most things are ok in the septic tank unless it is an anti-septic or bleach. If I HAVE to use these things, I empty the bucket after using them into a special place in the garden where nobody can see it and it isn't near anything that matters. It's easy to get used to the septic tank things - try your local council office too - they quite often have a booklet on the do's and don'ts of septic tanks. Have fun and enjoy the starry sky!
maggieb2,
Apr 11, 10:31am
also, if in doubt about your cleaning products use the 0800 number on the packet - most companies are super helpful with their septic tank info.
elliehen,
Apr 11, 10:39am
Another good reason for diverting your 'grey water' to the garden (besides saving your tank water for essential things) is that the bacterial action of a septic tank does not work well if it is flooded.
rainrain1,
Apr 11, 7:20pm
one should only ever do doo's in their septic tank, never do don'ts
kob,
Apr 12, 7:25pm
Washing MAchine- Hi Julia I have a water saver washing machine which I specially brought for that purpose, all it means is that I have a water saver button and it washes the clothes only, it does not utilise the fabric softner bit as water does not flow through it, just in the wash compartment. Also we have a setting that can totally reset the washing machine buttons to use less water in each cycle. I have a fisher pykal smart drive washing machine. So I suggest you contact the manufactorer and see if you can modify your machine to be more water effeciant.
kob,
Apr 12, 7:28pm
septic tank- we have bent upwards our ballcock in the toilet system water compartment and also add a brick to the bottom of our water tank which take a hell of a lot of space that water would normally fill so it tricks it to think the tank has filled itself with water. All toilet cleaners and bleach dots and blues have (its safe for septic tanks)written on them so just check the back of labels they all say it clearly and if its not on there dont use it. Every now and then we buy a product I cannot remember what it is called the we put down all sink drains and toilet and it feeds the septic tank and keeps it breathing and makes it work harder.
kob,
Apr 12, 7:30pm
water tank- we survived with a 5000 l tank when the kids were home, and by the time they were teenages they were pretty boys that had longer showers than myself but we got buy and only had to buy water in summer every other year, BUT when we put in our big double garage 8 years ago we got the kitchen and the garge added to our water supply and got another tank added so that we had more of a supply of water and they work on a gravity feed system so both tanks are working together at all times, and we can change the pump accordinly if we want to use a spysific tank, eg the concrete is much bett er for drinking thatn the plastic one so in summer we try and have the concrete one flowing through the taps.
kob,
Apr 12, 7:35pm
kitchen- we have never had a dishwasher, so cannot comment on that fact but I could never see the dishes as being a reason for running us out, but they are a problem of course once there is no water as they cannot be hidden anywahere. SO my solution to you is to get fitted onto your tanks a float device that indicates to you how much water is left at all time eg: if full the float will be high in the air and iff tanks are low float will be near the tank level, as you can only teach kids about water saving but as you guys ahve lived in town this is a hard thing to teach teenages. Believe me I have set a timer and showed mine that I can wash & condition my hair, wash myseld and shave my legs in 3 minutes, it wasnt the best job but it was proved, while i was home they would comply but the problem was when I wasnt. SO persveer with it all and you will be fine.But if you can utilise ever space of the house to make sure water is being caught off every roof spacing. Our kids all left home not long after we had our garage added so we have never in 8 years run out of water, after spending all the money on new spoutings and tanks lol go figure, I gues its nature
kob,
Apr 12, 7:37pm
we only flushed on number 2;s as well but then I was the only woman in the house so you have 3 woman so that might be tricky as there will be too much paper on every flush and believe me you dont want to witness a septic tank blockage its the worst thing to clear youve ever seen in your life, the smell will effect you for ever and ever
zirconium,
Apr 12, 8:19pm
Probably 5000gallons, or around 24,000 or 25,000L.(Standard size) It is a small tank, we had one that size when i was growing up, had to keep filling it all the time. :)
cookessentials,
Apr 12, 10:05pm
We had a double dish drawer in our last rural home which I used. We also had a large tank off the 3 bay shed which we could empty into the underground tank near the house if required. We only ever did it once and not because we ran out of water, but because the shed tank was full. I had no problem with using the old cold water surf in the washing machine and to be honest, life was no different than from living in town ( as far as water useage) We were never silly about the water we used, but we did not have to be frugal. Julia, Auckland has a reasonably high rainfall, so two tanks will be more than adequate for your needs.
biggles45,
Apr 13, 2:31am
We had a single 25000 litre water tank in Franklin for several years, 3 adults, dog, cat, and visitors staying for 5 or 6 weeks a year. We had a bore for stock and irrigation. We never ran out of tank water even though we weren't too careful about use since we knew we could top up from the bore, but always had heaps.
toadfish,
Apr 13, 4:58am
Luckily I already have an eco F&P
raewyn64,
Apr 13, 7:18am
One of the first things I did when we shifted rural was to get our water rates invoices from our previous house and average out per day how much water we were consuming when we were in the city. I divided the size of our water tank's capacity by the average daily usage so I knew how many days we could survive on the tank water if we had no rain. This at least gives me a bit of reassurance to know that for us we can survive for just over 2 months on our tank.
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