A new iphone application, based on ISF research is now available to help consumers choose the most suitable rain tank for their home.

The free app iSAveH2O that shows how much water and energy can be saved with different sized rain tanks, was launched by Smart WaterMark, Australia’s water conservation label in June.

The application is based on an online rain tank calculator developed by ISF that is available through the smartwatermark.org web site. This calculates how much water can be collected from the roof and how much town water can then be saved by using this rainwater in the garden, laundry and toilets.

To develop the calculator, Institute researchers devised a set of simple questions to capture data on the many variables that determine how much tap water is saved by installing a rain tank and using rainwater in the garden and home. These include the rainfall received at that location, the size of the roof catching the rain, and the capacity of the tank. The savings that can be achieved also depends on how much water is normally used by the household in the garden, laundry and for flushing toilets. This in turn depends on how often a garden is watered, the type of toilets and washing machines in the house and the number of household occupants.

A key challenge of the research involved providing the most relevant meteorological data for a specified postcode so the calculator can be applied nationally. ISF researchers therefore applied a sophisticated spatial algorithm to match each individual postcode to the most relevant meteorological station given a set of quality criteria.

The iSaveH2O app contains a live database of certified water saving products and services and is available for free download from: http://itunes.com/apps/smartwatermark