I've been thinking...there are a lot of us on ooooby now which means we must have some buying power....

[Denise]

I imagine that many of us aim for similar things. Say water harvesting
and recycling for example. I would like to harvest some of this rain we
are having here in Auckland for my summer watering and I really like
this range of corrugated iron tanks from Tanks Alot.

They have plastic ones too and are slim enough for those of use living on smaller sites.

I also really like the idea of reusing water - grey water from my shower ito my toilet for example. Eco Bob is a directory with heaps of services and products and one of them is a water sac from New Water. Eco sac® is the flexible rainwater bladder tank that hides away under decks or
floors. It's designed for rainwater but surely it can be used for grey
water too? The bladder tanks sit in a strong galvanised or stainless
steel frame supported by industrial strength geotech fabric.

But both these tanks and sacs are quite expensive to buy, with plumbing on top again. Eco sac® units are priced from $2018.25 including GST

Hmmm but what if they were bought in bulk? A large order should generate a
discount I reckon... so just to canvas some interest. Are there otehr
people in and around Auckland who are thinking of buying a tank? If so
let me know and I will do some legwork to see if we can get a better
deal :-). The more the merrier!

PS I have no affiliation wiith either of these companies, except as a potetnial customer.

[Richard Z]

If you only want to collect rain from a small roof, such as a garage, there is always the old fashioned approach shown below. A $15 plastic barrel (recycled), with brass tap added for another $10 and you can collect 200 litres at very little cost.

[TJ Irvin]

We use a pond, with rubber liner when it over fills on the west coast we store rain water in old veggie oil containers. Be carefull can bring birds. Oooby members can get a discount on the tools I make in Central Otago and they are guaranteed for life. www.theslammer.co.nz

[heather murphy]

I am interested in the barrels and corrugated tanks from tanks alot. I'm in Wellington but gathering you guys are in akl region - so not sure if that will work.

[Jane Avery]

I would certainly be interested ... nice initiative.

[Diane Greenwood]

This is a great idea. I have just last week asked for a price for a 10,000l plastic tank.
Still not sure if this will be enough water for my veg garden in a dry summer, and thought just get the biggest size that could fit (10,000) and see how I go before deciding on using this for wc etc.
I have about 26m2 of raised veg gardens, so would appreciate any advice on this from other gardeners.
Still haven't got a price as yet but did check on line for the cost of plastic 10,000l tanks, there were 2 companies selling for $1,995.00.

[Denise]

Thanks Earl, I didnt realise they were tailored individually! Whew, the whole process is costly though - that's maybe $6500 or more per 4000 litres. How long do you think it takes before you break even ie from savings from your water bill and better growth in the garden?

[Earl Mardle]

As a long time customer of New water I can vouch for the bags as being a great idea. We have 8,000 litres under our house and you would never know they existed. Great use of otherwise dead space.

The biggest cost is for the plumbing, fitting (ground has to be levelled by some poor bugger digging out under the house), the pump and expansion bladder for the back pressure on the mains system.

Once you have all that, which can be about $4,000 for any kind of setup, the tanks are relatively affordable.

We put in 4,000 litres to start with and carried all the costs on that, then added another 4,000 litres as we could manage it.

The bags are usually custom made to fit your udnerhosue spacing and need so bulk buying might be a bit difficult.

If anyone wants to look at our setup, give me a yell..

[Deb McCabe]

I'm interested as well! both the timber tanks and the iron tanks sound interesting. might be a way to get the rain to stop, too.

[Denise]

yes, I believe there were subsidies for WCC residents but with the supercity and all these may have ceased on 30 June. still the new council doesnt take over til 1 Nov so you might be lucky!

[Romain and Lucy]

We are definitely interested in getting a rain collecting tank. Been thinking about it for a while. I also heard there were subsidies available for Waitakere residents, i need to look into that...