Why install a rainwater tank?
Rainwater tanks store rainwater run-off from roofs and offer an alternative supply of water for the home and garden. In essence the benefits of installing a rainwater tank are to:
1) Reduce consumption of mains water thereby saving water and money.
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(In order to collect most of the rain (around 80%) that falls onto the areas of your roof you have connected to gutters and downpipes into your tank. For example, if 10 mm of rain falls on to 100 m2 of roof you'll 'harvest' about 800 L of rainwater. That's about as much as an average Sydney household of three would use in a day if they made no efforts to save water. If they did, they'd get their consumption down to around 500-600 L a day).
Another rule of thumb, every m2 of roof equals 1 litre of water for every 1mm of rain. Multiply total m2 of roof area by annual rainfall average and that provides the total potential catchment per year. |
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b) Offset cost with rebate -
Householders will receive a rebate from
Sydney Water if ordered paid in full and
installed before 31 st July 2008, as
outlined below:Tank (s) capacity |
Rebate |
2,000 - 3,999 litres |
$150 |
4,000 - 6, 999 litres |
$400 |
7,000 litres and above |
$500 |
Rainwater tank connected by a
plumber to toilet and/or
washing machine |
Additional $300 |
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2) Lower household impact on the environment by reducing household demand on mains water as well as the amount of stormwater runoff into rivers and oceans.
3) Harvest' water that tastes better and is generally less salty, which is better for appliances and plants.
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