Rainwater tanks - Plastic vs Galv

I don't think that heating up of the water is really a problem as it takes an awful lot if heat to raise the temp of a reasonable sized tankful of water... As for just using your tank water on the garden? What a bloody waste! Here in the country it's bore water for the garden and the dunny and the rainwater (filtered) is for the washing and the drinking. I have 12,000 gallons all up and in 20 plus years here we have never come close to running out, dishwasher, auto washing machine and all. Mind you, with the current drought I could be in strife this year if I'm not careful.

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I don't think that heating up of the water is really a problem

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It was a guy who makes concrete tanks that told me that, so like I said probably crap. Tell you what though, I've got a short length of polypipe that's exposed in the run from the tank to my shed and it only takes 15 minutes or so for the sun to heat that up hot enough to make a cuppa ;)

Is the pipe used for pool solar systems poly? Whatever it is it heats up nicely my pools at about 28 degrees today...hmmmmm....

HH.

We have about 60 000 litres of water storage spread between both steel and poly tanks.

There is no difference in taste between steel and poly, however the poly delivers "clearer" water (the old steel tanks have crappy leave catchers).

We run the whole house off tank water (no mains or bore) and it goes through a twin 5 micron particle filter and then through a UV bacterial "filter".

The poly are lower maintenance and I would bet they last a lot longer than steel.

Our oldest steel tank is probably 25 years old and has been rendered on the inside and it is still leaking. We will probably be replacing it soon with a poly tank.

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The poly are lower maintenance and I would bet they last a lot longer than steel.

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What maintenance do you have to perform on the steel tanks?

Theoretically, the water that comes out of either should be the same. If you're getting lots of leaf matter in the steel tanks because of inferior leaf catchers, that's not really the fault of the tank, is it? ;)

Be interested to know what warranty you get on a poly tank? Aquaplate has a 20 year 'rust to perforation' gaurantee.

By maintenance, I was thinking more about the amount of time I need to spend keeping them going (i.e. holding clean, drinkable water) and the inconvenience it involves (leaks are always noticed just before you need to leave for work). Also, as far as I am concerned the leaf catcher is part of the tank, as is the first flush system fitted inside my poly tanks.

So for the the poly tanks it's only emptying the leaf catcher. For the steel tanks it's emptying the leaf catcher, and keeping an eye on the tank for any leaks that spring up and then filling them, and more regular "tank cleans".

The bottom line for me is that the poly tanks are easier to look after, give me better quality water (although new steel tanks would most likely have better leaf catcher/first flush systems) and I don't need worry about leaks springing up (so far anyway).

Oh yeah ... I think the poly's have a 20 or 25 year warranty.

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as far as I am concerned the leaf catcher is part of the tank

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Yes but it is not because the tank is steel that it has a poor leaf catcher. It's because you bought one that had a poor leaf catcher. There is a difference and it's important when you are discussing the pros and cons of something to restrict arguments to things that are actually attributes of the thing you are discussing.

I have a plastic strainer on mine and it seems to be OK so far, but thanks to the bushfire building regs in my area, there are no trees near the shed anyway, so no leaves to catch. The house has gutter guard all the way around, so no strainer on the concrete tank.

We don't use the first flush devices because they are not necessary if you keep the rubbish out of the gutters in the first place. You actually lose quite a bit of water with those over time too. I sometimes sit outside just on night fall and you can hear the water dripping off the roof and into the downpipes from condensation. That would all be lost if we had a first flush device. It's probably enough each night for a glass of water each in the morning ;)

I agree with you. I was pointing out my experience with my steel tanks (all of which are quite old) and I made the comment in my last post that new steel tanks would have better leaf catchers and first flush systems.

Our house had gutter guard (that black plastic coated 10mm square netting stuff). I absolutely hate it.

I found that it caused more problems than it solved. Leaves tended to get caught up in the netting and made it difficult to clean/clear. Netting ends would droop into the gutter and allow leaves in and cause blockages - and you would have to pull the netting out to clear the blockages and then refit it.

In the end I pulled it out.

I have seen a few other systems that appear to be much more robust and solve the problems I had with the netting (at a price).

First flush systems are not really there to keep leaf litter out. They are there to divert the "first flush" of water off your roof. Dust, bird poop, possum poop, etc, accumulate on the roof and when it rains these are washed off your roof and (without a first flush system) into your tank.

Some first flush systems are self draining, so that the more time between rain, the more water they divert. Others you have to manually drain. Also you can drain the first flush system onto a garden, so that the water is not totally wasted.

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Our house had gutter guard (that black plastic coated 10mm square netting stuff). I absolutely hate it.

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Ours is made from a perforated sheet of zincalume. But like I said, no trees to clog it with leaves anyway...

I know all about first flush systems. Looked into them when we built our house. I decided against them for the reasons given. They're a good enough idea in principle but I don't see the need. Since we use recycled effluent on our garden, I consider any fresh water not going into the tank to be wasted. I grew up on tank water and bit of possum or bird poop may even be good for you ;) Not sure about the wrigglers though...

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Originally Posted by TEEJAY

and remove any chlorine in water. .

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Didn't think chlorine would be much of a problem in tank water.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

Didn't think chlorine would be much of a problem in tank water.:rolleyes:

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Fair comment, you see i am just explaining the many benefits, even beyond those sort of such a device.

Yes I stand guilty of providing too much useful information :D

The conversation has diverged to gutter guards and first flush devises - "sickem rex!" :p

Had one old farmer from here say poly tanks aren't much chop if you're relying on them for fire fighting!!:eek:Melting your water supply in a grass fire when you need it most, but that's probably not an issue in the 'burbs!


Cheers,

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Originally Posted by Andy Mac

Had one old farmer from here say poly tanks aren't much chop if you're relying on them for fire fighting!!:eek:Melting your water supply in a grass fire when you need it most, but that's probably not an issue in the 'burbs!


Cheers,

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I've also heard the same complaint about poly supply pipes but I'm not sure if its urban myth (or in this case country myth) as I wonder if the water in the pipe or tank would cool the poly down sufficiently ..and any subsequent eruption of water to prevent any major damage.

BTW TEEJAY I guess some people use their tanks as headers to get gravity feed thus improving poor town water pressure.:)

Good to hear they can repair poly tanks - might have to think about one for home - I'll just have to find somewhere to put my timber:cool:

As for melting in a bush fire - that is only likely to happen when the tank is empty - any poly tank or water pipe full of water is not going to reach melting point until all the water has boiled off - of course the bit of the tank above the waterline will go all saggy & be a right B$%^*(d to iron the wrinkles out :D

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Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

I wonder if the water in the pipe or tank would cool the poly down sufficiently

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Nope.

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Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

..and any subsequent eruption of water to prevent any major damage.

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And Nope.

I witnessed a poly tank let go at a fire. It successfully extinguished the fire in a 10 metre radius, but did little to the 2km fire-front. Suddenly, we had 10,000 litres less water with which to douse the flames. :eek:


When putting a deck on the back of my house two years ago, the Blue Mountains City Council insisted that we installed a 5,000 litre tank, purely for firefighting. I wanted to chuck it under the deck so no-one could see it. I did a lot of researching, it seemed that the only one that would fit under the deck (1.8m), and within the deck pillars (3m apart) was only 4,500 litres. And around $1,500.

Looked for a while like I was going to have to get a 4,500 litre and a 500 litre and connect them. :(

Last ditch effort, rang Tankworld (no affiliation, etc) in Dubbo and they had one 1.2m high and 2.86m diameter.....7,600 litres!:D $1,190!:eek: Delivered!!:eek::eek:

The point of my story is that it is a fibreglass tank, and very easy to repair (DAMHIKT :mad::mad: ). The water tastes fresh and is always cool (which may be helped by being under a covered deck :rolleyes: ). I'm a fan of my tank. :)