Water tank

Recently we had a tropical storm that delivered us a meter of rainfall, yet we only had two 200 litre barrels so really couldn't make much use of all that rain. We were down to our last few buckets-worth again this week. The Met service had warned of a drier than usual summer so we really needed to do something about it. This week the forecast was for another week of rain so we decided if we were quick we could solve the problem. We bought a 5000 litre tank for TOP$1700 and towed it out to the island the day before yesterday.

As usual the sight of Palangis towing things behind a little dinghy was a source of amusement and a photo opportunity.

It took a bit wrangling to get the tank up the hill and down the track to the shed but we only had to cut down a few small trees, otherwise it miraculously just barely slipped between all the obstacles. Unfortunately the tank is a bit higher than the outflow of the guttering on the shed so we had to dig the tank in (about 400mm on one side and 500 on the uphill side), which has taken us the last two days. At least that will help keep it secure and cool so it's worth it.

We just barely got the hole finished as the rain started and we bodged up some temporary pipework including a water bottle elbow. Fingers crossed the pipes don't collapse and the tap doesn't leak and we may have some real water stored for a change. Maybe even a fresh water shower. Hallelujah!

As a matter of interest, they make great tanks here in Tonga. The main factory is in Tongatapu but it's so expensive to ship big empty tanks to Vava'u (cargo is charged by the cubic meter) that every few months they pack up the factory and ship all their equipment to Vava'u then make tanks here for a while before shipping it all back again.

So now we have a week of rain to look forward to. At least we have internet going again! At the moment the Met service says there is a high chance of the depression becoming a tropical storm, but it looks like it will head southwest, away from us. I hope so because we've been so frantic getting the tank in that we've done no storm prep.