Thread: Hut tank size

Can anyone tell me what size doc but tanks are
Or share their experience with but water tanks. Will be running tap water, gas califont shower and a flush toilet most likely
Cheers

run all of that and you will need a lot bigger tank than a normal DOC hut tank they were only for drinking water - flush toilet will use a lot of water but your shower especially with youngsters who dont know the meaning of conserve water and quick showers - you will need capacity -maybe multiple tanks linked together

A 1000 litre IPC tank goes a long way... Set up to fill from roof is always good.

IBCs need to be kept in the dark to stop algae growing.

As Barry said, 1000 litres would go nowhere if teenagers used it for showers.

You can get the 3000lt devon or similar ones pretty cheap and if you conserve water they go a fair way. Not for a full time household though

I'd recommend a 25- 30m3 tank to get you through the dry spells if it is your only water source.

Doc jobs are likely around 5m3

I went for one of these (200 litres) as a cheap option. You could link them. $115 each. Im guessing other Councils will have them.
But thats a lot of water you plan on using.

https://wellington.govt.nz/-/media/e...tank-flyer.pdf

Shower: 10L per minute (1 person = 80 litres per shower)
Bath: 150L per tub fill
Dishwasher: 30L per load
Front Load Washing Machine: 80L per load
Top Load Washing Machine: 100L per load
Brushing Teeth (tap running): 5L per minute (1 person = 10 litres)
Drinking/Cleaning/Cooking: 10L per day per person
Hand Basin: 5L per use (approximately 1 minute)
Toilet Flush (single): 6L per flush
Toilet Flush (half): 3L per flush

One more thing to consider that most don’t. If you are gaining a consent for this ‘hut build’’, then you will likely need some provision for firefighting supply in absence of a reticulated water network.

The larger tanks can be configured to ensure there is always a storage buffer there.

If your only worried about domestic use, think of a couple of people staying on a long weekends over summer and you will be thankful you went with a bigger tank, trust me.

The 2 of us consistantly use 200 litres/day, measured electronically. That includes a house pump and 1 front load wash a day, a shower each, no bath.
Have seperate tanks for the farm aminals. In an emergency I can couple between the systems.

The townies that have progressively moved out around us over the years have water deliveries start around Dec/Jan. We haven't bought water since our kids left home. We have just learned to get by on rainwater collection.

@Remmodel7 how much storage you need depends on partially on how often it rains and roof catchment area, but mostly on often and how you're using the hut.
2 personal examples.
At our bach we have a 2000L tank. At times we (wife & I) use it for several weeks at a time. Drinking, washing dishes, shower. Roof catchment approx 30m2. Annual rain fall in the area ~700mm. Can be periods of several weeks with no rain. We need to be careful how we use the water but we have never run out, however have come close at times.
Conversely at our house have 55000L. Roof 250m2, annual rain ~1200-1700mm. Dishwasher, washing machine, etc etc. Very different than bach with many times the catchment area and storage, plus double the rainfall, but we still have come close to running out at times.

Originally Posted by zimmer

The 2 of us consistantly use 200 litres/day... We haven't bought water since our kids left home. We have just learned to get by on rainwater collection.

Water conservation is a learned skill. Living on a life sentence block, we cringe when townies come to stay. We reluctantly tell them at the outset that we're on tank water and it's not great to have the tap running while doing your teeth, ... Kids of course are the worst, though some older females seem beyond training.

Originally Posted by uk_exile

@Remmodel7 how much storage you need depends on partially on how often it rains and roof catchment area, but mostly on often and how you're using the hut.

We have a large 4 br house but unfortunately being 2 storey the catchment is half a single level house.

Originally Posted by 6x47

IBCs need to be kept in the dark to stop algae growing.

As Barry said, 1000 litres would go nowhere if teenagers used it for showers.

10ager females and showers - don't start me... Can't wait until she's 11 next year and 'that' arrives...

Hammering the 5min shower thing with both mine at the moment the 7yr boy is bad but at least he gets in, washes and then it's playtime so you can turn the bloody thing off on him. The daughter, jeez louise every shower is a female "everything" shower and apparently it takes 5 mins for the conditioner to set before you can do anything else (all bullshite if you ask me).

The biggest issue with tank size is how are you planning on filling it? They are pretty easy to move nowadays in the era of rotational molded tanks, the foundation and location side is easy really as well as long as the pad can take 25 tons! But filling the damn thing, that's your problem.

Rainwater collection off a roof is an option, if you aren't in a drought prone area but that requires for safety UV treatment and filtration. Filtration is easy, not too dear but UV treatment requires power. I would not do rainwater collection now without the UV treatment having been sick from birds contaminating the tank before, 0/100 very much not recommended. Chemical treatment is a pain in the arse and you only have to forget once and...

What are the other options for water supply, even a couple of IBC's on a trailer and top up in town will get you through a dry.

Bugger using an IBC for tap water that’s going to be potable.
Who knows what industry it might have come from and had through it since. You can buy glyphosate/1000Lt for example.

As above, any tank chosen is ultimately limited by the catchment area filling it vs use rate.

Originally Posted by No.3

10ager females and showers - don't start me... Can't wait until she's 11 next year and 'that' arrives...

Hammering the 5min shower thing with both mine at the moment the 7yr boy is bad but at least he gets in, washes and then it's playtime so you can turn the bloody thing off on him. The daughter, jeez louise every shower is a female "everything" shower and apparently it takes 5 mins for the conditioner to set before you can do anything else (all bullshite if you ask me).

The biggest issue with tank size is how are you planning on filling it? They are pretty easy to move nowadays in the era of rotational molded tanks, the foundation and location side is easy really as well as long as the pad can take 25 tons! But filling the damn thing, that's your problem.

Rainwater collection off a roof is an option, if you aren't in a drought prone area but that requires for safety UV treatment and filtration. Filtration is easy, not too dear but UV treatment requires power. I would not do rainwater collection now without the UV treatment having been sick from birds contaminating the tank before, 0/100 very much not recommended. Chemical treatment is a pain in the arse and you only have to forget once and...

What are the other options for water supply, even a couple of IBC's on a trailer and top up in town will get you through a dry.

Probably getting a bit sidetracked from the main question but a sealed downpipe system means you can pretty much locate the tank anywhere you want, so long as it is below the gutter level, your fine.

A teaspoon of chlorine every time you arrive or add another 1500 bucks to install a UV filter if your concerned about possible contamination.

My vote is get the biggest tank you can or set your system up to add additional tanks later. You’ll eventually wish you had two of them anyway.