At Last! Someone Who Will Take the Time to Give You the Dedicated Attention and Advice You’ve been Looking For!

Have you ever wished you could find someone who not only knows what they are talking about, but also want to genuinely help "walk you through" everything you need to know to plan your total water supply?

Well, welcome to Ebenezer Water. Since 1986, Rod Hurst and his team have been offering people a great range of products and sound advice - in a very friendly and relaxed manner. And they will do the same for you. But first we need to understand your situation. Generally, the utilisation of rainwater falls into two main categories. Firstly, we have semi-rural properties in areas where scheme water is not available. Therefore, the only source of domestic water is to collect all the rainwater from house and shed roofs and store it in a large rainwater tank. Secondly, there are metropolitan and suburban homes that are connected to mains water, but want to utilise the rain water which is free, but currently just running to waste. These applications usually need only a smaller tank due to space restrictions.

Testimonial :: Ross Clark "I would be pleased to recommend Ebenezer Water for the installation of either water tanks and/ or pumps. I do feel Ebenezer Water cater well for the people in the hills area " Ross Clark. Gidgegannup WA

Now, let's see how the Ebenezer process works.

SEMI RURAL

Assess the need

The very first thing to consider is how much water you will require to adequately meet the needs for your individual lifestyle.

Local Shires will stipulate a minimum capacity requirement. However, in many cases that requirement can be too small for many families to survive right through to the end of summer.

Many things affect the amount of storage required and the type of system.

		How many people are in the family?
		Do you like long showers? Or….
		Have trouble getting the kids out of the shower!
		Are you keen gardeners?
		Do you have stock?

These are just some of the questions that need to be assessed.

Begin the plan

Now we can start to lay the foundations of your overall needs.

What capacity tank is best for you?   Does it need to be coloured to match the bricks or blend with the bush?   Which pump is going to give you the best shower?   Will you need a bore?   Where is the best place to situate everything?   How does it all connect together?

Our experienced representatives are happy to spend the time with you to make sure your every need is carefully discussed and catered for

The rest is easy !!

With our help and guidance, you can choose from a great range of respected brand names and proven products to give you years of trouble free service. Then just sit back and watch it all fall into place.

There are three main elements to a rainwater storage system.
1. A tank to store water.
2. A pump to supply pressurised water into the house.
3. Rainwater collection system to collect water from house (and shed) roof.

Storage Tanks

Minimum requirements are usually 92,000 litres or 120,000 litres - depending on each individual shire. Some shires even stipulate building approvals which require engineer certification of strength.

Usually one tank alongside the house is sufficient to store all the water your family will need.


What size tank?

It is generally recognised that each family member uses about 160 litres of water per day.
Up until the last few years, shires used to request a minimum 20,000 gallon (92,000 litre) tank on each block. Naturally, that was the size almost everybody built. However, a large percentage of families could not get right through summer before the tank emptied.

Therefore they have to supplement their supply by topping up from a potable bore, or have it carted in with a reputable water carrier. (About $100 per 14,000 litres -depending on the exact location of your block).

Now there are many shires requesting a minimum of 120,000 litres (25,000 gallons for those of us who are old enough to understand that language!!). But, they also require a fire fighting outlet be fitted to the bottom of the tank, with a minimum of 10,000 litres set aside for fire purposes. That means that your house outlet is raised up higher resulting in reduced capacity in the tank for your everyday use. So in reality the tank may not hold much more than the old tanks.

If you are catering for a family, it may be worth considering a tank of at least 150,000 litres - or perhaps 180,000 litres if the budget can stretch. These sizes obviously provide a stronger chance of reducing the need to buy water.

Colorbond

Colorbond tanks are starting to make a popular impression. Why not match the tank walls and roof to the house bricks and roof? With 5 standard wall colours (Wilderness; Woodland Grey; Paperbark; Classic Cream; Wheat) and an unlimited selection of roof colours, you can make your property a real show piece whilst at the same time adding extra value.

Other wall colours are available at a small extra premium price.

Headland® Manor Red™ Jasper™ Sandbank™ Classic Cream™ Surfmist® Paperbark™ Dune® Shale Grey™ Windspray® Woodland Grey™ Bushland™ Pale Eucalypt™ Wilderness® Cottage Green™ Plantation™ Blue Ridge™ Deep Ocean® Ironstone® Nightsky™

Where does the tank go?

The tank is usually located in close proximity to the house and shed. This minimises costly power runs, pipe etc. The crucial factor is that the roof of the tank is at least 500 mm lower than the gutters of the buildings. Further information on the collection method is given below.

Sometimes, there may be a need to situate the main storage tank away from the house - maybe up on a hill etc. Therefore a smaller tank is better suited to collect the initial rain, and then transfer to the main tank. Ebenezer Water can discuss and easily design these systems with you.

Site Preparation

The tank simply sits on a prepared sand base.

The base must be cut level to a minimum diameter of 2 metres larger than the tank. The earthworks operator must take extra care to ensure this base is level and of sufficient diameter.

Once this preparation is completed, then a layer of clean sand is spread evenly over the area to a minimum depth of 150mm. Compaction of the sand is not necessary.

The handy table below shows the total capacity of each model, the individual dimensions as well as the pad size and amount of sand required.

Pumps

The water must be pumped from the tank into the house. Modern day pumps will supply water with even pressure and flow. With state of the art electronic controllers, the old horror stories of fluctuating hot and cold showers is thankfully now a thing of the past. With a carefully selected pump, you can have strong flow and pressure into your house - automatically. Simply turn the tap on and the pump starts up; turn the tap off again and the pump shuts down.

Testimonial Chris & Sharon Hood "We found that Ebenezer was able to answer every question we had, and explain it in very clear and simple terms." Chris & Sharon Hood. Karragullen. WA

For more information, please visit the Ebenezer Water pumps page.

Rainwater Collection

The water is collected from the house and shed roofs by a simple underground pipe system. The tank should be sited lower than the house to allow a natural gravity flow into the tank. We recommend a minimum fall of at least 500mm between the gutters and top of the tank.

Your builder will make provision for a number of gutter outlets when the house is designed. Instead of supplying downpipes, all we need is a "gutter pop" at each outlet.

These are then individually connected together into a common pipe laid underground around the house which then feeds across to the tank and through the leaf basket to filter out any leaves and debris that can collect in the gutters. A drainage point is provided to flush the water from the lines at any time.

With a copy of your house plans, we can provide you with a quote to provide this service.

SUBURBAN

Water Restrictions! Near Empty Dams!

These are terms we hear all too frequently. In any major city, the amount of water that runs to waste from all the house roofs is enormous, so it is natural think that one solution is to put a rainwater tank on every house.

A house with 250 square metres of roof in an 800 mm annual rainfall sheds 200 kilolitres of water per year. Multiply that by the number of homes in your city and we start to get a picture of how much water runs to waste.

So a rainwater tank on every house is a sensible idea. But...to maximise the use of rainwater, we need to think a little bit differently and a little more laterally.

The common thought is to collect and store water when it is raining,
and use it when it is not!

But in reality, there is simply not enough room in the average suburban back yard to store enough water to serve any meaningful purpose over the summer months. A tank of 4500 litres could be used in a week if used to water the lawn or keep the pool topped up. (A lawn of 100 sq metres takes 1000 litres for 10 mm of water and an average size pool also needs about 1000 litres to top up 25 mm)

So, what can we do? How can we maximise the use of free rainwater in a more meaningful way? How can we begin to make an impact on the dwindling water supply in our dams? Simple!

By installing a tank preferably no smaller than 13,000 litres (the larger the better) and connecting it to an electric pressure pump, you can set up an ongoing supply of water during the winter months which will supply the whole of your family's household needs.

This means that on average, you may be able to turn off the scheme supply and use rainwater exclusively in your house for 4-6 months of the year. This of course will depend entirely on seasonal rainfall and your personal family's water usage habits.

It is generally considered that each person uses about 160 litres per day. The back of your Water account will tell you your average daily Usage, and a simple mathematical equation will tell you how many days between rains your tank will last. (If it's a dry year, there may be times when you need to switch back to scheme for a few days until the next lot of rain.)

By implementing a system such as this, it is possible to utilise up to 50 - 60 kilolitres of water instead of just 4 or 5 kilolitres simply because the tank is being replenished as you use it. The larger the tank, the longer you can last between rains. There are large choices of sizes and colours available to match and harmonise with your individual home so that they not only look great, but are functional as well.