Water Tanks In Perth and WA
Perth does it hard when it comes to water. Despite getting more annual rain than Melbourne, Perth has long periods without rain which can make or break farmers and put huge pressure on the dams. This is most evident 2002 when water reserves dropped to around 19%. Since then things have been a little better however Perth still has not had their dams over 50% full for a long time.
The Water Corporation has now turned to alternative water sources such as desalination, recycling, even the concept of a canal from North- West at a cost of billions of dollars.
Even in a bad year Perth gets quite a lot of rain so wouldn't it be better to just buy everyone a water tank rather than spend billions of dollars on desalination plants that also need huge amounts of power to run them?
When calculating your water useage and your water tank size you need to allow for a longer period without rain than other capital cities. The average for January is just 8.6mm which is very low with December, January and February not much better. Depending on how much you intend to rely on your tanks you need to either...
a) get more tanks to increae your storage and help get you through the dry months, or
b) accept that you can only rely on your water tanks for around 70% of the year, and use mains water over Summer when your tanks get low.
To reduce your Mains consumption by 70% is pretty amazing when you think about it. If everyone did that we would nt hav a problem and we sure wouldn't need desalination plants!
To make any kind of difference you really need to install a rainwater tank with over 5000 litre capacity. To achieve this volume with Supertanks you need at least 13 tanks.
The Department of Water offers rebates for tanks and many developers and local councils are offering incentives for installing tanks. Consult your local council or developer for more information or visit the Waterwise website for current rebates and info about rainwater tanks. You might also like to read a bit more about the reasons for the water restrictions
For more information about Perth and Western Australia's rainfall and and help designing your rainwater tank system please see our Water Tank System Design Guide. or click the link for more information about slimline water tanks.
Article:
Rainwater Tanks Perth – Using Rainwater to Your Advantage
Rainwater might seem like a simple fact of life when you live in the big city, or even a nuisance. However, cities all over the world and especially in Australia have been developing rainwater tank systems to turn rain into a valuable resource. In this article, we’ll go over how rainwater tanks in Perth work, as well as some basics of their general use worldwide and how you can use them to save money.
The main way rainwater tanks in Perth are used is to collect runoff. Runoff is the rainwater that is not absorbed into the ground or evaporated back into the air. In nature, the amount of rain that is absorbed is around fifty percent, the amount evaporated is roughly forty, and ten percent is runoff. Due to the asphalt and concrete in cities, the amount of rainwater that becomes runoff jumps to thirty-five, and things like storm drains are necessary. Rainwater tanks allow people to use this rain as a self sufficient, renewable resource. Most rainwater harvested for domestic use is collected from the roof and stored in rainwater tanks for use in Summer or dry season
Most water from Perth rainwater tanks is perfectly safe providing some simple maintenance is performed to keep the water clean and pure. The rainwater itself is perfectly safe but can pick up a range of pollution like bird droppings, dirt, bacteria and other potentially harmful substances on your roof and gutters. To keep the rainwater pure it should be pre- filtered with a first- flush device like the Superhead to remove the pollution before it enters the Rainwater tank. Water collected from roads and hard ground surfaces is likely to contain a lot more pollutants and should not be consumed.
Rainwater can be a great way to save money by paying less on water bills, as well as being one of the primary ways a citizen can practice self sufficiency. A Rainwater tank in Perth will pay for itself over time by providing free water to you all year. With the cost of water going higher and higher it makes good sense to install some kind of water tank. Obviously the more water you can harvest the better, but any kind water tank will help to make a difference to water reserves and also your pocket.
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