Personally I think driving back and forth is going to old about the 4 or 5th time you need to top up the tank. More tankage is going to drop the cost of delivered water and reduce the frequency its required. Pulling the rain fall forecast from https://shiny.niwa.co.nz/drought-forecast/ would suggest that atleast in the last four years there are dry spells but these tend to be matched by periods of heavy downpours.

pih: Another thought: what about investing in a bore? The lake nearby indicates that the water table where you are is high, so you wouldn't need to drill very deep to get water, transported and filtered by nature right to your property ;)

LostOhSoLost:

Personally I think driving back and forth is going to old about the 4 or 5th time you need to top up the tank. More tankage is going to drop the cost of delivered water and reduce the frequency its required. Pulling the rain fall forecast from https://shiny.niwa.co.nz/drought-forecast/ would suggest that atleast in the last four years there are dry spells but these tend to be matched by periods of heavy downpours.

Sounds like a good excuse to build a large man cave :-)

You mentioned there were a couple of roads between you and the lake, what about a midnight mission ( assuming the road is normally deserted ) run pipe over the road and pump for a couple of hours, hopefully it will give you enough to last a while.

I think transporting 1000l totes is going to get old real quick.

John

Hwale: 

We need 4mm rain per day for the catchment to supply our usage. We have a 25,000 litre tank so there's no problem collecting enough water when it comes, it just hasn't recently come at a sufficient rate. If I was going to make changes on the property I'd increase the catchment rather than add a tank.

The average rainfall and our usage kind of break even given the catchment area so these dry spells will always be a problem.

Looking at that chart,  it looks like currently its a pretty "average" year..  Which would indicate that you might be hauling water on a regular basis given your current catchment and storage situation....

Did you enter the summer with Full tanks?, because from what you are saying it looks like your supply (excl water carriers or lake runs) isn't keeping up with demand?

Hwale: Good idea but our property and those around us all have septic tanks so maybe not.

SATTV:

Sounds like a good excuse to build a large man cave :-)

 

You mentioned there were a couple of roads between you and the lake, what about a midnight mission ( assuming the road is normally deserted ) run pipe over the road and pump for a couple of hours, hopefully it will give you enough to last a while.

I think transporting 1000l totes is going to get old real quick.

John

 

wellygary:

Hwale: 

We need 4mm rain per day for the catchment to supply our usage. We have a 25,000 litre tank so there's no problem collecting enough water when it comes, it just hasn't recently come at a sufficient rate. If I was going to make changes on the property I'd increase the catchment rather than add a tank.

The average rainfall and our usage kind of break even given the catchment area so these dry spells will always be a problem.

 

Looking at that chart,  it looks like currently its a pretty "average" year..  Which would indicate that you might be hauling water on a regular basis given your current catchment and storage situation....

Did you enter the summer with Full tanks?, because from what you are saying it looks like your supply (excl water carriers or lake runs) isn't keeping up with demand?

 

Hwale: 
We have a 25,000 litre tank so there's no problem collecting enough water when it comes, it just hasn't recently come at a sufficient rate. If I was going to make changes on the property I'd increase the catchment rather than add a tank. 

25000 liter tank is really bare minimum and unless your born and bred on conserving water you will run out. the standard today is typically 2x 25000 liter tanks and often is 3x. the yearly rain fall is typically more than enough in most places in nz. storage is typically the big issue.

tweake:

Hwale: 
We have a 25,000 litre tank so there's no problem collecting enough water when it comes, it just hasn't recently come at a sufficient rate. If I was going to make changes on the property I'd increase the catchment rather than add a tank. 

25000 liter tank is really bare minimum and unless your born and bred on conserving water you will run out. the standard today is typically 2x 25000 liter tanks and often is 3x. the yearly rain fall is typically more than enough in most places in nz. storage is typically the big issue.

tweake: 25000 liter tank is really bare minimum and unless your born and bred on conserving water you will run out. the standard today is typically 2x 25000 liter tanks and often is 3x. the yearly rain fall is typically more than enough in most places in nz. storage is typically the big issue.

 

Really? I grew up in a household of 7 and seldom ever ran out with "just" two 10,000 litre tanks.

Hwale: 

 

I disagree. With our yearly average of 913mm, we wouldn't even come close to filling 50,000 litres of storage. Catchment is our issue.

Our rainfall is also spread out enough across the year (no wet/dry seasons) that storage isn't a problem that needs to be solved if you have the catchment to justify it.

what size house/roof?

for a 100sqm house you would get roughly 90,000 liters per year. 60sqm house 54,000 liters. 

also that even if you get enough rain, a 25,000 liter tank is marginal in real world usage. its better to have to much storage than not enough. also its not hard to build a lean to etc and collect more.