Rainwater tanks​

Rainwater tanks (above ground) cannot be installed as exempt development on land in:

• a foreshore area
• an environmentally sensitive area.

If constructed or installed on or in a heritage item or draft heritage item, the tank must be in the rear yard.

The following are key standards for installing above ground rainwater tanks:

Zoning

• The maximum tank capacity allowed is 10,000 L, when the development is on land zoned other than RU1, RU2, RU3, RU4, RU6, R5, E2, E3 or E4.
• For any land zone, if the tank is more than 1.8 m above the existing ground level, it must be at least 450 mm from any lot boundary.
• If the development is on land zoned RU1, RU2, RU3, RU4, RU6, R5, E2, E3 or E4, it must be at least 10 m from any lot boundary.

Location

• The tank must be behind the building line of any road frontage.
• The tank must not rest on the footings of an existing building or require earth moving of more than 1m above or below existing ground level.

Operations

• The tank must be fitted with a screened rain head for self-cleaning and to prevent leaf litter.
• The tank must be fitted with a first-flush device with an automatic resetting valve so that initial run-off rainwater bypasses the tank.
• The tank must be designed to prevent mosquitoes breeding in it.
• The overflow system must be connected to an existing stormwater drainage system that does not pour onto or disrupt adjoining properties.
• The tank must have a ‘rainwater’ sign.
• Associated pumps must be kept in a soundproof structure.
• The tank must not interconnect with any system supplying drinking water, unless it complies with the relevant water authority standards.

Additional development standards that must be complied with will depend on the zoning of your land, and are set out in the State Policy.

You can construct or install below-ground rainwater tanks as exempt development on land zoned RU1, RU2, RU3, RU4, RU6 or R5.

Within these zones, you cannot construct or install below-ground rainwater tanks on land that is identified on an Acid Sulphate Soils map as being Class 1 to 5 under an environmental planning instrument. You also cannot construct or install below-ground rainwater tanks on land within an identified environmentally sensitive area.

The same standards regarding zoning, location and operations apply for installing a below-ground rainwater tank as an above-ground rainwater tank.

Additional development standards that must be complied with are set out in the State Policy.

• If you propose to remove or prune any existing trees or vegetation, you should contact your council first to make sure you don’t need approval for this.
• Works must be structurally adequate, installed in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications and comply with the Building Code of Australia (BCA).
• Any structures that would be located on public land, or on or over a public road (including temporary structures), must have separate approval from the relevant council, or Roads and Maritime Services under the Roads Act 1993 and the Local Government Act 1993.
• Generally, exempt development cannot be carried out on:
  • land that is, or on which there is, an item that is listed on the State Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1977 or that is subject to an interim heritage order under that Act (unless an exemption has been granted under section 57 of the Heritage Act 1977)
  • a critical habitat of an endangered species, population or ecological community under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 or the Fisheries Management Act 1994
  • a wilderness area under the Wilderness Act 1987.