Integrating a Water Storage Tank with Your Existing Plumbing: A Homeowner’s Guide
Water security has become a priority for many homeowners, especially in areas where water shortages or supply interruptions are common. Installing a water storage tank and integrating it with your home’s plumbing can be a practical solution to ensure you have a backup supply. However, to get the most from your system, proper integration with your existing plumbing is essential. This guide will walk you through what’s involved in connecting a water storage tank to your home’s plumbing system.
1. Why Integrate a Water Storage Tank?
Before diving into the technical details, it’s important to understand the benefits of integrating a water tank with your home’s plumbing:
- Backup water supply: Ensures you have a reliable water source during municipal outages or restrictions.
- Rainwater harvesting: Allows you to use rainwater for non-potable purposes, like garden irrigation, toilet flushing, or laundry, which reduces your dependency on the main water supply.
- Cost savings: Over time, using rainwater for non-drinking purposes can reduce your water bill, particularly in regions where water tariffs are high.
2. Choosing the Right Tank
Before installation, consider the size and type of tank best suited for your home. Tanks come in various materials like polyethylene, steel, or fiberglass, and sizes range from a few hundred liters to several thousand liters. For backup water supply to the home, a 1,000 to 2,500-liter tank is typical for most households. Larger tanks may be needed if you plan to use stored water for irrigation or longer interruptions.
3. Understanding the Basic Components of Integration
To integrate a water storage tank with your home’s plumbing, you’ll need the following components:
- Tank Inlet: Where water enters the tank, either from the municipal supply (during regular usage) or through rainwater collection.
- Pump: Ensures that water from the tank can be fed into your home’s plumbing system with adequate pressure. Submersible or surface pumps are commonly used.
- Control Valve: A valve system is necessary to control when water should be drawn from the tank. During municipal supply outages, the control valve will direct water from the tank into your home’s plumbing system.
- Backflow Prevention Valve: This prevents water from flowing back into the municipal supply, a critical safety measure to avoid contamination.
4. Installing the Water Tank
Once the tank is selected, it must be installed on a stable surface that can bear its weight when full (water weighs about 1 kg per liter). If space allows, tanks can be installed above ground or underground. Underground tanks offer aesthetic advantages and can free up yard space, but they are more expensive and may require excavation.
5. Integrating the Tank with Your Home’s Plumbing
Integrating a water storage tank into your home’s plumbing involves careful planning and professional installation. Here’s a general overview of the process:
- Step 1: Positioning the Tank: The water tank should be located close to your home and near downpipes if you’re collecting rainwater. If you’re integrating it with the municipal supply, place it in a location that makes plumbing connections feasible.
- Step 2: Connecting the Tank to Your Plumbing System:
- For rainwater collection: If the tank will collect rainwater, it can be connected to the home’s gutter system. A first-flush diverter is often installed to prevent dirt and debris from entering the tank during the first few minutes of a rainstorm.
- For municipal backup: If the tank is for municipal water backup, a float switch can control when the tank is full or low. The system is connected to your home’s plumbing through a pump and filtration system to maintain water pressure and quality.
- Step 3: Installing the Pump:
- Pump: The pump should be powerful enough to supply the water at the same pressure as your municipal supply. For rainwater used for garden irrigation, a simpler pump may suffice, but for indoor use, a more robust system is necessary.
- Step 4: Switching Between Water Sources:
A manual or automatic switching system can be installed to control when to switch between municipal supply and tank water. Automatic systems will detect when the municipal supply is down and seamlessly switch to the tank supply. Manual systems require you to open or close valves to switch between the two.
6. Maintenance Considerations
To ensure your system works reliably over time, regular maintenance is required:
- Clean the tank: Tanks should be cleaned at least once a year to remove any sediment, algae, or debris that may have accumulated.
- Check the pump: Periodically check the pump to ensure it is functioning correctly and providing adequate pressure.
- Check visible piping: It is always a good idea to scan any visible piping for signs of water.
7. Costs Involved
The cost of integrating a water tank with your plumbing system will depend on the size of the tank, the complexity of the plumbing setup, and any additional filtration or pump systems. Expect installation costs to range from R15,000 to R40,000 or more, depending on the complexity and the tank size. See more details on our pricing page.
Conclusion
Integrating a water storage tank with your home’s plumbing offers numerous benefits, from ensuring a reliable backup supply during water outages to saving money on utility bills through rainwater harvesting. With the right tank, a professional installation, and regular maintenance, you can secure your household’s water supply and reduce your dependency on the municipal system.