WATER
50 SEPTEMBER 2019 GARDENING AUSTRALIA
to keep their established
gardens alive, and to grow
fruit and vegies that need
regular water, regardless
of water restrictions.
If you don’t have a water
tank but do have a garden,
it’s time to start planning where
a tank could go, and gettingitinstalled
so you can begin to store water before
the next drought bites.
TANK BASICS
Water tanks are used to collect and store
the water that runs off a roof when it
rains. They can be fitted beside a house,
garage or shed, placed below a deck or
under a house, or even built into a wall.
While it’s easy to include water tanks in
a new build or during a major garden or
house refurbishment, it’s also possible
to retrofit a tank to any property.
Installing a water tank can be a DIY job,
but most home gardeners need help to
create a level site for the tank (this may
include a concrete pad); a plumber to
connect the tank to the system of gutters
and downpipes from the roof, and manage
where the run-off goes when the tank is
full; and an electrician to install an external
power source and a pump, to allow a hose,
sprinkler or irrigation system to distribute
the water from the tank to the garden.
If you don’t want to install the water
tank yourself, or you’re concerned about
the complexities of it, call in a landscape
contractor or a tank supplier to arrange
everything for you.
GETTING STARTED
Water tanks can be purchased from large
hardware stores and specialist suppliers.
They are easy to order and get delivered
but, as a visit to a supplier or a quick look
online reveals, there’s a bewildering array
of tanks! Don’t become bamboozled when
HOW MUCH WATER
GOES INTO THE TANK?
To estimate how much water
you can collect, multiply the
roof area in square metres by
the annual rainfall in millimetres.
The result will be in litres.
To check the annual rainfall in
your local area, refer to figures
on the Bureau of Meteorology
website (bom.gov.au).