How Many Gallons Is Your Catchment Tank?

[7Shadows]

Aloha everyone! My lot is located in Hawaiian acres on Rd. 5 near D and am now looking for advice on how many gallons my tank should be for a family of three.

Thank you for your help

[7Shadows]

Really nice PDF I found about water catchment in Hawaii, just curious what sizes people are using in my area... http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/RM-12.pdf

[terracore]

I'm told that some conventional financing and insurance institutions consider 10,000 gallons to be the minimum size required for any properties they will service, but I never did any fact checking on it. Regardless, it seems to be the "standard" size. You'll want to use a common size for the purpose of getting liners, covers, etc for it.

Our tank is 10,000 gallons and in almost 5 years we've never ran out of water, and that is with livestock and a garden.

That pdf is the catchment Bible for Hawaii. One thing to consider when choosing a tank size is the importance of your roof size. If you have a tiny house you'll need a larger catchment tank.

[7Shadows]

Ahh insurance requirement, thanks for the heads up. I'll be looking into that now. Are you close to Hawaiian Acres Terra? I've read about the micro climates and how weather can be different from one area to the next.

[Lee M-S]

I've heard that the fire department also recommends a 10,000 gallon tank or larger. If you have a fire, they'll stick a pump in your tank.

We have 10K tank, added a smaller tank made of (free) roofing and 6ml plastic lining that catches the overflow from the main tank. We use that one for gardens. Family of 2 water wasters.

><(((*< ... ><(("< ... ><('< ... >o>

[MarkP]

FWIW I lived with a 2,000 gallon tank for a couple of years and did OK but it just had to meet the needs of a single party household. I upgraded to a 10,000 gallon tank 6 months ago. It is a corrugated steel tank. I put the pump suction line and the inlet/overflow line through the side of the tank about 8" from the top. The inlet/overflow line goes to the bottom of the tank. The water from the roof comes down to a tee just outside the tank. Before the tank is full the water takes the branch into the tank. When full it takes the branch leading to the drain. There is a small weir in the drain branch formed by a couple of elbows that makes the water go into the tank until the tank level is higher.

I have often heard the bit about the fire department using tank water to fight a fire. That would certainly make sense. I have also heard though that they don't want to mess with the tank in an emergency and that they require a pre-piped FD approved connection or they don't bother. That also makes sense. I wonder what the actual deal is.

ETA: 10,000 gallons just seemed to be a sweet spot in terms of $/gallon. Not by huge amount though. Probably just because they sell so many of them.

ETA: It has been a couple of months since it was not continuously overflowing.

[terracore]

"Are you close to Hawaiian Acres Terra". Yes, we live in Orchidland. As the 'alala flew we are two blocks away from HA.

"We have 10K tank, added a smaller tank made of (free) roofing and 6ml plastic lining that catches the overflow from the main tank. We use that one for gardens. Family of 2 water wasters."

Our overflow empties into our small pond about 50 feet away. It's always good to find a use for the 'extra' water. Right now it essentially services our "pet bullfrog" and our dog drinks out of it- even though we yell at him to use the fresh water in his bowl.

[lquade]

one road HA, never ran out . i have 8000 main tank whose overflow goes into a 2000 gallon. even in dry periods haven't run out. up oshiro road i only had 3800 and never ran out in over 30 years even in drought. but you have to use some brains, my daughter who is in that house now,did a lot of laundry in dry spell and ran the oshiro tank dry. but yes, most insurance companies require the 10K gallons, and some give you a discount if you put in the quick connect for fire hose. it seems like it is pretty good one and pays for the improvement in a few short years.

[bananahead]

HA gets about 12-15 feet of rain/yr... I have an enclosed chemtank thats only 500 gallons, and have ran out only 2 times in ten years, w/2 people here... both in very long droughts..... I just bring my 150 gal tank to the spigots, but its been a few yrs now that Ive had to do that... my 500 gallon tank fills in one night when we get good rain, and it only has 20'of gutters, I have another 50' of roof/gutters I can hook up if needed... Im offgrid on Rd 2, and fwiw and the rivers been flowing for 3 days now...

******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[VancouverIslander]

We went with the conventional wisdom of the 10,000 gallon tank. It's not a huge expense and the security of your water supply is provided at a reasonable price.

Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike