One of the first things we did when we purchased the house was to put in a water tank, to allow us to grow our own food despite the water restrictions in place at the time.

The renovation gave us an opportunity to expand our water capacity. The easy step was putting in a second 3,100L water tank in beside the first, at the side of the house. Since this one could just be connected to the existing tank, it’s pretty cheap (no pumps, plumbing, etc).

The last water tank was a slimline tank, put in to address our overflowing gutters. With the extension finished, we had 150 square metres of roof feeding the back gutter, and with a single downpipe, it would get overwhelmed in heavy rain.

The slimline tank on the other side of the house allowed us to put in another downpipe. By connecting the new tank to the existing tanks, the water level equalises between them, adding 1,500L to the total capacity.

So that’s 9,700L of water capacity, split across three tanks in two different locations, with just one pump. Not too bad!

This diagram shows how it all fits together (click to see a larger version).