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Rainwater tank plumber in Melbourne

(20 posts) (15 voices)

Started 2 years ago by rhills
Latest reply from petercut

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rhills
Member

Hi All,
My brother has installed a couple of rainwater tanks in suburban Melbourne (Rosanna area) and also has a Rainbank and Davey pump. These are all installed and ready to go but he needs the pump plumbed into the house mains. We could do the job ourselves, but he's looking to get a plumber to do the installation so he qualifies for the Government and council rebates.

He's had one plumber quote about 3 hours work, there's not a lot to do and we believe there's probably only an hour in it. Can anyone recommend a plumber that might do this kind of thing without eating up most of the rebate?

Cheers,

Posted Sunday 27 Sep 2009 @ 2:36:53 pm from IP #
munter
Member

I can't help recommend a plumber but I can sympathise. It seems that plumbers have increased their quoted prices to take *full* advantage of the rebates on offer. I've had several quotes provided and none seem to be reflective of costs. I've also had people tell me that unless a plumber does all the work (inlcuding the placement of the tank and guttering changes) the system won't be elligible for rebates. I believe this is also wrong. Its a shame that the easy money of rebates is exploited by installers.

Posted Tuesday 29 Sep 2009 @ 2:52:30 am from IP #
cava
Member

If your brother bought the pump and tank expecting a sizeable rebate after the installation, he will be disappointed.

Best not to even go down that path and stay away from any government regulation lest his council rates increase, as is happening with some Melbourne councils.

Posted Wednesday 30 Sep 2009 @ 9:50:33 pm from IP #
ruralguy
Member

We live in a rural area and there are many of us that would not let a plumber onto our properties because of what they charge.

All of our tanks were installed by us and all that is needed is a saw, the correct fittings and common sense.

I have been told that if you ask for the rebate in some areas the water authority is also informed and they may also charge you for using the water from your tanks. It may pay to check that out.

Posted Wednesday 7 Oct 2009 @ 11:40:45 am from IP #
munter
Member

rural guy - I think the primary reason for getting a plumber involved is that to claim the rebate you need to demonstrate that the system was installed by a qualified plumber. I agree that it isn't a particularly difficult task, but if that's what you need to do to claim the rebate then its hard to see another way of proceeding.

Posted Thursday 8 Oct 2009 @ 1:25:02 am from IP #
Greenozi
Member

There are many new areas that outdated certification system had difficulty to comprehend. That is like use of brain surgeon to remove your heel corn. On the exemplary Sustainability Assessor short courses, similar should be created to license professional i.e. renewable technology installer: rain or gray water tank, solar PV, etc where it is possible.
The base rate obviously should be adequate to substandard qualification in comparison to highly skilled plumber or electrician
Drawback of existing system is that many great solution could be implemented right now, materials cheap or given away free, but labor costs render some unaffordable.

Still for those unemployed newly acquired qualifications with rate in access of $20/h could prove interesting career.
Actually the quality of the job perform by plain full time tank installer that do 3 systems in one day could be much higher then plumber doing so once in the month.

Posted Thursday 8 Oct 2009 @ 2:10:57 am from IP #
Anonymous
Unregistered

Hello All,

Outback Water Tanks provide you with a wide range of variety when it comes to selecting the right rainwater tank or pump for your household or rural use. All of our rainwater storage products are carfully selected to meet the various needs of our customers. One can select or customize any of these water tanks and pumps to meet their requirements to suit your Rainwater Harvesting needs.

Keep Sharing!

poly water tanks

Posted Wednesday 14 Oct 2009 @ 6:33:39 pm from IP #
gully
Member

Call Aquablock and ask for a quote http://www.aquablockplumbing.com.au. It's true some plumbers are cashing in a bit on the discounts (same as ceiling insulation!) but 3 hours doesn't sound too bad - depends if he has to run any copper and install a pressure limiting valve and test it all.

Seriously though, 3 hours is not going to eat away most of your rebate!

Posted Thursday 21 Jan 2010 @ 5:22:18 am from IP #
CNCandy
Member

I was quoted a whole day for tank installation & plumbing of $200+/hr another place was $110 1st hour then $80 per hour and I reckon it was only an afternoons job probably less.

It was also considerably cheaper to source the major bits myself like the pvc pipes ($50) & tank ($650)and so forth, pity the volume of water off my roof equates to about $23 a year.

Plumbing isn't rocket science...

Posted Thursday 21 Jan 2010 @ 5:53:17 am from IP #
petercut
Member

I have just had an in-ground tank put in. The plumber that has been responsible for the tank installation and all the pipe work and the new guttering and the new drain to the tank so it won't get any ground water is Plumbcad. I have the tank connected to the whole house and they have installed the required filters, pump and pressure vessel. They have also installed a bypass so that, if there's no power to run the pump, I can simply turn a couple of taps and go back to mains water. I live in Greensborough so they should be able to do you as well. The pressure is just slightly less than our town water but that was too high anyway.

Posted Wednesday 17 Mar 2010 @ 10:21:03 pm from IP #
gully
Member

Sounds good petercut A bypass is ideal, as there's no 'switching' going on like with a Rainbank (when opening/closing solenoids). I was disappointed to find out that with mains disabled the Rainbank won't flush my toilet, even with power and a full tank

Can I ask what filters they've installed if it's to the whole house?

Posted Wednesday 17 Mar 2010 @ 10:32:31 pm from IP #
Tacker
Member

My father inlaw used a company called Solarflow for his tank which was plumbed to his toilet and laundary. This is also on a manual switch for power loss or lack of water, rather than a rainbank or similar. He found Solarflow to be very professional and prompt.

Posted Wednesday 17 Mar 2010 @ 10:43:14 pm from IP #
Anonymous
Unregistered

I'm thinking of installing a rainwater tank, to take advantage of the rebates.i think we should store rain water... Does anyone have any experience with that? I want to run two of the downpipes under the house so they will have to go back up again on the other side to reach the tank inflow.please suggest me...

Posted Friday 1 Oct 2010 @ 8:30:09 am from IP #
termite
Member

Firstly, what state and area are you in, so we know what rebates and requirements there are.
Secondly, what is your roof shape - gable, hip or other? Is the house a single or double storey?
Thirdly, what do you want to use the water for? Garden, washing/toilet, pool or drinking? This will affect the filters and add-ons you need, and the size and cost of the system. Also, you need to know what footprint space is available, as that may determine the tank shape.

While it is not impossible to get water to go uphill, you risk having it sitting in pipes and stagnating, so it is much better to design the piping to fall only. With more information, we can suggest possible workable alternatives.

Posted Friday 1 Oct 2010 @ 10:13:08 am from IP #
Diver
Member

meganq - SPAM ALERT!!!

* Thank you Mod for SPAM removal.

Posted Friday 1 Oct 2010 @ 10:29:43 am from IP #
Anonymous
Unregistered

Hey this is great that we can now use the rain water for drinking and for the commercial purposes, But for this I have to install a water filter in my house.

http://superwall.com.au/

Posted Monday 27 Dec 2010 @ 6:29:30 pm from IP #
Diver
Member

meganq,
As per the Spammed website and for the benefit of forum visitors and yourself, I alert you to the following:

The volume of a '90' mm PVC pipe is less than the 6.5 litres stated due to the pipes being measured as an outside diameter. Are you aware of this?

A 'fine filter' restricts the flow path of water. If a product fitted into a downpipe reduces the downpipe's regulatory discharge rate and is not designed with an unrestricted overflow back to stormwater, the excess water during a storm event or blockage will discharge next the house. As such, products fitted into downpipes that reduce the regulatory plumbing discharge rate of water flowing to stormwater for a regions 1 in 20 year Average Recurrence Interval are (argueably) NOT COMPLIANT with plumbing regulations AS/NZS 3500. Are you aware of this?

Are you aware that the product's upper 8 mm mesh is not mosquito proof?

If the flush chamber blocks, can mosquitoes access the dirty flush?

Do you or forum visitors have any questions or require further facts?

Posted Tuesday 28 Dec 2010 @ 2:28:20 am from IP #
modtank@netspace.net.au
Member

Dear Rhills,
Very close to you, are very professional rainwater tank installers, ask them for a quote ? http://www.m2raintanks.com.au
We are in the water tank industy. Concerned for quality, tank manufacturers formed an association [Arid] and developed an Australian standard for manufacture, use and installation. Most of the above questions are in this standard.Searching the net, the closest I can find to it, without buying the standard, is the following link http://www.nwc.gov.au/resources/documents/RAINWATER_handbooknwc_logo.pdf
I hope this helps !

Posted Tuesday 28 Dec 2010 @ 3:55:17 am from IP #
petercut
Member

G'day gully. It's been a while since I looked at this site but here's your reply: The water goes to the whole house and there is a filter and a pressure tank. The filter is easy to clean but the pressure tank is probably a bit small to be as effective (at stopping the pump always starting) as I'd like. Since the tank was filled (by rain) last year, I haven't used any mains water at all except when there was a blackout and I had to switch over to mains for a couple of hours (the pump won't work in a blackout). Overall I'm very happy with the installation and the water tastes VERY nice. I don't have any first flush diverters but I have gutter guard to keep the leaves out and leaf eaters on all downpipes to keep out rubbish and insects effectively sealing the tank against everything except a little dissolved bird poop.

Posted Thursday 7 Apr 2011 @ 3:15:47 am from IP #
Anonymous
Unregistered

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Posted Friday 19 Aug 2011 @ 8:05:47 am from IP #

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