For our block, we knew we had to make provision for a rainwater tank, as part of council’s water efficiency and conservation efforts. But the recommended rainwater tank for our block is too big and as ugly as a blind cobbler’s thumb. We decided we’d have a good chance of seeing if we could change the look and size, given that the land sale contract is not very well written, and nor are the design guidelines. Ambiguity is something I can easily manipulate to achieve my goals!
So, with my untrained legal brain in hand, (yuk), I set out to analyse the contract and design guidelines, with a view to finding any loopholes I could. We’re zoned RMD 25, and so we had been told that we needed a 3,000 litre tank like the picture above. Here’s what I found:
- The contract specifies a slim line rainwater tank of up to 3,000 litres. So in legal speak, the words ‘up to’ should include any number from zero to three thousand. The dippy lawyer should have written ‘at least’.
- The contract didn’t specifiy a minimum hard stand size, and did not mandate that we buy from a specific tank manufacturer. Nor did it mandate that I actually had to get a tank – it simply specified that we had to install the mimimum connection requirements.
- The council’s design guidelines offered a second option for water reuse – a greywater diverter reticulation system – that was an alternative to a rainwater tank. Such a system could be fed from a submerged tank instead of an above-ground one.
I fed these options back to the developers Cedar Woods, who have been very accommodating. It only took a couple of days for them to agree to the 1,500 litre tank instead of the 3,000 litre tank – which has saved us 1.5 metres of hard stand, and looks a lot better.
So now we await the working drawings from Smart Homes, which will hopefully make for much better window options around Bedroom 2 and the guest bathroom. And if we don’t get around to ordering the rainwater tank, then hey – at least we’ve got a nice hard stand for pot plants!
Very interesting. You could own the home building space.! I understand that the strategy is to get popular by blogging and then write a book which will be taken up by publishers because you’re already popular. I’m sure you’d love to write a book!
@Michelle: A strategy? Me? LOL. But yeah, writing a book would be good – they say there’s at least one book in each of us.
I like the 3 000 litre tank. It’s what Stanley Kubrick would have used if there was a water tank scene in 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Oh, and just in case you are considering getting the military version of the water tank (in the first photo)… I’d recommend against it. You’ll be much better off with a model that stores the water *inside* the tank.
@Chris: Thanks for your advice, it has been invaluable over the years!
Hahahha I’ll have to start calling Simon beijing.
Looks familiar ☺️
Nice work on the tanks hahahah . That large tank is way to big 🤣 🤣 for wine drinkers.
Xx ❤️
@Sam – I hadn’t thought of filling them with wine, that is a great idea!