Rainwater harvesting is a great water saver option for homeowners. In fact, Sydney Water explains, with a tank properly installed you could save up to 40% of your drinking water supply!! That’s up to $200 per year!
What is rainwater harvesting?
Rainwater harvesting is capturing the rainfall that falls on your property in rainwater tanks. When the rain falls onto your roof, it is channeled through gutters and pipes and then filtered into the tank. The tanks are covered to prevent evaporation and eliminate contamination such as mosquitos and algae.
Capturing one of our most valuable resources can help ensure it is used wisely. It’s also a great way you can contribute to a more sustainable future.
What are the benefits?
Rainwater harvesting can have huge benefits for the community at many levels.
Individual benefits
At an individual level, harvesting rainwater can substantially reduce your use of potable water. A well designed home could reduce water usage by as much as 90,000 litres per annum – largely in those high-use areas like washing machines and toilets – and that translates into lower bills for the family household.
Did you know? If stored correctly, rainwater can be used for drinking. Or you can also flush your toilet or wash your clothes with rainwater!
Local benefits
Locally, rainwater harvesting has been shown to generate more jobs – specifically in the building and plumbing industries and directly in the tank construction business. A recent study in South East Queensland showed that an extra 800 jobs would be created in that area alone if rainwater harvesting was installed on 90% of new buildings.
Benefits across the country
When you apply the concept of rainwater harvesting across an entire neighbourhood and then carry that throughout a state – the potential savings amount to billions of dollars. Currently there is considerable strain placed upon water storage infrastructure and pumping water to households and businesses. Consider the possible savings to the community if each household, in each city, in each state, reduced its demand for water by 90,000 litres!
The long term demand for water would reduce massively across each city, resulting in smaller infrastructure across the board. The number of treatment plants and desalination plants, and the amount pipes and pumps, if required, would be reduced.
Environmental benefits of rainwater harvesting
As well as the benefits in reduced costs that harvesting rainwater brings, it also helps environmentally. The environmental benefits include:
- Reduction in peak stormwater flow.
- Improved local waterways.
- Reduction in infrastructure costs required to manage stormwater.
- Likelihood of flooding is reduced.
- In times of drought, rainwater harvesting will continue to provide water, long after run-off into catchment areas has halted.
In short, rainwater harvesting has benefits for helping to cope with both droughts and severe rain events. Something that is becoming more common these days.
The current climate
In December 2018, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, the rainfall for Greater Sydney was in fact, above average. However, NSW as a whole was 27% below average, with some sites having their lowest rainfall on record.
With most of the country in drought, there is no better time to install a rainwater tank and make every drop count. You will also have the satisfaction knowing the water you are saving is having a positive environmental impact.
Installing a rainwater tank
Taking the first steps to recycling rainwater is easier than you might imagine. Rainwater tanks come in all shapes and sizes and there will be one that suits your home. There are tank models that can be installed along the sides of houses, under decks, underground (in new houses) and there are now innovative under-house bladder-style storage systems that fit under your floor.
Harvesting rainwater makes sense economically and environmentally – all you need is the right advice to make the most of this age old and common sense practise.
Whatever your rainwater tank needs are, JEDI Plumbing can give you the right advice. Call us today on 0411 774 381 to discuss what type of rainwater tank is right for you.
