Water tank size?

I will get water tank and tower installed next year in cebu . Wondered what size to get on home 1200 sqare foot?( We have two bathrooms .)  Thanks :)
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I generally think it depends on your main source of water and how you intend setting up your system. If you have a reliable municipal water supply or subterranean well, then it's just a matter of using a low watt pump to elevate water to a smaller tank plastic or stainless tank (2000 litre or less), to increase gravity flow, in order to increase pressure to your faucets.  The higher the tank stand the more pressure in the faucet, the faster it empties.

If you are aiming at water security, keeping a larger volume (like concrete or polyethylene tank that is 10,000 litres plus) collecting rain water etc, then a such a storage tank will be more expensive, require guttering on your house for collection, and the tank will have to be at ground level (or underground) due to its weight, and need a more powerful 240v pump around 1000 watt (please check with installer) to achieve faucet water pressure . This also needs reliable electricity supply.

I had a 5000 litre concrete tank made by a local engineer and it degraded and leaked pretty quickly. Now I have 2 x deep wells that pump water upwards to automatically refill a 2000 litre stainless tank, above the roof line, and it refills much like a toilet cistern works. This gravity-fed system then supplies water enough for kitchen sink, washing machine, 4 toilets and 3 showers.
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Thanks for your detailed reply. I've heard as well that the higher you go the better the water pressure. I'll go with stainless tank . Again thanks for your help. I live outside of cebu city and will post info of the whole experience to help others. 🙂
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@gwaps Look forward to hearing how it goes.

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Can think of too if you want heated water   (then can paint a tank black located in sun.)

Sure NOT have transparent/get light in tank because that add risk geting bad things growing in the tank.
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I will get water tank and tower installed next year in cebu . Wondered what size to get on home 1200 sqare foot?( We have two bathrooms .)  Thanks smile.png
- @gwaps

That's a good question and one I've thought about myself. I would calculate water saver toilets on the high side at 5 liters per flush, 5 flushes per day times the number of flushers.

If you have water efficient shower heads figure 10 liters per minute for 5 minutes times the number of bathers. I read that the average shower lasts 8 minutes in the US.

Washing dishes and clothes would be difficult to calculate but you would have to be conservative during times of water outage. Let's say 100 liters per day, but it may be considerably more.

Consider how long the water outage is likely to last and if you're relying on municipal water does it have enough pressure to fill an elevated tank? If  the tank full water level is 20 feet you need almost 9 psig to reach the tank so you should be OK if the municipal water is at least 20 psig. At 30 feet you would need ~ 13psig. Our municipal water pressure is highest at night.

My solution was having a well dug and buying a 7,000 watt diesel generator, which I needed anyway. In the meantime our municipal water system was upgraded with filters and booster pumps so I connected the municipal water line to my well pump water supply with a check valve. In the event of a “brown out” the pressure in my well pressure tank will fall below the municipal water pressure allowing the check to open and I will have water, albeit at a lower pressure, but sufficient to rinse off if I'm in the shower since I'm the only one who starts the generator and switches the double throw breakers. I don't see the need for an elevated pressure tank in my situation, it would never be used. The contractor did install a large concrete rain water collection tank but it has never been used.

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@Moon Dog  Yes, necessary considerations, all those water saving considerations (and contraptions), with the rising cost of municipal water .

I recalled one last metric - the number of people in the household and their use requirement. In Scotland, I have a teenage daughter who, despite the number of reminders, goes into the bathroom for an hour at time, without the slightest regard for cost. (This is of course is offset by her brother, who needs continual reminders to take a bath, LOL).  We actually don't pay for city water in Scotland where I live, but the energy/heating costs are getting serious.
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@gsturdee I've heard that some municipalities have high water cost but ours is ridiculously cheap. I filled our pool for the first time using well water and municipal water but the high iron content in the well water turned the water tea color when I shocked it. I pumped out all 10,000 gallons and filled it with 100% municipal water this time and no more discolored water. The water bill that month was around P200.

My in laws moved here from Leyte in 2013 after Yolanda and we had a shack built for them. Municipal water was all they had, it was siphoned from a spill pool on the mountain side. Sand and an occasional small fish would come down the line and the pressure would go to zero in the morning. I visited in 2014 and bought a small pump and pressure tank. I piped it up with a bypass so when the water pressure was good they would turn off the pump and open the bypass. When the water pressure was low the little pump did a fair job boosting the pressure. The municipal water system has been upgraded with filters and booster pumps. We're near the end of the line so the pressure isn't great but it no longer goes to zero.

My original plan was to install a 500 liter tank with a pump and pressure tank. It was going to be on the ground with a bypass but we had a well drilled and now I just have a pump with a Water Worker pressure tank I sent in BB box. I have a generator backup as well as the municipal water connection I mentioned so I'm never without water.
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Slightly off topic. The creature comforts that western living coddles us with. You can't beat a decent shower with a good head of water but sometimes its the simple things in life that bring the best memories.

I once had a DIY shower with an ex GF out in ths sticks near Tarlac at an Aunts house. You know there is the large plastic container of water in the shower WC area. We took it in turns to ladle water over each other. The best and most memorable (we got the giggles) shower ever experienced.

What's the new environmentally friendly water saving phrase 'Save water, shower with a friend' ;)
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Slightly off topic. The creature comforts that western living coddles us with. You can't beat a decent shower with a good head of water but sometimes its the simple things in life that bring the best memories.

I once had a DIY shower with an ex GF out in ths sticks near Tarlac at an Aunts house. You know there is the large plastic container of water in the shower WC area. We took it in turns to ladle water over each other. The best and most memorable (we got the giggles) shower ever experienced.

What's the new environmentally friendly water saving phrase 'Save water, shower with a friend' wink.png
- @Lotus Eater
I had a nephew who had a hot wife, he told me they shower together to save money on hot water. His wife didn't think that was funny.
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@Lotus Eater My most memorable showers were with a dipper and bucket. 1f601.svg That's the real Philippine shower!

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@Moon Dog I hate the showers in the Philippines apart from in the nicer hotels. Never understood why the shower is at or near the same level as the rest of the bathroom leading to water all over the place. Surely it is better to have an enclosed shower cubicle or at least raise the level of the shower and have a separate drain for the water to go so it does not flood the rest of the bathroom.

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@Lotus Eater My most memorable showers were with a dipper and bucket. 1f601.svg That's the real Philippine shower!

- @Moon Dog


Yes, cant beat it!  Totally refreshing.. haha.
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I have yet to take a single shower myself... my fiancee insists we shower together... we still use the ladle and bucket... It is a fun, sweet time... has been over 2 years, and I don't see ever going back... (:
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Had a bath with my girlfriend at the Waterfront Airport Hotel in Mactan, that was fun.
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@gsturdee I'll let you know how it's goes and expenses . Now trying to buy honda ADV scooter in Cebu . May go on waiting list as it's very popular. 

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Had a bath with my girlfriend at the Waterfront Airport Hotel in Mactan, that was fun.
- @Cherryann01

May I enquire who got the tap (faucet to our American friends) end? Or were you in, ahem, coital alignment?
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Had a bath with my girlfriend at the Waterfront Airport Hotel in Mactan, that was fun.
- @Cherryann01
Where can I view the video?
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@Cherryann01 The showers in our house are recessed and have separate drains and a US style shower head and we have shower curtains. I didn't mind the pail and dipper showers though, as long as you had dedicated shower slippers.

When my nieces would visit they made a mess of the upstairs CR in our new house so I had to lay down the law and insist they dry off before leaving the shower.  I wanted the floor dry before they left or I would lock the door and they could use the traditional CR on the back of the property. They even had water splashed on the mirror over the sink so I don't know what was going on in there.

During a visit in 2014 I bought a cheap shower set up for the CR in the original shack that was on the property at that time. It was cheap and easy to install. When we demolished the house last year it was still there and is probably in one of the worker's huts now.

I remember bathing in the Dogway and Cranberry rivers when backpacking in West Virginia. The water was so cold in those mountain streams that when I dunked my head my scalp would draw up so tight it was hard to close my eyes, but I slept like a baby that night. That is probably why my favorite thing to do here is go sit under a waterfalls. It is the most relaxing thing I know of here.
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@Lotus Eater I got the tap end

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@Moon Dog yeh I agree with you about the waterfalls. I have only been to one (Tinago near Illigan City) but loved the clear water and the spray from the falls

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@Enzyte Bob you mean the video of me using the face towels and toilet paper to soak up all the overspill of water from the bath

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@gwaps  me too... sold my suzuki... going with the larger Honda... they are super popular

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Solar water heaters are not that hard to build, you can buy a pretty good system reasonable
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Solar water heaters are not that hard to build, you can buy a pretty good system reasonable
- @Okieboy

Can be made by scrap too, just paint the cleaned tank black and make sure sunlight dont get into the the tank.
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My friend from Australia has black pipe in a coil and frame  on his roof
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