10 Good reasons to install rain water tanks for rainwater harvesting

Thinking about buying water tanks for rainwater harvesting? Here are some more great reasons to install rainwater tanks at a home or office.

10 reasons to buy water tanks:

1. Rain water tanks save money on water bills – domestic and irrigation
2. Mains water supply interruptions can be mitigated by having a back-up supply of rainwater stored in rain water tanks
3. Rainwater from rainwater tanks can be used, guilt-free, to fill or top-up swimming pools
4. Rainwater tanks on a property provide a source of water for fire fighting purposes
5. Rainwater is of known origin so the quality can be monitored – if appropriately filtered, rainwater is a healthier alternative to chemical-laden municipal water
6. Gardens and lawns respond well to being irrigated with rainwater (chlorine in municipal water can negatively affect plants)
7. Rainwater harvesting systems and rain water tanks will increase the market value of any home or office
8. Stormwater runoff in urban environments is reduced by collecting rainwater from rooftops and keeping the rainwater stored in water tanks on the property. This helps the environment as it reduces streambank erosion and pollution of overloaded nearby water courses
9. Rainwater can be used for irrigating lawns and gardens during municipal water restrictions and droughts
10. Excess stored rainwater can be directed back into the ground, at a slow rate, to recharge local groundwater levels

In South Africa, water tanks need not only be installed for rainwater harvesting; it is wise to have a water tank or two filled with municipal water  (or borehole water) to ensure the household or business has sufficient water during the increasingly common urban water supply outages.