Timber frame tank

skipd · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:16 am

I am looking at building a timber framed water tank. The plan is to line the tank with 19mm plywood and paint inside with bitumen paint.
The dimensions would be about 1m wide 4.8m long and 2.7m high. giving about 10,000 lt.
I live in Perth WA.
Has anyone built a similar tank and would 10,000 lt be enough to supply a 2bath 4 bed home.
I figure the tank will need bracing through the outside studs(timbers) thought large threaded rod.
Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
The tank will sit on the west wall of the proposed house extenstion which will be in timber frame so would idealy form part of the wall provideing great themal mass and insulation from the harsh summer setting sun. :mrgreen:

Simo · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:18 am

Hi skipd,

A rectangle box tank as you describe would need a lot of side bracing on the long wall (see Suart Chignell's thread on the BYAP forum).

10,000L would be enough for a small veg patch, or maybe to flush the toilets depending on the number of people that live in the house.

100% of my household water comes form rainwater tanks and I have 330,000L of storage, this is overkill but I want extra water for plants and animals. As a minimum for a 4 person household in our climate I would suggest 120,000L of rainwater storage, and even then you would need to be frugal wirth the water usage.

skipd · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:02 pm

Thats one big tank. Being on 780msq I will have to put in what I can get away with.
Was thinking overnight about maybe a heap say 10 IBCs, 2 high. that would give me 10,000 and a lot easier to construct. I could build a screen to cover them easily enough.
Hows the AP going Simo.

Faye · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:36 pm

I started going through the excercise of what water can I save, how much can I collect, how do I use water etc etc etc
I started to determine how much we use by googlong a water use calculator http://www.propertyflow.yvw.com.au/cust ... luator.asp
try this it may give you a starting point.

skipd · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:14 am

Thanks Faye, I will check it out.
By the way your garden looks awesome. Have fun with the garden visitors.
Kind regards, Skipd.

Simo · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:16 am

skipd wrote:

Thats one big tank. Being on 780msq I will have to put in what I can get away with.
Was thinking overnight about maybe a heap say 10 IBCs, 2 high. that would give me 10,000 and a lot easier to construct. I could build a screen to cover them easily enough.
Hows the AP going Simo.

I like the IBC Idea, my outlaws neighbor has a stack 3 high covering the entire west side of their house, I guess as a heat sink or maybe to keep the summer heat out :dunno:

Easy to construct and easy to move at a later date, a bit ugly but like you said can be convered, plumbing might be a challenge.

As for the AP, got my trout yesterday and they are already smashing the food :clap:

skipd · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:06 pm

Yeh I thought plumbing might be a bit of a challenge with the IBC but should be able to work something out.
Good to hear your AP is up and going again Simo. :thumb:

Backyard Farming Forum
Bringing food production home