Waverley Council > Environmental Services > Rainwater Tanks

Installing a Rainwater Tank in Waverley

An average household uses between 450 and 600 litres of drinking water each day. Worse, around 90% of water used in a house, and 80% used in a unit, does not need to be drinking quality:

Step 1- Size does matter

Think about whether you want a tank just for the garden or for laundry, toilets and washing too. This will help determine the tank size you’ll need and where to put it. Once you’ve done this, you can:

• Calculate the volume of water you use that could be replaced by rainwater
• Estimate your roof surface area and, using Sydney’s annual rainfall (1600mm), calculate how much rain your roof could collect.
   

  HINT: Sydney Water estimates you’ll need a 2,000-litre tank if you just want to water the garden or a 5,000-litre tank if you plan to connect the toilet or washing machine as well.

  HINT: See the green plumbers’ website www.greenplumbers.com.au for more information about tank sizes.

Step 2- Check your roof
Check that your roof is not made of substances unsuitable for collecting rainwater, for example if it contains lead-based paints or bitumen-based materials.

Step 3- Do I need to lodge a Development Application?

Rainwater tank installation is regulated by the State Environmental Planning Policy No. 4 (SEPP4)

• A Development Application is not necessary for small tanks (10,000 litres or less) which meet all SEPP4 requirements and do not occur on heritage-listed sites.
• A Development Application is necessary for al tank installations on heritage-listed sites and for large tanks (over 10,000 litres). Both still need to meet all SEPP4 requirements.

Your Development Application must be approved before the tank is installed.

Step 4- What type of tank?
Find out about tanks that suit your needs. The price of rainwater tanks vary greatly, ranging from a few hundred dollars up to thousands.

HINT: Try Choice Consumer’s website for some helpful buying tips www.choice.com.au

HINT: To find a supplier, check in your local Yellow Pages under ‘tank and tank equipment’, or browse the net.

Step 5- Other costs to consider

Apart from the cost of the tank, consider:

• Plumbing costs, depending on where the tank water will be used
• whether you need to make adjustments to your roof and guttering
• excavation costs for an underground structure
• backflow devices, first flush, mosquito nets
• whether you need a pump.

Rebate
Sydney Water offers a rebate of up to $1,500 to residential, commercial and industrial customers who install a rainwater tank, depending on:

• the date you bought your tank
• the size of your tank
• whether a licensed plumber connects your rainwater supply to your toilet or washing machine.

For more details see www.sydneywater.com.au or call 13 20 92

As well as Rainwater Tanks…

What else can you do to save water? Think about installing water-saving devices and changing your water-use habits. See Sydney Water’s Saving Water Guides www.sydneywater.com.au

Download this page as a 3-fold pamphlet .

For more information contact Environmental Officer (Water & Coastal) on:
Telephone:    9369 8086
Fax:              8387 1820
Email:           coreyf@waverley.nsw.gov.au