Tank Water - Clean water when you need it

Water tanks have become an essential part of the home as well as commercial and industrial buildings as they provide tank water when mains water is either restricted or not available. Tanks of water can be used for a wide range of applications from watering the garden through to flushing toilets and washing clothes. Tank water is now an essential part of life both in the country and now in the city and the most important element is tanks provide water when you need it.

Finding the right water tank

Finding the right tank for water is important and there three main criteria for selecting your new water tank. You should ask yourself: how much water do you need? How much water can you catch? And where do you want place the water tank?

What type of water tank do you need?

The amount of tank water you need is dependent on what you intend to use it for. For example if the use is for household toilets and the washing machine then this can be calculated out using the Bushmans tank usage calculator. If it is going to be used around a commercial building then there is a need to calculate the average daily off take of water from the tank.

How much tank water you can harvest and store is dependant on how much roof area there is to catch the rain, what the annual rain fall is and what the distribution of that rain fall over the year is. The amount of tanks water that can be caught and stored over a 12 month period is a simple calculation of the number of square metres of roof area multiplied by the annual rainfall in millimetres. The distribution of rain fall is more difficult to calculate as there are areas that most of the rainfall comes over a 4 to 5 month period. In these cases then there is a call for a larger water tank so no water is lost during the rainy season. These factors will determine the size and number of tanks for water that a particular house or building will require.

Water tank Placement

The third area to look at is where you want to place your water tanks. This will depend on the amount of space available and the height of the building that the rainwater is to be caught from. If you are in the inner city and space is limited, the best tank for water would be a slimline tank which can fit alongside the house or garage. If you are on a farm or a larger block then a round water tank will be the most cost effective solution.

Making sure your water tank is clean

When installing a water tank it is important that the water going into the tank is clean. The best way to ensure this is if a leaf strainer is fitted to the down pipe, an mosquito strainer is fitted to the tank and a first flush diverter is used to flush away any dirt that may come with the first water that comes to the tank from a rainfall event.

For more information on tanks for water and how to get the best out or your water tank go to Bushman Tanks