Economic, water quantity and quality impacts from the use of a rainwater tank in the inner city

Abstract

A dual water supply system (rainwater and mains water) has been installed at an old house in Maryville a inner city suburb of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. A design was developed for the installation of a rainwater tank to supply rainwater for toilet, hot water and outdoor uses. The rainwater supply is supplemented with mains water via a trickle top-up system when water levels are low in the tank. An air gap is used for backflow prevention in accordance with Australian standards. The design, construction and performance of the dual water supply system at the Maryville house are examined in this paper. Monitoring of water quality from the rainwater tank and from an instantaneous hot water service at the Maryville house has revealed that the rainwater was acceptable for hot water, toilet and outdoor uses. Rainwater used in the hot water service was compliant with Australian drinking water standards. The cost of rainwater has been found to be $0.30 per kL which is less than the price of mains water in the Lower Hunter region and the commonly assumed cost of $1.00 to $14.00 per kL.