Water Tanks
Water tanks have done a full circle in australian history and it is interesting how the ideas and attitudes of the government and the australian people have changed over time. Additionnaly the difference in the nature of the attitudes between rural and city communities and the governing bodies regulations in the corresponding areas.
From a rural perspective water tanks have been an essential part of life for most of australian farming history they have provided a back up means of water storage in the dryer times and have allowed pottable water to be collected from rain when flowing water was not at its best. this aspect has remained relitivly constant with water tanks becoming more and more essentail as well as a more reliable means of containing water compared to dams. Reasons being that the technology in the designs and manufacture of the tanks has improved and so has the primary producers confidence in their reliablility.
For the semi rural parts of australia there has been some interesting regulations in the past for the use of water tanks at one point or another mains water becomes available to the fringes of rural areas in this case a farm outside the town of a rural town was eligble for mains water which is fair enough. However, after the mains were connected a letter was recieved stating that water tanks were not to be used if mains water is hooked up so naturally the primary producer disconnected the mains at a large cost. This was also the same rule in the city at the time and this is not to long ago either when it was acually not permited to have a water tank in a suburban area. A rather interesting timeline of events in legislation I think considering now that the state and federal goverments rebate up to two thousand dollars for installing a water tank in an existing suburban home and now require in basix that all new houses have at least 10,000 litres installed.
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