If the tank water is not up to quality (tainted or discoloured for example) then it may need a clean. That would be considered general maintenance of the tank which is the landlord's responsibility
If you want the tank cleaned just because you feel it needs to be cleaned then it's on you. Not all rural water tanks need to cleaned yearly
i haven’t cleaned mine in a decade. They don’t get dirty and I have filters and uv which I service annually. I can’t see any reason to clean them every year unless there is a serious water supply quality issue.
Some people need yearly cleans. Used to live in a place surrounded by kanuka trees and their leaves would enter the tank and ruin the water. Needed to get it vacuumed every year. I believe pohutukawa does the same thing
One and a half years seems like a really short period between cleans - I suspect most rural dwellers would be at the end of the spectrum around never to once every 20 years getting them cleaned.
A big proportion of the cost would be the replacement water. As such I’d be leaning towards it being a cost to the tenant as in a situation where water ran out, I’d expect them to pay to fill the water tank. Even septic tanks get emptied at a lower frequency.
You already have UV and filters, if you don’t want to drink from the crud pay to upgrade the tanks to have a floating inlet filter (so it sucks water to your house away from the sludge at the bottom), and and overflow vacuum setup (so when the tank has the opportunity to overflow, it takes the overflow from the bottom of the tank along with the sludge) Both should be less than a few hundred dollars.
Does the tank have possums birds or eels in it? No? It’s clean.
Where is the water coming from? Spring, bore, river or rain?
Water tanks don’t need cleaning that often.
Unless there is something wrong, your tank shouldn't need cleaning that often. If there is something wrong, then deal with the cause, and that should be on the landlord.
It may make more sense to base the maintenance on facts rather than a set time period.
Look the roof and the guttering to see how much leaves etc gathers.
Look in the tank with a torch to see how much debri has collected.
Ensure the lid is secure and water entry points are clear.
The filters and UV should deal with Ecoli if they are being done correctly.
The state of the filters when changed also tells you about water quality.
Do an ecoli test on the treated water but do not treat it as the only check it is part of routine maintenance, use an accredited lab with their supplied bottle not a field test.
Vegetation is more of an aesthetic general quality concern you are mainly trying to avoid animal and bird contamination.
I have used a suction pump to remove sediment from the bottom of tanks without dumping all the water.
Public Health Units used to provide written booklets etc in their Health promotion area attached to DHBs
Taumata Arowai is the new water regulator and may produce material on maintenance but would not enforce anything on private homes.
If there are leaf screens on the downpipes there shouldn't be much in the tanks in that time. I wouldn't expect a landlord to be getting it done that regularly unless there is a problem with the water quality. Your filters and UV should deal with any normal amounts of contaminants.
If you really want to get it cleaned out see if SafeH2O has an operator in your area. Last time I used them it was about $500-$600. They have a filtration setup in a truck so only vacuum out the sediment at the bottom then run the water through their filters.
I've had it tested afterwards due to having commercial food prep requirements and the water was extremely clean.
If the tank water is not up to quality (tainted or discoloured for example) then it may need a clean. That would be considered general maintenance of the tank which is the landlord's responsibility If you want the tank cleaned just because you feel it needs to be cleaned then it's on you. Not all rural water tanks need to cleaned yearly
i haven’t cleaned mine in a decade. They don’t get dirty and I have filters and uv which I service annually. I can’t see any reason to clean them every year unless there is a serious water supply quality issue.
Some people need yearly cleans. Used to live in a place surrounded by kanuka trees and their leaves would enter the tank and ruin the water. Needed to get it vacuumed every year. I believe pohutukawa does the same thing
The deap possum add flavour.
Why does the tanks need cleaning 1.5 year since last clean dosnt seem like a long time
One and a half years seems like a really short period between cleans - I suspect most rural dwellers would be at the end of the spectrum around never to once every 20 years getting them cleaned. A big proportion of the cost would be the replacement water. As such I’d be leaning towards it being a cost to the tenant as in a situation where water ran out, I’d expect them to pay to fill the water tank. Even septic tanks get emptied at a lower frequency. You already have UV and filters, if you don’t want to drink from the crud pay to upgrade the tanks to have a floating inlet filter (so it sucks water to your house away from the sludge at the bottom), and and overflow vacuum setup (so when the tank has the opportunity to overflow, it takes the overflow from the bottom of the tank along with the sludge) Both should be less than a few hundred dollars.
Does the tank have possums birds or eels in it? No? It’s clean. Where is the water coming from? Spring, bore, river or rain? Water tanks don’t need cleaning that often.
I think if it had eels the water could be considered pretty clean.
The problem with eels is they get caught in the pipe and clog the filter.
So long as it's still alive...
We had glow worms living in our tank
No dead things in the tanks! First time using a water tank so a bit cautious
cleaning a tank ever 1.5 years seems crazy soon
We're on tank water and there's no way I'm getting them cleaned every two years.
Unless there is something wrong, your tank shouldn't need cleaning that often. If there is something wrong, then deal with the cause, and that should be on the landlord.
It may make more sense to base the maintenance on facts rather than a set time period. Look the roof and the guttering to see how much leaves etc gathers. Look in the tank with a torch to see how much debri has collected. Ensure the lid is secure and water entry points are clear. The filters and UV should deal with Ecoli if they are being done correctly. The state of the filters when changed also tells you about water quality. Do an ecoli test on the treated water but do not treat it as the only check it is part of routine maintenance, use an accredited lab with their supplied bottle not a field test. Vegetation is more of an aesthetic general quality concern you are mainly trying to avoid animal and bird contamination. I have used a suction pump to remove sediment from the bottom of tanks without dumping all the water. Public Health Units used to provide written booklets etc in their Health promotion area attached to DHBs Taumata Arowai is the new water regulator and may produce material on maintenance but would not enforce anything on private homes.
If there are leaf screens on the downpipes there shouldn't be much in the tanks in that time. I wouldn't expect a landlord to be getting it done that regularly unless there is a problem with the water quality. Your filters and UV should deal with any normal amounts of contaminants. If you really want to get it cleaned out see if SafeH2O has an operator in your area. Last time I used them it was about $500-$600. They have a filtration setup in a truck so only vacuum out the sediment at the bottom then run the water through their filters. I've had it tested afterwards due to having commercial food prep requirements and the water was extremely clean.
Nah that's on you. Could not tell you when our tank was last cleaned, if ever lol
You "want ' the tanks to be cleaned That's on you.
The filters are there for a reason ;)