Buying a water tank for the garden.

jittitoria, Mar 2, 8:53am
I have a large vege garden -6 raised beds plus fruit trees in auckland and really want to get a water tank. Anyone suggest capacity I would need and recommend any particular products! Ta
aredwood, Mar 2, 9:34am
Get a 5,000L to 10,000tank but use it to supply the whole house. Install a rainaid valve to keep a min level via mains water so you never run out. Although you won't save any water in this current dry weather. You will recoup it when the weather goes through one of those rains everyday phases. You will need a far bigger tank if you only want to use it for the garden. Since you will need to collect and store your entire summer water needs over winter. Instead of only needing to store water for about a week or 2.
jittitoria, Mar 2, 9:39am
Awesome, thank you!
skin1235, Mar 2, 10:26am
also check with others re charges - the water charges levied are not just for delivery, they also include discharge - and councils figure that if you have a 10,000 ltr tank you must be discharging it into their system so charge you accordingly - they also take a dim view of people having tanks without them knowing -(otherwise how could they charge you)
I don't believe they allow any provision for a tank solely for garden watering - according to them they own the water (in partnership with the local iwi) even when it falls from the sky
twink19, Mar 2, 11:41am
we have a 1000lt tank for garden, one of thoses plasticones about $100, water from shower goes into it, and if you need pressure get a small electric pump, works great
lythande1, Mar 2, 6:51pm
How much water do you use on the gardens! Check the water bill and compare to winter use.
We use 20,000l on ours - not inc house.so it would have to be a massive tank.
We have 2 vege gardens, a fruit patch, several fruit trees, 3 fruit vines and 3 misc herb/vege gardens.
trade4us2, Mar 2, 7:44pm
You can't supply your whole house in Auckland if you are connected to the sewer system.

A 1000 litre tank for watering the garden and washing the car is OK.
gardie, Mar 2, 9:02pm
We are on tank water for everything but have a seperate 2000L tank for the veggie garden that lasts about 3 -4 weeks without rain over the summer months.
jittitoria, Mar 2, 10:56pm
Thanks everyone for all the advice :)
skin1235, Mar 2, 11:02pm
"you can't" !, or 'you still get charged even if you turn the tap off at the tobby, cos the charges are for water in and sewage out, and the sewage actually charges at a higher rate than the water coming in'
skyblue17, Mar 3, 2:00am
A 1000lt plastic one for $100.! Where from.!
aitchdub, Mar 3, 2:04am
Search here for 'IBC' or '1000l tank'.Lots of used IBCs for sale. Make sure you get a food quality one. Try these.
accroul, Mar 3, 2:21am
I think we have 10,000L. Our stormwater is plumbed so it goes to the tank first then once that is full, the balance goes to the road but we also have a tap so we can cancel the tank out of the system if needs be. 3 weeks ago, DH water blasted the entire house using water from the tank - great being able to do this because being in AK, we'd have been charged for water in AND the sewage charge as well even though none would be going into the system!
lemming2, Mar 4, 1:58am
I live in auckland in a small townhouse, with not a huge amount of space for a tank. Nevertheless, I now have installed betwwen the house and the drive a 3,300 litre tank! It's oval, not round, so takes up less space; no way could I have found space for anything bigger. It's also plumbed into the laundry. Sure, it doesn't last all Summer: but it all helps. And, of course, it's connected to the Mains for when the rainwater runs out.
However, my garden has to get by on a maximum of one watering per week with a handheld hose. So far, it's surviving . pots get an allowance more often. I also bucket my laundry rinse-cycle water onto the garden - slave labour, but all good exercise, so kills two birds with one stone!
Some years ago when Waitakere City resisted the piping of Waikato River water to Auckland, our household was using more than a bucket in the shower! We had square plastic boxes which we actually stood in while showering. We used this water for flushing the toilet.
(Also cut showering to a minimum by doing sponging down at the handbasin . so not more than 1 shower per day, and if not working up a sweat, sometimes not that. As far as I know, there was no issue with the dreaded B. O. - I did actually ask my friends at work!)

THEN: we got a letter from the Water people saying we weren't using enough water, and if we didn't use more we'd be penalised!
The City Council certainly heard about that one! And no more rubbish was heard from the Water people. Talk about heads in the sand .
trade4us2, Mar 4, 6:29am
How many litres a day were you using! It should be on your water bill.
Two of us use about 160 litres per day. After I install my tank for watering the garden and washing the car I imagine they will be phoning me.
However since they didn't notice a nil reading for more than a year because the meter gave up, maybe they won't notice.
trader_84, Mar 4, 8:28am
They don't have water meters in town (yet) But out of interest . how much do you get charged for water! Is it a per litre charge!
lemming2, Mar 4, 7:43pm
Household of two: 135-140Litres / day.
lemming2, Mar 4, 7:51pm
I've always lived in West Auckland: we've always been on metered water.
it's currently $1.343 / thousand litres.
What's changed since the big amalgamation is the wastewater charge, which used to be a fixed portion of the household rate.
Now it's a monthly percentage of the Water Rate, 78.5% at $2.28 per thousand litres, plus a fixed annual charge of $190.
So I pay far more for the waste water than I do for the fresh water.
lythande1, Mar 4, 10:33pm
If you run off a tank and don't use town water, in Auckland, Watercare charge you a fixed charge for what goes down the drain - it's on their website - about $580 a year from memory.
So yes you can do it, just there is a special charge for it.
purplegoanna, Apr 4, 8:04pm
please please pease if your going to get a IBC/1000ltr tanks make 100% sure u know whats in it.there to many people on here selling tanks that have had dangerous goods in them, some highly toxic, most of these still contain remenants of the ingredient it first contained and your expected to flush it out yourself onto your lawn/drain or street.be very very aware and research the product that was in your tank before you buy it, i got one that had the base for childrens non toxic waterbased paint but i nearly got one cheaper until i found it had had a Class 8 dangerous goods acid product in it!