"Slimline" water storage tank -- doesn't have to be a monster

Orange City Council has unanimously supported a resolution to increase the height of the Suma Park Dam wall by a metre – a key part of the Macquarie River Pipeline project.

But it’s not going to happen immediately. According to the council’s public relations officer, Nick Redmond, the vote allows “further investigation” of the raising of the wall, and there’ll now be a study of the environmental flow – the procedure of mandatorily releasing water from the dam under state government regulations.

“Raising the wall one metre effectively increases the size of the dam by 10 percent, which could trigger much higher environmental flows,” he says.

The vote comes as Councillor Reg Kidd has again pressed his proposal for other water conservation measures to meet the city’s water demands in the future.

Cr Kidd wants the council to consider taking a lead position on water security by “proposing a 10,000-litre tank for every suitable home in Orange – and then for, say, every new house for the next  three years.”

He reckons the estimated cost of the scheme would be $21 million to $24 million dollars and “would not cost $64 million as has been reported.” This would include the installation, all fittings and minimal maintenance and running costs.

“This would not only be part of [water] security for the community,” he says, “but a great way of engaging with the community.

“Presently this could be used for toilets, garden use etc but, with changing technology and compliance requirements, who knows how far we are away from filtration systems that would allow inside use?”

He says he and his family “have been on tank water since 1974, raised three children, and no problems. “The water becomes part of the cycle again anyway.

“This would definitely lower the water needs per household (potable water from council), and be a great way of showing how we lead in education in sustainable water use.”

STORMWATER HARVESTING A NATIONAL HIT

Cr Kidd cites the stormwater harvesting program as an example of leadership on the issue. “When Orange embarked on stormwater harvesting for potable use a lot of people said it would not happen,” he recalls.

“It did, and the great publicity it got has seen it being adopted right across Australia, and much interest from other parts of the world. Orange residents now want to see an increase in stormwater harvesting. You do not hear a single negative comment – different to not so many years back.”

The idea of a sizeable water storage tank in every garden in Orange is one that would seem to be a sensible part of the city’s integrated water management scheme, whether or not the Macquarie River Pipeline is built.

As pipeline opponent Paul Wettin, a water engineering expert from the amalgamated Concerned Citizens Committee says: “I’ve got one, and we never have to use water out of the tap for garden and other uses.

“It’s a great idea.”

But he sees household storage tanks as just part of “a whole range of options” which his group is looking at for future water security – excluding, of course, the pipeline.

“The council’s decision to further investigate the raising of the dam wall is simply window dressing,” he says. “In fact, it’s already closed the door on opposing views about the pipeline project, and has already commenced a whole range of consultancy studies on the scheme.

“Instead of that it needs to put the details and options of the scheme to the whole community, and fairly, for people to decide for themselves. There’s no rush. There’s currently about five years’ supply of water in the dam.”

Cr Reg Kidd concurs. “Let’s put ratepayers’ funds into solutions, not continued and often questionable reports, publicity, media committees and so forth – because if the pipeline concept is as good as we are being told, why is so much time, effort, resources and money being used to convince the greater majority of the people they must have this first or perish.

“A pipeline may be part of the mix. Whether this is from Lake Rowlands or the Macquarie I believe [it] is still open to debate.”

PLUGGING THE GAP WITH TREATED EFFLUENT

Cr Kidd’s proposal doesn’t stop at water storage tanks. Not by any means. He sees the treated effluent program as something that should be radically expanded to plug any gap in water resources in the future.

“Interestingly, water that should be pumped from the Macquarie River has effluent from upstream,” he says, “but it goes through the filtration system and can be used.

“But we ignore and put a negative spin on what could be done with the 3,000 odd megalitres of effluent produced from Orange, and increasing as our population, industry and businesses expand.

“This 3,000 megalitres, currently going to Cadia, free, will in due course hopefully return to the ownership of the community of Orange. That does not preclude Cadia from being a commercial customer for water – raw, treated or treated effluent – when available.”

Cr Neil Jones -- water tanks should be mandatory

Neil Jones, who’s on the city council’s environment committee, says he and others have been advocating for some time for a mandatory council requirement for household storage tanks. Cr Jones describes the issue as “complex and a dilemma – but the bottom line is yes, we should have tanks installed in all new homes, and retrofitted to existing ones.”

Neil says council’s existing rules are that all new homes must comply with sustainability regulations, and the householders are awarded points under the scheme for each measure they take. But it’s up to them whether they install their own rainwater tanks or not.

DUAL PIPE SYSTEM DISMISSED AS A NO-GO

In North Orange, new residences are on the council’s dual pipe system, which is being developed to provide both potable and treated effluent water for household use.  And again, there’s a points system for installing the tanks to store the treated water.

“However, those developers and buyers who’ve paid for tanks are not going to be any better off because it’s unlikely that the dual supply scheme will go ahead.”

On the tanks themselves, there’s the question of whether the 10,000 litre types that Cr Reg Kidd is calling for would fit into the average garden in Orange. But Neil Jones says a tank that size is “average” — but it doesn’t have to be that big.

“I’ve got two 2,500 litre tanks in my 20-year-old home, and there’s no space problem.”

The tanks don’t have to be the huge corrugated circular affairs that you see alongside many rural households and worksheds, either.

They come in different shapes and sizes these days and in many cases can fit neatly down the side of a house – as this Channel Nine “Garden Gurus” video excerpt from YouTube adequately demonstrates.