13/12/2019
Since we’ve been doing the rounds with water 💦 we’ve talked to some home owners who have concerns about their water supply “going dry” ... not from lack of rain, but because the creeks and bores are more depleted than they’ve ever seen them. 🥺
Also people have said that they’ve run out of water due to the drought. 😢
I guess there isn’t any better solution to lack of water, than to catch the rain when it falls 🌧 - and catch as much of that lovely stuff as you possibly can.
Just one 10,000 liter tank is not enough to last a full year. You can install larger tanks, or duplicate tanks. I’ve read Facebook posts saying “I’ve got a tank, it ran dry because of the drought.” To that I say 🧐 “just a thought - maybe we all need bigger tanks”. It’s not lack of rain that’s often the problem: it’s lack of CATCHING it. In Nambucca Valley we do get rain. We are not nearly as depleted as ◀️ west of the Great Dividing Range ⛰. But still, no matter where you are, if a torrential rain episode happens once a year, it would be better to catch it than watch our tanks overflow and not accept any more water 💧, right?
In our valley - the next 3-5 months is when we catch the rain to see us through the rest of the year.
We Becker’s haven’t lived here for more than 5 years (no, not locals, yet 😋) - but consistently every year, we have had enough rain caught to supply our household 🚿 through the dry-spell, which lasts from August to December when it starts to rain again around late November.
🌏☀️With climate change and global warming, naturally, it’s even more important to catch that rain ⛈ when it falls ... don’t miss a drop if you can make it so.
This is obviously not just about farmers pumping from creeks. Everyone, on every property, can set up more water catchment areas and holding tanks. Cubby house and garden shed roofing too, can catch water, as can car ports, machinery sheds, fruit & veg packing sheds, stables, or anything fairly solid that can have a gutter and downpipe connected to it.
Fire-affected farmers returning to their properties to rebuild are considering building a carport style roof to add to their caravan/temporary residence area, so they can start catching water in their new tanks.
Will it be expensive or difficult? I’ve been assured by Josh at our local Macksville Mitre 10 that this is totally do-able, even for me 😁 a typical awesome stay at home mum with no plumbing experience whatsoever. 😋
Josh was amazing enough to put together this diagram for me with easy to follow directions. These are the parts you may need to buy from Mitre 10 to catch the rain from any roof with gutters, to send the water into your holding tank.
For people pumping straight from the creek, you may need to buy a holding tank, then use your typical petrol pump to occasionally pump the water up to your hilltop tank, as you usually would, for your gravity-feed system.
😎 What Josh has so efficiently shown me here is that it was really easy for him to figure out what needed to be done and find all the parts and prices in store. He did this within an hour of me calling and telling him my concerns. For the situation I was asking about, it could be less than $100 to set up. More if you need to buy a holding tank ... find a small one if you can’t afford a 10,000L tank. You could even park a trailer near your house holding a 2,000L water container, attach a petrol pump, and pump the water you catch up to your hilltop tank when full ready to gravity-feed into your house.
I think the main message is:
▶️ We need to think a little more constructively about our water and perhaps take the reins and get ourselves set up NOW and not next March before it gets dryer again.
▶️ Anyone can do this and you MUST remember that Mitre 10 staff are really, really ready to help you figure it out. Go in and tell them your set up and get some help.
▶️ It may cost you a lot less than you think. Maybe even less than a hundred $.
As said earlier we are always taking phone calls on 0402 505 210 to deliver council water to you if required. But please catch the rain and if this is challenging you mentally or physically (like it did me), go in and ask Mitre 10 today.
Josh’s contact details are below. You could even give him a call or send an email and save yourself the drive. Mitre 10 also deliver.
