2031: a land odyssey – article in New Home Buyer

Other wells for us to spring - alternative water sources

If you’re building in one of Sydney’s new suburbs, then it’s likely you’ll receive part of your water supply from a recycling scheme. Recycled water schemes takes the water that goes down the drain in kitchens, bathrooms, laundries and some businesses, filters and disinfects it, then provides it to homes as a water supply for toilet flushing and outdoor uses.

Australia’s biggest residential recycling scheme is in Sydney’s Rouse Hill. Since 2001, the scheme has begun supplying recycled water to over 17 000 new homes in suburbs like Glenwood, Kellyville and Stanhope Gardens. Sydney Water claims that the Rouse Hill scheme has reduced the demand for drinking water by about 40% - enough to help a new home comply with the BASIX water saving requirement.

The Rouse Hill scheme has been so successful that the recycling plant is currently being expanded so it can serve more homes. Sydney Water is also developing similar schemes in other growing areas like Ropes Crossing and Hoxton Park. New home buyers in these areas save money, as connecting to a recycled water scheme is much cheaper than installing a water tank to comply with BASIX. They can also feel much more comfortable about installing lawns and gardens, and can pity new home buyers in Victoria’s growing suburbs, who don’t have recycled water schemes, and have been forced to leave their front gardens bare, or install Astro Turf.

Many new home buyers aren’t building in the growth areas of the western suburbs - they’re knocking down existing homes in established suburbs. We can’t go back and build recycling water plants for every suburb in Sydney. Instead, its up to each individual new home buyer to install their own alternative water source. To meet the BASIX water saving requirement, most new home buyers will install a rainwater tank.

There are two different styles of rainwater tanks. The first, cheaper option, now popular with home owners across Australia, is a standalone tank. It simply rests up against your home’s wall, or sits by itself in the garden, collecting rainwater from your roof or even just whatever falls within its top opening. They will usually have a tap at the bottom, and you can use the water in your garden or to wash the car.

The rainwater tanks demanded by BASIX are more complex, and more expensive. To make really significant savings, tank water has to be used not just outside, but inside the home. BASIX rainwater tanks supply a new home’s toilets and laundries as well as the garden tap. This means that the water from the tank has to be connected by a plumber into your new home’s water supply. The tank has to include filters that ensure that the water is fit to enter your house, and there also has to be a “top-up” connection to the mains water supply, in case the tank runs out of rainwater at any time.

BASIX will decide what size tank you require based on the location of your land, the size of your land, the size of your new homes and what you’re planning on putting in the garden. Tanks can go above or below ground, depending on your budget and the shape of your land.