We have recently moved rural, and with the peace and tranquilty has come the above. I am a city girl through and through so all this is very new to me.I have googled and asked around but I thought maybe people with families on the recipe board may have some hints or tips. on A. Water conservation B. What you can and can't do with a septic tank. We are a family of 4, with a Miss 17 & 19 - Any tips or hints greatfully accepted. We thought with our water consumption maybe a second tank. then some suggested a bore. Should we test our water! and if so how often. When we are settled my next question will be about. keeping chickens lol. and then. when we are settled with chickens. a couple of Sheep for the paddock.
toadfish,
Apr 10, 8:48am
We have recently moved rural, and with the peace and tranquilty has come the above. I am a city girl through and through so all this is very new to me.I have googled and asked around but I thought maybe people with families on the recipe board may have some hints or tips. on A. Water conservation B. What you can and can't do with a septic tank. We are a family of 4, with a Miss 17 & 19 - Any tips or hints greatfully accepted. We thought with our water consumption may be a second tank is needed (I always seem to have several loads of washing and we are all big on showers). then some suggested a bore. Should we test our water! and if so how often. I want to waterblast the paths. do I wait till rain is looming. When we are settled my next question will be about. keeping chickens lol. and then. when we are settled with chickens. a couple of Sheep for the paddock.
olwen,
Apr 10, 9:02am
I wonder if the farming board might be a better place to ask.
olwen,
Apr 10, 9:02am
I wonder if the farming board might be a better place to ask.
But a few suggestions. Can you do something other than water-blast the paths! How many rinses do you use in the washing machine. Do you need a resource consent for a bore!Are there sheds you can collect water from for gardens etc. You could watch flushing sanitary items.Wrapping and disposing in another way might be a good idea. When I was on septic tank I watched the use of cleaning items in the toilet etc.
cookessentials,
Apr 10, 9:13am
Ask away toadfish. What type of tank is the one you have! (ie plastic or concrete) and what size. When building, it is ideal to have two 25,000 litre tanks minimum. If you have outbuildings, run a small tank of that for irrigation and extra.oke for your water blasting. Make sure that you have a larger than normal pump because pressure is the biggest thing. Dont put the cheapest pump with your tank, get the bigger to give you the good pressure. A U.V. filter is also recommended for your house drinking water. A sep outlet for fire use is always a good idea, this is in case of a house fire, you can connect your hose straight to the tank.therefore, the better pump is ideal for this. Well, as far as water conservation, the pll aslo help with this. You can have a grey water treatment system which you can use from shower etc for watering the garden. We only had a 5000 gallon older concrete tank in our older house and we never ran out of water. When the new owners moved in ( four of them with two teenage daughters) they had to call in the water truck on two occasions! Bore water is quite hard and it can also have copper in it ( not good for pipes or washing cars!) Brain suggests getting some professional advice on tanks, pumps etc. If you need to know anything else, give us a yell.
cookessentials,
Apr 10, 9:13am
Ask away toadfish. What type of tank is the one you have! (ie plastic or concrete) and what size. When building, it is ideal to have two 25,000 litre tanks minimum. If you have outbuildings, run a small tank of that for irrigation and extra.oke for your water blasting. Make sure that you have a larger than normal pump because pressure is the biggest thing. Dont put the cheapest pump with your tank, get the bigger to give you the good pressure. A U.V. filter is also recommended for your house drinking water. A sep outlet for fire use is always a good idea, this is in case of a house fire, you can connect your hose straight to the tank.therefore, the better pump is ideal for this. Well, as far as water conservation, the pll aslo help with this. You can have a grey water treatment system which you can use from shower etc for watering the garden. We only had a 5000 gallon older concrete tank in our older house and we never ran out of water. When the new owners moved in ( four of them with two teenage daughters) they had to call in the water truck on two occasions! Bore water is quite hard and it can also have copper in it ( not good for pipes or washing cars!) Brian suggests getting some professional advice on tanks, pumps etc. If you need to know anything else, give us a yell.
cookessentials,
Apr 10, 9:14am
Ring your local septic tank outfit and get them to call and check it and empty it. Nine times out of ten, it wont have been emptied!
zirconium,
Apr 10, 9:18am
We are rural. :) Water conservation, use the dishwasher only when full, don't rinse anything. Handwash dishes only when you have a full load. For showers, if you girls can cope, if you are running low on water, use camping shower technique. This means you only run the water when you need it, otherwise it is turned off. i.e. start the shower, get wet, turn water off. Soap and shampoo. Turn water on, rinse. Turn water off. Shave and condition. Turn water on, rinse, finished. Turn water off. Only uses a tiny fraction of what you would otherwise use.
Not sure what your annual rainfall is, but we have a 30,000L tank, about 200m² roof area, and rain fall of about 1400mm/year. We've never been close to running out. 1 large dog, and a miss 16.
The dog makes much more mess than miss does, lol.
I always wait until it has been or will be quite wet to water blast, and make sure the tank is fullish. Only water blast in spring, too.
Don't wash the houseor windows or car if you are low on water. Otherwise, you just decide if you want the expense of buying water, or the hassle of saving water. :)
elliehen,
Apr 10, 10:08am
This is good advice for all of us, with or without a reticulated supply, if we are to help conserve the earth's water.
We have lived rurally with tanks and have also lived in countries with metered water.Nothing makes you conserve more than a hefty water bill.
Make sure your toilet has a half-flush and it won't hurt for kids to remember the old Australian chant, "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down."
lilyfield,
Apr 10, 10:23am
and if it has no half flush- put a brick in it .
coreblimey,
Apr 10, 10:30am
I live rural and there are 2 kids, 2 adults on 25,000l.So far we haven't run out :)We only have small roof space but I am careful.Dishwasher only when full. Showers not baths.Washing has to be done, I have a toploader but when it dies it will be replaced with a front loader which use a LOT less water.I worry more about the septic and watch closely what I put down the drain!No sanitary product.NO BLEACH.No waste disposal.I don't use any chemical cleaners, I make all my own cleaners, lots of vinegar, baking soda etc.I make my own dishwashing powder and washing powder for clothes.Put some yoghurt or other live bacteria down the sink every now and then - keeps your septic tank healthy! UV filters are wonderful but around $3k so not always affordable.I have a large cartridge filter on the tank and another smaller one on the kitchen tap.I also keep a water cooler for drinking water "just in case" :)A bore is also wonderful but at around $20k plus resource consent also out of reach for most.Just be sensible and if you run out every now and then you can buy a tanker load for around $160 (usually around 10,000l).Not the end of the world and certainly cheaper than water rates that the townies pay!Good luck and don't stress too much about it, shouldn't be having any problems now anyway!
pheebs1,
Apr 10, 10:49am
how large is your roof space! we have a large one level so can easily fill 2 tanks with 5 of us and dishwasher showers and endless washing i would definatley want 2 tanks' its expensive to get filled even with two we got very low till jsut before the last storm
water blasting really! spray and walk away!
ace441,
Apr 10, 11:21am
Never put bleach down the toilet - it kills the bacteria in the septic tank that breaks down the poop. Have the septic tank emptied regularly (once every 1 -2 years) and don't plant any trees near the field lines - the roots will eventually destroy the pipes - which previous owners did and we have the $12,000 bill to prove it !
fisher,
Apr 10, 2:31pm
we got a new 3000l tank this year just for garden watering on a pumped, timed, irrigation system.water collected from the boat garage roof.put in a irrigation system for the vege garden. need water every day and a system uses a lot less water than hand held.I do a handheld water once a week for a good soaking. Long hot summer like 2 years ago when we only had 12mm of rain from nov 8th till april 15th , we simply had to conserve or buy water. hundreds of dollars for half a tanker full, 10000 litres. flushed toilet only for no 2's. dishwasher only when full . cut back on shower times and even took a bucket in. this collected water to water pot plants. as did the outflow from the clothes washer.We wash the house and waterblast the pavers in August or early September. Just warm enough to do the roof and gutters and get wet without freezing to death.then all looks good for the summer months.Waterblasters use less water than you would think.unless you have one with little pressure and go over the same area over and over. we have a petrol 3000 psi.
donna23,
Apr 10, 7:03pm
I also live rural, have a plastic container that fits inside kitchen sink, (I do have 2 sinks however), any water that is run off through the day is collected & used to water all pots outside (it is suprising how much there is),water from boiled vege also goes in (there are some nutrients in the water the plants can use), taps off when cleaning teeth, we have a small plastic drum outside to collect rainwater for veg garden, only half full jug with water if only making tea/coffee for 1 or 2 people - any water you can save is good. Enjoy rural life!
vmax2,
Apr 10, 11:17pm
We also moved from the town to the country with 3 kids 5 years ago.We have a relatively small tank compared to our neighbours (not sure what size)Never run out of water yet, but it's been very close.We've hooked up our toilet and outside taps for garden, to water the stock get from creek.Don't shower as often and make them shorter showers.Put less water in sink when washing dishes.Don't have tap running too much when preparing veges.Think about whether those clothes really need washing or could be worn another day.Washing cars is a rare event and water blasting concrete is a thing of the past.But have fun.Rural life is great.
zirconium,
Apr 11, 12:22am
Ha ha ha, have to get rid of *large* amounts of *large* muddy paw prints sullying my concrete!
(See my previous comment about automatic canine brand mess maker.)
"Spray and walk away" is NOT man enough for the job!
coreblimey,
Apr 11, 4:59am
As another poster mentioned my husband says that waterblasters use a lot less water than you would think.
winnie231,
Apr 11, 5:36am
Welcome to our world toady :D Lots of good advice posted already here. My 2 cents would be - make sure you have a tank/drum/something under every down-pipe on both house & garage (and sheds if you have them). It is amazing how much water you can collect this way to then use for garden or washing or . in one dry patch we had when I was living on tank water I regularly filled the washing machine bucket by bucket to use the drum water & saved our tank water for cooking & drinking. We also filled the toilet cistern the same way. Great exercise for free! :D
rainrain1,
Apr 11, 5:54am
Just use it,I'm sure you will be ok if you have a decent size tank.If you do ever run out, you will soon learn how to save it.Make sure you turn your hoses off, and don't leave taps running is the main thing to look out for.
toadfish,
Apr 11, 6:47am
Wow. so much info.thanks so much.
Can I use regular powder in my washing machine. I use cold power but someone said it could harm the "natural" breaking down enviroment of the tank.Luckily it was cleaned out before we moved in so it could be inspected. so everything in it is ours lol. Its also worth noting I paid over $700 to Manukau Water in a year, I am picking this saving will pay for a fill if need be. PS our Tank is 22,000 litres. am happy for once that its raining tonight . will make up for the huge usage over the weekend. We have a huge roof area so should be quite efficient in the fill.We are also building a garage so will probably get a second tank and have both roofs filling them. will send Mr T to this thread to have a look at all the "Pearls"
books4nz,
Apr 11, 6:56am
You can also link your tanks together. one fills up, then water is diverted to the next tank, etc.
winnie231,
Apr 11, 7:23am
Toady - have a read of the fine print on your laundry powder . and other cleaning products too. Most these days have written if they are suitable for septic tanks or not.
zirconium,
Apr 11, 7:24am
Is it just a tank, or a proper septic system with a pump and an irrigation field! - If the system, it is worth looking at the laundry powder packet, and making sure it is ok for full septic systems. :)
falconhell2002,
Apr 11, 9:41am
Keep your gutters clear.
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