level but more flooding at the harbour but that's just me guessing.

One thing for sure is we need to sort this trash landfill problem asap and just waste in general.

I have a buying 1.25L bottle problem mostly soft drinks because I don't carry a bag to work any more so I just buy on the go but I am stopping that.

I have switched or am trying to switch to just buying milk now only as it lasts longer for me at least and is a bit healthier.

Water is ultimately the best with a few electrolytes I think.

Yeah trying to go back to cut down on my carbon emissions and overall waste usage but then you could argue that no one is going to use it or buy it any ways and it is already created but then if you don't buy they will stop selling so what do you do.

I think for my health any ways I need to stop buying most foods and stick back to vegetables and water / milk.

I think I need to put this in off topic because I have rambled and gone off topic few times already ah well.

Have a good day all try make use of this rain if you need it I guess a lot of people don't need to get that bird shit off any more or clean the dust off their car that is one benefit to this rain.

Home & Garden Rain Water Tank

Comments

  • Tee Rex Arms on 22/03/2021 - 11:46
    +27

    I’m worried what’s in the water that you are drinking judging by the rambling post

    • Stewardo on 22/03/2021 - 11:49
      +7

      Lead flashings off an asbestos roof, with 3 ratsak baited rodents floating in it. Should be fine.

      • AlienC on 22/03/2021 - 11:51

        Maybe it's better to just not eat or drink anything.

        • lew380 on 23/03/2021 - 08:15

          Install a rough filter that you can clean out regularly and drink the rain water, tastes amazing and great to get of the chlorinated pool water coming from the mains system. It's not unhealthy if you use simple filtering and maintain the tank.

          I just moved into a house without any mains water and just a rain water tank. I was sceptical and brought an expensive filter but haven't installed it yet, the water is lovely and the tank isn't too murky. Lovely drinking water. You need a filter to stop most debris going into the tank, a fine mesh basket seems to work just fine. Then an optional filter just before your kitchen to just gurrantee your drinking water is safe and that's all you need.

        • MrBear on 23/03/2021 - 09:08
          +1

          Please try that for a month and come back and let us know how you got on.

    • AlienC on 22/03/2021 - 11:51

      Me too. I'm very worried always about me.

  • Baysew on 22/03/2021 - 12:00
    +2

    Question:

    …. rain water tank …what do you use yours for

    Answer:

    …. rain …this water could have been caught

  • kanmen on 22/03/2021 - 12:00
    +1

    Apparently some people hook their rainwater tank up to their washing machine. My family are stingy af but can't say we've done that.

    Also for anyone else reading the OP, don't bother reading past the first 6 paragraphs/lines.

    • AlienC on 22/03/2021 - 12:05

      I guess they save money too by not using any detergent of some sort just add Dishwashing liquid.

    • Stewardo on 22/03/2021 - 12:21

      New houses have to have this by law, some go one step further and connect the bath and shower.

      • kanmen on 22/03/2021 - 13:59

        Oh this is interesting indeed. In an estate about 5 years old some of my neighbours have done it, but can't say my family have. Must be new indeed.

        My neighbour reakons something died inside her tank because her clothes smell weird after the wash. I wonder what you do in that circumstance.

  • MS Paint on 22/03/2021 - 12:34
    +3

    We don't have mains water on our regional property.

    Rain water is collected from the house and shed roof and the storage capacity is 125k litres.

    We use rain water for everything in the house (as we have no choice) but we do filter water for consumption and cooking. I'm sure there is a bit of bird shit and dust and other crap but we don't seem to get sick from it.

    Drinking city water to me tastes very chemically.

    • ihbh on 22/03/2021 - 15:51
      +1

      we don't seem to get sick from it

      … yet :)

      Seriously, I'm starting to plan this for the garden for non-La Nina years.

  • spacebanana on 22/03/2021 - 12:34
    +1

    People in the city are always so funny about using rain water for washing machines etc
    Where as in the country, if you arent't in a town, you rely on rain water for everything. Most setups I have seen are untreated as well so it is quite interesting.
    Is it because of pollution in the city that may contaminate rain water?

    • giftcardinspector on 23/03/2021 - 07:54
      +1

      Yes it's because of pollution. I am from the country so have no issues with rainwater, but when I built my house in Cairns, I couldn't get approval to use rainwater in my showers and dishwasher.
      Washing machine and toilets were fine

    • TheOtherLeft on 23/03/2021 - 08:13
      +1

      Water runoff from city roofs is filthy compared to water runoff from country roofs. Having been on my roof in Sydney many times there's always a layer of fine black particles which is soot from car exhaust. I've visited my in-laws farm in country NSW who are on tank water and there's only a bit of dirt in the water but nothing you can see.

  • pformag on 22/03/2021 - 13:58

    Get a decent water filter system, and you are good to go.

  • knasty on 22/03/2021 - 14:02

    I'm in Sydney. I had a 5,000L tank at my previous and current house, each time hooked up to a Davey Rainbank (mains backup) pump. My experience is that it's empty most of the year when it doesn't rain, and overflows when it does. At that size it only takes a few garden waterings to empty it again. I hooked it up to the washing machine at the prior place but it was a real pain trying to get the water filtered appropriately to get whites clean so at the current place it is garden use only (and for that reason when this Rainbank pump dies I'll replace it with a far cheaper standard pump).

  • MorriJ on 22/03/2021 - 15:36
    +3

    We don't have mains water here in Wisemans Ferry.

    2 x 20,000 L tanks, 1 x 10,000 L bore tank and a smaller 5k rain tank.

    Bore water used for most things; washing; cleaning; showering and using rain water for drinking, kitchen etc.

  • JIMB0 on 22/03/2021 - 16:21

    Lots of new buildings get water tanks installed to meet environmental requirements only for them to go unused and overflow when it rains.

  • Ryanek on 22/03/2021 - 16:42

    That was quite the brain dump eh?

    • bloom on 22/03/2021 - 19:20

      Do You Have Any Issues With This Post?

      • Ryanek on 22/03/2021 - 21:48

        No it's quite entertaining

        • AlienC on 23/03/2021 - 11:41
          +1

          Good I'm glad it helped.

          Nothing like staring at a screen full of boring stuff and content.

  • GeneralSkunk on 22/03/2021 - 21:59
    +1

    I grew up on a farm with rain water. It was fine, we considered it to be cleaner than city water. Maybe a bit of bird crap in it though. But city water catchments are lakes with dead animals, crap, etc in them too. That’s why they chlorinate the water.

    We’re going back rural soon, and will be on rain water. I was wondering if anyone adds fluoride to their water. Dentists definitely advocate it.

  • eddieboy2 on 23/03/2021 - 08:32

    Had 500 gallon metal rain water tank for 40 years and use it every day, only run out of water once. We use rain water from the roof all the time for drinking and tea/coffee, water for wild birds. Have a water filter between gutter and tank that filters out leaves and most bird poo before it hits tank. Simply unclick mesh cover and empty mesh after a heavy rain. Filter also has a lever to allow rain water to bypass tank for first rain after a long dry spell (as happens in Adelaide). Had tank cleaned once about five years ago. Have recently bought a kitchen water filter on stand that sits in kitchen and we now filter rain water through that before use. Water tastes great…certainly notice the difference in taste between rain water and tap water in Adelaide.

  • skillet on 23/03/2021 - 09:49

    I grew up on bore water. Rain water tank for the plants and for non human consumption tasks. I did drink from the untreated rain storage many times didn't get sick it's never cleaned periodically only if theres dead stuff when it stinks. There is a lot of crap in there.

    Anyway I moved to the metro area I have balloon pouch type storage under the house. It is like a water bed when full it's fun. It's also a good visual how much is left but it takes up so much space. So it's never cleaning and there is no access other than the inlet and drain. The water tend to be a bit yellowish after 12 years of service. I have never empty it before it will take days of pumping. It's oversized for my use, I planned for end of world drought and emergency. In reality I use it for the garden and outdoor stuff, I don't add any chemicals to it.

    I fitted a three stage filter just for the car because I find sediments and water spots after cleaning it. It's also good for the high pressure washer. I have a coconut activated carbon filter system in backup for emergency. I tasted it and it no unfortunately it doesn't taste anything. I recommend that anyone with a rain storage, have some sort of drinking filter system to keep at home for emergency situations. No cooking required.

  • OzHunterNSW on 23/03/2021 - 11:02

    Why don't you get the disused tank off your mate…
    You can use the water for gardens, washing car, etc. No reason why you can't connect to the toilet, or washing machine.

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