by Vivian Garzon

Why Should I Consider a Water Tank and Water Pump for My Garden?

If you're renovating your house and you've started to move outdoors and work on the garden, you're going to realise that you'll start using more water and when we say more, we mean a LOT MORE WATER
Why Should I Consider a Water Tank and Water Pump for My Garden?

If you're renovating your house and you've started to move outdoors and work on the garden, you're going to realise that you'll start using more water and when we say more, we mean a LOT MORE WATER! Most people start off outdoors by getting their grass luscious and green and or try and start out a hobby veggie patch or garden bed until they see their water bill. That's generally where the planning journey begins, but what's often forgetting is the thought of water systems or water management.

If you've moved into a relatively new area or new estate the chances are that the council has already set some guidelines for them to have to try and harvest water to use for toilets or for the garden, some even have a purple tap outside their garden which means that there is a community rainwater harvesting system. If you're in an older area, we recommend you find a good water tank and water pump combination to help you do what you need. The size of the tank will depend on how big your roofline is or how much water you're hoping to store.

Water Solution Partners

At Buildmat we've partnered up with ASC Water Tanks, they're experts in the industry and most builders or plumbers will know them for their knowledgable expertise and highest quality of customer service. They have a huge range of pumps and tanks and it can be overwhelming so If you have any technical questions in relation to pumps they'll be able to give you a hand.

So whether you're after a water tank, water pump or water tank accessories be sure to check out their online store for premiumquality products first.

 

Why do I Need a Rain WaterTank?

Rainwater tanks are the most critical part of your water storage solution because it is the vessel that does the water storage, and it holds the rain until you need to use it. They're a really good investment if you're going to start doing some gardening work, what you'll see is that it helps hold your rain from the rainy winters and carries that to the summer where it's scorching hot and you'll start to need to use a lot more water in your gardens. A rainwater tank can collect up 80% of the rain that falls on to your roof, normally this would go into the sewers but keeping that will mean you can use it for the garden.

 

Environmental Benefits

There are several environmental benefits in installing a water tank. Firstly it reduces the amount of water that we use from the mainswater supply, this means that we reduce the amount of drinking water that's stored for the community to use. We should try and minimise as much as we can how much drinking water is used for flushing the toilet, or doing the laundry or watering the garden. So having a rain water storagetank will help keep drinking water in our reservoirs rather being flushed down our toilets.

Secondly, in some areas that are prone to flash flooding, if every house stored a little bit of water then it reduces the overload a bit and helps relieve some of the risks that lead to flooding.

Also in the country areas where large water tanks are being used, it can assist during bushfires

Installation and Regulations

Depending on where you live and what council you fall under, you may need council approval, but generally, this would only be the case if you were trying to connect your tank to the mainswater supply, or if you were installing a tank larger than 10,000 Litres. Some councils may even have government rebates to try and encourage water saving. Unfortunately, at the moment there are no rebates in Victoria.

Always use a licensed plumber, we find that we say this a lot and we find that whenever we hear about a disaster happening it'll be because someone's tried to connect the water pump and water tanks themselves. We see some people trying to save $40 and not installing a ball valve which helps cut off the water supply from the water tank temporarily so that fixes can be done to the water pump. It's good to save, but sometimes it's not worth it, and getting a professional to do the installation will save you some headaches in the future and will also ensure that you keep your pump year warranty for peace of mind.

 

How to choose a water tank

There is a large range of water tanksizes and it can be overwhelming when you go to look at a water tank, and you see heaps of numbers flying at you, so let's break down the process:

  • Dimensions- start off by figuring out what space you have to work with, this will determine the type and shape of the tank
  • Litres of Water- After you figure out the dimensions you have to work with then you can start looking at how many Litres of water you want to store in your water tank
  • Availability- some people forget to check whether the seller or manufacturer supply to your area. Whether you're in Melbourne VIC or Sydney NSW, Perth WA, Brisbane QLD or regional Australia you need to check whether the tank you're after is supplied in your area because they're so big sometimes it's not worth sending it to the other side of Australia

 

Different Types of Tanks

There are different types as well as a wide range of water tanks available and they all come in different shapes, purposes and range of colours.

  • The most economical water tank out there is apoly watertank (sometimes known by its long name polyethylenetanks), most of these are Australian Made so they are high quality and made to Australian standards and are food grade, but it's always best to double-check with the seller or manufacturer.
  • Slimline water tankshelp with trying to use as little footprint as possible by building slimmer, longer and taller, these help with being able to put a tank beside the house or beside the shed so it doesn't look as out of place.
  • Round Water Tanksoften these can be made bigger but they require a larger footprint and you would generally only see these on farms or areas where land space is not an issue.
  • There are alsounderground tanks, which are used to try and save space but this requires a lot of planning to execute and is considered to be on the expensive side.
  • concrete tanksused to be very popular in the past because they were built sturdy and built to last, but now there are more cost-effective options we don't see these as often.
  • Steel WaterTanksneed a longer lead time because they're all made to order in corrugated steel, but this means that you can specify the exact dimensions that you require

 

Water Pump Melbourne

If you're looking for a water pump in Melbourne then look no further because we have a wide range of water pumps for all different uses. Whether you're after a domestic water pump, fire fighting petrol pump or a submersible pump we probably have the right one available for you.

If you have any specialised questions relating to the use of your pump then we'll make sure we pass you on to our water pump partners who are professionals in the industry and they'll be able to guide you through the selection process.

Factors to consider when looking for a rainwater tankpump

Before you start your journey in searching for the perfect rainwater pump you should determine what the pump will be used for, whether it's domestic residential use or commercial use, or farming and irrigation. This will determine what the water output will be and how powerful the pump needs to be, and maybe the features the pump will require.

To help figure out what type of pump you need first you need to have the answers to a couple of questions ready, such as:

  • how many stories is the house?this will determine whether you need a single story pump or a double story pump
  • how many bathrooms and kitchens are in the house?This is to ensure that the pump has enough power to supply your house because you might have multiple toilet flushing and people showering the last thing you want is your pump not being able to support that.
  • Whether you're solely on rainwater supply or mainswater supply?Some pumps are very advanced and come with features that allow the pump to switch from tank water supply to mainswater supply.
  • Installation -make sure you get a professional plumber to help you install your pump because if you try to do a DIY job without knowing what you're doing you could possibly damage your pump and these types of damages wouldn't be covered under warranty by most suppliers.
  • Brands -At ASC they hold a variety of different brands to make sure that you have a wide range of selection whether you're after a DAB, Grundfos, Davey, Onga, or Bianco pump, you can browse our collection or if you have one in particular in mind you can shoot us an email.

Types of pumps

You'll also need to decide whether you want to be able to see the pump or not because there are

  • Submersible pumps-these sit inside the rainwater harvesting tanks so that they're out of view, but just remember if there are any issues that come up it is a bit harder to access.
  • External pumps- These sit outside next to your house and water tank, they're easier to access but they are exposed to nature so make sure you consider getting a pump cover
  • Garden pumps- These might be for you to water the garden or to run sprinkler systems in the garden
  • Pond Pumps- These pumps are made to send water around the pond, they're a lot cheaper than a standard pump
  • Pool Pumps- These pools are made specifically for swimming pools
  • Fire fightingpumps- Specifically built for firefighting, generally they are petrol powered