Knowing the water level in your poly water tank is extremely important, and for more reasons than simply knowing when to order a top up.
It alerts you to potential water shortages
When the water level in your storage tank is too low, you have insufficient supply. This can have severe consequences in certain situations; for example, if you plan to use the stored water for firefighting purposes, or if you require tanks to supply water for livestock or crop irrigation in drought-prone regions. Monitoring your tank's water level allows you to refill it before it runs dry, which is critical when the ongoing water supply is unreliable or limited. The value here is timing. A tank that is nearly empty and a tank that is empty are very different problems, and only one of them can still be solved with a phone call. Where the water is there for firefighting, running low is not an inconvenience.
It promotes sustainability
A water level indicator in your storage tank will promote sustainability by helping you conserve your stored water resource. Knowing how much water you have in your tank, particularly in areas where frequent top ups are expensive or impractical, allows you to optimise your water use and reduce waste; this can help conserve water resources and reduce the environmental impact of human activities. Behaviour tends to follow information. It is difficult to ration a supply you cannot see, and much easier to be careful once you can. A visible float does most of that work without anyone in the household having to be asked.
It identifies leaks in the pipe network
Modern poly tanks are manufactured to a very high standard. It's improbable they will leak, especially those featuring one-piece construction and extra wall thickness. On the other hand, the pipe network that transfers water into or out of a tank might be more susceptible to leaking, especially around fittings and connections. Identifying a steady drop in your tank's water level could alert you to leaks; these are wasteful and, when water is required in critical situations like firefighting or stock welfare, potentially dangerous. Construction is the reason the tank itself is rarely the culprit, which we go into in which is the strongest water tank.
The float and pole indicator
While it's important to measure water levels, it's not very difficult to do so. The Promax tank level indicator is the epitome of simplicity; think of a ball at each end of a pole. The ball on one end of the pole floats on the water's surface in the tank, and the other protrudes from the top of the tank. As the water level subsides, the pole drops further into the tank. As the water rises, so does the pole. There is nothing to power, nothing to set up and nothing to fail quietly, which is a large part of the appeal. You will find it among our rain harvesting accessories.
Why a visible float works so well
This type of device features a sizeable and highly visible ball on the top of the pole, making it easy to see from a distance; this is especially beneficial in rural settings, where the tank may not be somewhere you walk past every day. A float you can read from the driveway gets checked. A gauge you have to climb up to does not. Still, a floating tank level indicator is a valuable and low-cost guide in all situations and does not require power or Wi-Fi coverage, which makes it dependable in exactly the conditions where dependability counts most.
Digital level gauges
Digital level gauges give you highly accurate readings with the advantage that you can check water levels from absolutely anywhere; this is particularly helpful if you have a network of tanks scattered over your property, where walking the round to read each float is a job in itself. In areas with reliable coverage, digital gauges are a precise and visually unobtrusive way to monitor how much water there is in your tank, or tanks. The coverage caveat is the deciding factor, because accuracy is only useful if the reading actually reaches you.
Choosing between them
The two options answer slightly different questions. A float tells you roughly where you are, at a glance, with no dependency on anything. A digital gauge tells you precisely where you are, from anywhere, provided the coverage holds. One tank beside the house may never need more than the float. A spread of tanks across a rural block, of the kind covered in our rural water tank setup guide, is where remote reading starts to earn its keep. Neither is the wrong answer, and on plenty of properties both have a place.
Make measuring a habit
No matter how you measure water levels, it's vital that you do it. By taking the guesswork out of the equation, you can manage your stored water resources more efficiently and take steps to top up when needed. Having enough water is essential in certain situations; think water for stock, irrigation or firefighting. Accurate and ongoing measurements will help you conserve that precious resource, so you have adequate supplies on hand when you need it the most. The device is cheap. Running out is not.