Water

Water is the essence of life.

We wanted to be self sufficient - harvesting rainfall, and using storm water on site.

About 50,000 litres of water storage is needed to run the house; an extra 65,000 litres is prudent - allocated for the garden and in case of drought.

The resultant 115,000 litre tank fills every year with average rainfall.

The tank is 3.5m high and 7.5m across: a large footprint in a residential area, taking valuable land…

… so we buried it.

This had been long considered an ideal which became a possibility when - after the fire - we lived in a house with a tank under the driveway. What a great idea. Needs planning and allowing for the expense.

view from Acacia Street after the fire

Unimpeded access was needed. Before we started construction the foundation from the old house was removed and the four metre deep hole dug. Site access was easy at this stage, and facilitated truck access to cart away the 300 tonnes of excess soil.

removing the old foundation

The cleared site 😱

the concrete tank

then it’s buried

The lid of the concrete tank was engineered to allow trucks to drive over it even though it was behind the planned new home.

some of the building contractors drove over the (now invisible) tank despite being told not to, thus reinforcing the wisdom of this decision. The truck delivering the metal scaffolding was a serious test of the reinforcement - test passed.

The tank build intrigued the neighbourhood. One father and son visited every day to check process. My neighbour told me deck chairs were out and morning tea served during the entertainment. The builder’s temporary fencing still allowed excellent views.

The buried tank is brilliant. The water is cool and clear. The tank is invisible, will last far longer than any other option, and provides our home with beautiful soft pure water. (We pass it through a double filtration system and UV sterilisation just to make sure).

Looking back at the photos even I am amazed at how far our garden has come in just a few years.

There is a tank under that lawn!