Water Tank Question

[GMC]

Hi people

I am going to install a water tank this weekend (Its supposed to rain and I want the water!!)

Its only a small tank 3000 litres, and I only want to use it to top up my pool and odds and sods around the yard (Clean paint brushes, make cement, maybe - if the wife forces me, wash the cars) and I dont intend to "plum it in".

Do I need to have this council approved??

Thanks in advance

GMC

I am in Brisbane - Stafford

[JDarvall]

There's nothing to them . I wouldn't even bother finding out. I'd just do it.
Asking them may open a can of worms. Throw down your throat all sorts of stupid rules and regulations and fees.

[rsser]

Down in Marvellous Melb AFAIK you only need a permit if you are going to construct a stand for it.

But my inclinations are like Jake's.

[snowyskiesau]

In my suburb (Haberfield) you need council approval, I think it's a no cost DA.
The tank can't be visible from the street and must be in 'a sympathetic colour'

Bugger that for a joke, I just went ahead and put one in.

[Bluegum]

From memory Ipswich council requires it to be 1.5metres from a boundry fence. Other wise no problems as to installing it. If your going to use it for the pool perhaps a first flush unit may be the go as well.

[batcat]

In my suburb (Haberfield) you need council approval, I think it's a no cost DA.
The tank can't be visible from the street and must be in 'a sympathetic colour'

Bugger that for a joke, I just went ahead and put one in.

w00t another 'Haberfieldian'
In Haberfield you need a DA/BA/ Engineer's Certificate/Shading Diagram/Paint colour Diagram/Sewerage Diagram and Environmental Impact Study to put a clasp on your letterbox
:doh:

[fenderbelly]

its only small, just put it in, forget the council.Just remember to level the area where its going and you need the base material to be at least 150mm wider than the tank all round .

[GMC]

its only small, just put it in, forget the council.Just remember to level the area where its going and you need the base material to be at least 150mm wider than the tank all round .

Thanks to all for the responses - I appreciate your comments

I have installed the tank - it was an easy job - put in on a base of treated sleepers and blue board top - looks good, just waiting for it to rain now!!!

Could be a long wait :)

GMC

[JDarvall]

Thanks to all for the responses - I appreciate your comments

I have installed the tank - it was an easy job - put in on a base of treated sleepers and blue board top - looks good, just waiting for it to rain now!!!

Could be a long wait :)

GMC

:oo: Did you just go ahead and do it yourself without permission!....jjjjjeeeeezus. What makes you so special eh....you probably just broke the law :oo::((


:D:wink:

[Buzza]

In South Australia, our illustrious leader has decided the rain belongs to the State Government. He will now attempt to tax those using rainwater. Especially dams on farms and other business premises. A type of Thatcherism. :((

Still, it's good to know that the state owns the rainwater and therefore said government can be held responsible for it. This will apply to those who were conned into accepting rebates for installing rainwater tanks as well if he gets his way.

TAX THE DROUGHT - In South Australia, the driest state in the driest continent. :~

[neilb]

Hey , you timed that well. We had one hell of a downpour and storm tonight here in Logan City. No doubt you would have got it as well. :U

[felixe]

Hi GMC, when we purchased ours it had to meet certain requirements (level surface, correct drainage, correct installation of outlet pipe to a drain, distance from the fence) if you are unsure then a quick surf of the council website should see you right.

But it does sound like it all went ok, so as long as it does not drain onto the ground and it has the proper mesh screens for inlet and outlet you should be ok. (Did you read the Sunday mail about the mosquito/ross river problem?)

You will need to supply photos with your application for rebates for both the local and State Governments, so if there are any issues with either of them in regards to your installation I am sure they will be in contact!

Your installation from tank to pump to tap should be just as easy, I did mine this week and purchased all my bits from the local plumbing shop (they were helpful). I installed 3 taps around the property.

[AlexJ66]

GMC, we have installed a 3000 litre tank in Red Hill. We only needed council approval if we wanted to apply for the water tank rebate, or if we wanted to plumb it into the house. As we wanted to apply for the rebate, we had to send them pictures showing that I had installed an overflow, that is all. I have not plumbed it into the house as it is only used for water the garden and washing the car, and perhaps topping up the pool if we need to, although it tends to empty the tank rather quickly.

I did purchase a small Onga pump off eBay for about $260 which fantastic, and gives great pressure up hill through about 40 feet of garden hose :)

Alex

Edit: sorry, just realised I have more or less echoed Felixe's post ;)

[rsser]

What are you guys using for a pad?

Can I get away with level coarse sand or Lilydale toppings and no vibrating tamper?

[Theremin]

You don't need a permit to install that size tank, but it still needs to comply with local council regulations (eg. all inlets and outlets fitted with mosquito mesh, minimum distance from boundary etc).

[Gumby]

What are you guys using for a pad?

Can I get away with level coarse sand or Lilydale toppings and no vibrating tamper?

Of course! Too may people run around thinking that they have to have concrete or a stand. Mine is 2200L and sits on about 6" of builders sand with some TP sleepers as the border. Never packed it down - didn't need to. the tank settles anyway but sand doesn't move that much.

It collects from about 70sqm of roof space so 1mm of rain = 70L. She fills pretty quickly. I used to have half that roof area feeding in but found that I can use the tank more now. if it looks like rain for a day or two, I pump about 700L back on to the garden through one of those black soaker hoses. I just run it for an hour using a simple timer on the power point. When the rain comes, she fill again. I figure it's better on the garden than back down the storm water.

[rsser]

Thanks Gumby.

Mine's 2700 l off 50 sq m of roof.

Looking forward to some watering at a time when I'm awake ;-}

[felixe]

rsser,
for my pad I cemented 4 posts into the ground (leftovers from building the front fence) and bolted on some sleepers. Filled it with fine gravel, levelled it off and packed it down. I did not use a vibrating damper, just flattened it and let it sit for a month - the rains helped to pack it down.
1 month later I installed the tank.

[jackiew]

my tanks have just been installed on sand by a plumber. I put a brick wall edging round it to keep the sand from washing away which so far seems to be working. The plumber didn't vibrate the sand down which I may regret in future, we will see.

If you are connecting to a pump and the laundry/toilet from the tank make sure that you don't get sand in the hoses or in the holes in the tank ... see my tale of woe under plumbing:((

[Buzza]

I got my tank 30 years ago and it was 2000 gallons, which is 9000 litres I think. It has a flat top, and made of dalvanised iron. There are three rings of galv for the tank, and I had an empty fourth ring made up as well. This empty ring was placed onto the ground and levelled. Then we had a small tip truck back up to it and tip in sand, which we levelled off. Tar paper was placed on top of the sand, and then the tank was sat on top of the tar paper. This tank now has as many dowpipes as I can rig running into it. It can be used to water the veggies by way of an underground watering system I mad up with slotted ag pipe. :2tsup:

[rsser]

Thanks guys.

The plan was to build a box with 1" thick treated pine sunk flush with the ground, weed mat, then sand or Lilydale topping.

Will go ahead.

[GMC]

Thanks guys for all the great replies... some quick things

I didnt know I could still get a rebate for a watertank that wasnt plumbed in to the house - I'll do some research on the council website.

No I didnt see the Courier Mail on the Ross River fever issues

No we didnt get too much of that rain - a bit of lightning and about 10 spots!

I heard a rumor the city council here is thinking of putting on water meters on our tanks... so they want us to pay for the water we collect - funny our dams are a long way West of us, and the water we would normally see go down the drain would not end up in these dams... but they think we should still pay for it - - this will be interesting * rolling my eyes *

Thanks again for the comments...I appreciate it

GMC

PS A simple sleeper base sloped front to back (Quarter bubble) for drainage, and sloped towards the tap - so I can completely drain it - is very easy to make and very cheap - it costs about 15 a sleeper, and I used 6. 5 at 400 centres for the base and the other for noggins... a sheet of blue board is about $30 and one sheet cut up (Score and snap) was all it took

[felixe]

The council rebate may be hard to get, but make sure you investigate the (seperate) State Government rebate which is still available and I think you get $750 back (but don't quote me!)

[GMC]

The council rebate may be hard to get, but make sure you investigate the (seperate) State Government rebate which is still available and I think you get $750 back (but don't quote me!)


Thanks - all up the project only costs me about $1350 - and a pizza and a couple of beers for a mate to help me :2tsup: