Water tank for toilets - repairs, maintenance issues, etc.

Hi there,
I’m about to start building my next house and today at our colour appointment we discussed an option of having a water tank providing water to toilets.
I’m just curious how good this solution is from the reliability and maintenance points of view.

the original option is a solar assisted HWS. I have it at my current home, no probs, & I think if solar part doesn’t work, I’ll get my water from gas anyway.
With this thing it looks more complex I think and the following issues might be seen:
1. Noise from the pump when pushing water from the tank to the system, particularly at night
2. It looks like impossible to have any manual intervention to overwrite the tank option so that water from the mains would flow
3. Tank cleaning sometimes
4. Filtering issues
Not sure how reliable the whole system is...
and in my view this list goes on.

I guess, if anyone can share their experience with such systems and their maintenance,repairs, etc. so that I can make an informed decision
Thanks

 

I’m not too sure what type of system you are referring to?

is it a grey water system that recycles water in the house to use in the toilet?

 

Yes, it’s gonna be used for 2 purposes: for toilets and for gardening
For toilets, if no water in the tank, then the main water kicks in.
So, this system would sense how much water is left in the tank, pump it thru a control valve if enough water and switch a valve if no water in the tank
So, yes, this system would still need some water filtering plus a pump can work anytime if a toilet is empty. Anytime means at night when someone visits a toilet and a pump is obviously gonna stay outside

 

I think it would be no worse than anyone that doesn't have mains water and has to use rain water tanks. Where have they proposed the tank and pump be located?

 

I think this is a great idea - using treated water for toilet flushing is a waste of drinking water. You might be able to hook it up to your laundry too.

If it’s rain water, I can’t see why you would have ‘filtering issues’.

What is your reasoning for considering the use of rain water for toilet flushing?

Is it instead of solar hot water or as well as solar hot water?

 

It’s instead of solar not in addition.
In terms of idea it might be great but I’m more concerned about the reliability of all parts involved, maintenance of this system such as water tank cleaning, noise from the pump etc
So, probably would like to hear any feedback from people who already have such systems in their houses

 

I guess, anyone who doesn’t have mains would typically be in the countryside with no houses close by. In my case, it’s a suburb, so if my pump screams at night people would be upset

The tank & pump are supposed to be located along the side of a house not far from a window of a little activity room but still not far from 2 bedrooms

 

If the tank is only supplying water to the toilets, put the tank up high and use gravity to fill the cisterns. For the laundry or garden, use the takeoff connected to the pump. These pumps are pretty much silent ie quieter than your ac and reasonably small. Go to a pump supplier and get a demo.

 

Thanks
In my case a construction company would select a pump for me. I don’t think I can also direct them how to install a water tank. It’s 2000L, so as per the plan they are gonna put it on the ground, therefore a pump would be used to push water to toilets.
Ok, I hope a pump would be silent

 

I had a solar hot water system with a pump to move the water up to the roof to be heated by the solar panels. Never heard a thing.

it sounds like you might be building in a new estate. Ask your builder to get some info about the noise from the pump and your other queries. They will likely put you in touch with their supplier.

You could also ask to see one in use. Perhaps they have one in a display home?

 

having a tank with a pump is great and i have one at my place adn it gets used. if it's an investment property i would think about not having it. most pumps come from overseas and sit outside and die after a couple of years. leaving you to have to replace it for not a real benefit for the tenant and it doesn't add any rental Value to a property.

 

Thanks, this is exactly what I suspected would happen. And yes, this would be an investment property. This would mean I’ll be having troubles changing pumps periodically, while the tenants would pay less for their water without any benefit for me.

 

99% of the time we remove and bypass them now. the issue is that 1 in 20 tenants will want a rent decrease or will not want to pay water because their bill will go up. and as it's a fixture when they moved in they can force you to replace it. that and insinkerator always break and in an investment property are not needed.

 

Yeah, this is what I suspected would happen. When a tenant lives in such a house, they can’t bypass this infrastructure and therefore would call the agent always. Considering that we are talking about toilets, all issues related to toilets need to be resolved fast, so it’s a problem for me.
Thanks a lot

 

Oh I thought this would be for your own house. I wouldn't spend money on something like this for an IP that adds additional complexities.

 

Well, with all these “green” technologies for the house to be approved I had 2 options
One is a solar assisted HWS
Or
This water tank based toilet flush
So, it’s either this or that but one of them shall be selected
In my own house I have the first, so I thought what I have to do in my IP. Btw, a solar assisted HWS costs 900 more compared to water tank with toilet flush. However, considering its reliability and pain for me long-term I’d prefer a solar assisted HWS rather than a green toilet thing

 

Commonly called a Rain Bank

My parents have one, you can hear the outside pump motor run from inside when you flush, isn't so bad unless its late

Kind of defeatist as a recycling/energy saving device, using $0.01 of electricity to save $0.000001 of water

 

Yeah, which again means that some noise might be produced at night and neighbours might complain.
Thanks

 

That provides a lot more context. If it's compulsory in the land estate to have one of those 2 items I would still go with the solar HWS even though it's $900 more for an IP. Solar HWS have been around for a long time and are a much lower maintenance and reliability risk.
I am all for sustainable features but some are easier for an IP than others.

 

How long does it take a high velocity pump to move 6 litres of water - maybe 30 seconds. I can hear the neighbours complaining about 30 seconds of a low hum (it'll take them ages to work out what is causing the hum and will have stopped before the light above their head has gone on).