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  • Rainwater Harvesting for the Garden: Tanks, Pumps and Who Connects What

    Rainwater Harvesting for the Garden: Tanks, Pumps and Who Connects What

    Harvesting rainwater for the garden is one of the easiest wins in an Australian backyard: catch what falls on your roof, store it in a tank, and use a pump to push it out to the garden. For garden-only use you have a lot of freedom, but the moment you want that water plumbed into the house, that becomes licensed plumbing work. This guide walks through sizing, keeping the water clean, choosing a pump, and who connects what.

    Why harvest rainwater (and what it can legally supply)

    Rainwater is free, soft, and perfect for gardens, lawns and topping up ponds. Caught off a clean roof and stored properly, it keeps your garden going through dry spells and takes pressure off mains supply. For outdoor use — irrigation, washing down paths, filling a water feature — a simple tank-and-pump setup is straightforward.

    What rainwater is allowed to supply indoors (toilets, laundry, even drinking in some setups) varies by state and council, and there can be requirements around tank screening, mosquito protection and cross-connection. Rather than assume, check your local water authority or council for what’s permitted where you live before you plan anything beyond the garden.

    Sizing a tank to your roof and rainfall

    Tank size is a balance between how much rain you can realistically catch and how much water you’ll use. A bigger roof catches more per shower of rain; a wetter region refills more often. If your goal is to ride out dry weeks, lean toward more storage; if you just want to take the edge off summer watering, a modest tank does plenty.

    Think about the space you have, how the tank will look, and whether you’d rather one large tank or a couple of smaller linked ones. There’s no single right answer — match the storage to your roof, your rainfall and your watering habits.

    First-flush diverters and clean water

    The first wash of water off a roof carries dust, leaf litter and bird droppings. A first-flush diverter sends that initial dirty flow away before the cleaner water reaches the tank, which keeps your stored water far nicer and reduces sludge. Pair it with leaf guards on the gutters and a screened tank inlet, and you’ll have water that’s clean enough for the garden and kinder to your pump.

    Surface vs submersible pumps and automatic controllers

    To get useful pressure out of a tank you’ll usually need a pump. A surface pump sits beside the tank and draws water out; a submersible pump sits inside the tank. Surface pumps are easy to access and service, while submersibles are quieter and out of sight. Either way, an automatic pressure controller is the part that makes it feel like mains water — the pump switches on when you open a tap or sprinkler and off when you stop.

    One firm rule: positioning and plumbing the pump on the garden side is fine to do yourself, but the electrical connection must be carried out by a licensed electrician on an outdoor, RCD-protected circuit. Pumps near water and unlicensed wiring don’t mix.

    Garden-only vs plumbed-to-the-house

    A garden-only tank that feeds sprinklers, hose taps or a water feature is the simple path. But if you want rainwater running to toilets, the laundry or anywhere it could meet the drinking-water supply — or you want a device that automatically switches between rainwater and mains when the tank runs low — that crosses into licensed plumbing territory and may require backflow prevention to protect the town supply. Installing a tank into the household water supply or fitting a mains-switching device is licensed plumbing work, and a team like Creek to Coast Plumbing handles that side of the install.

    Siting, overflow and seasonal upkeep

    Put the tank on firm, level ground close to both the downpipe and the garden it’ll serve — shorter runs mean better flow. Plan the overflow so excess water runs safely away from the house footings, not into them. Through the year, clear the gutters and leaf guards, check the first-flush diverter, and give the tank a look for sludge build-up. A little seasonal attention keeps the water clean and the pump happy.

    For the bigger picture on how rainwater fits with ponds, pumps and water-wise design, see our overview on water in the Australian garden.

  • Water in the Australian Garden: Pumps, Ponds, Water Features and Water-Wise Landscaping

    Water in the Australian Garden: Pumps, Ponds, Water Features and Water-Wise Landscaping

    Water shapes how an Australian garden looks, sounds and survives. Whether you’re moving water with a pump, building a pond, running a fountain or simply trying to keep a garden alive through a dry summer, the same four threads keep turning up: how you move and store water, how you keep it healthy, how you make it a feature, and how you use less of it. This guide ties those four together and points you to the safety rules that apply across all of them.

    The four pillars of water in the garden

    Most water questions in a backyard fall into one of four areas. The first is household and garden pumps — the gear that moves water from a tank, a well point or a low-pressure mains supply to where you actually need it. The second is ponds and fish, which bring movement and life but need a bit of planning to stay clear and healthy. The third is water features and fountains, the decorative side that turns a corner of the yard into something you want to sit beside. The fourth is water-wise and drought-tolerant landscaping — designing a garden that drinks less in the first place.

    How they connect

    These pillars aren’t separate hobbies. A rainwater tank feeds a pump, the pump runs an irrigation line or tops up a pond, the pond becomes a water feature, and a water-wise planting scheme means the whole system has less work to do. Get one part right and the others get easier. Oversize your storage and undersize your pump and you’ll be frustrated; plant thirsty exotics in full western sun and no amount of clever plumbing will keep them happy.

    Thinking about the garden as one connected water system — storage, movement, use and feature — tends to produce better results than buying bits and pieces in isolation.

    The safety theme that runs through everything

    Across all four pillars, three safety rules come up again and again in Australia, and they matter because they’re about both your safety and staying on the right side of the law.

    Electrical connection is a licensed electrician’s job. Any pump, pond pump, UV clarifier, aerator or fountain that runs on mains power needs to be wired in by a licensed electrician, on an outdoor circuit that’s RCD-protected. Water and electricity are an obvious hazard, and DIY wiring of outdoor power isn’t legal for an unlicensed person. You can usually position and plumb the gear yourself, but the electrical connection is not a DIY step.

    Connecting to mains or potable water is a licensed plumber’s job. If you’re tying a rainwater tank into the household supply, installing a mains-switching device, or doing anything that touches drinking-water plumbing, that’s licensed plumbing work and may require backflow prevention to protect the town supply. Garden-only setups give you far more freedom; the moment the house water is involved, bring in a plumber.

    Bore water, rainwater rules and water restrictions vary by state and council. What you’re allowed to do with a bore, how rainwater can be used, and which days or hours you can water all depend on where you live. These rules change, so rather than trust a blanket statement, check your local water authority or council for the current position before you commit to a plan.

    Where to start

    If you’re new to all of this, start with what you actually need water to do. A garden that’s struggling in summer points you toward storage and efficient irrigation. A dull, quiet corner points toward a pond or water feature. Weak flow from a tank points toward the right pump. Once you know the job, the type of equipment and the trades you’ll need to involve become much clearer.

    From here you can dig into each pillar in detail — tanks and rainwater, building a pond, boosting water pressure, irrigating efficiently, and choosing between pump types — and come back to this overview whenever you want to see how the pieces fit together.