How to Prepare Your Property for a Bulk Water Delivery

Why preparation matters more than it sounds

A bulk water delivery is a heavy vehicle coming onto a residential property, often reversing, frequently in the dark. Nearly every delivery that fails, gets delayed or causes damage fails for a reason that ten minutes of preparation would have prevented.

None of this is complicated. It is mostly about knowing what the driver needs to know, and telling them before rather than after.

Before you order: three things to check

• Your tank capacity. Usually moulded into the side of a poly tank. It decides the volume worth ordering.
• Gate width and approach. A rigid tanker needs meaningfully more room than a car, both to enter and to turn.
• Where the tank sits relative to the driveway. If it is behind the house or up a slope, the delivery needs hose, and the supplier needs to know in advance.

When you place the order: what to tell them

Give the supplier the things that change how they arrive rather than only the things that identify you.

• The suburb, not just the street — it is the single biggest factor in honest timing.
• A landmark or nearby road, particularly for a night delivery.
• Tank capacity and whether it is empty or low.
• Roughly how far the tank sits from where a truck could stand.
• Driveway surface, especially if it is gravel or has been soft after rain.
• Any security boom, guard or complex gate that needs to be expecting a tanker.
• A phone number that will actually be answered when the driver is close.

On the day: clearing the way

• Move all vehicles off the driveway, including any parked on the verge outside the gate.
• Open the gate fully and secure it so it cannot swing back.
• Move bins, planters, hosepipes and children’s equipment out of the approach.
• Cut back any low branches over the driveway — a tanker is taller than a car.
• Make sure someone is on site who can direct the driver and confirm the delivery.
• Put dogs inside. This is for the driver, and it is asked for more often than anything else on this list.

Protecting the things a truck should avoid

A loaded tanker carries several tonnes of water on top of the vehicle’s own weight. Some things on a residential property are simply not built for that, and the driver cannot see all of them.

• Point out septic tank lids, soakaways and drain covers.
• Flag newly laid paving, block paving on sand, or a recently backfilled trench.
• Mention irrigation lines or shallow services running under the driveway.
• Warn about ground that has been soft since the last rain, particularly gravel.

Getting the tank ready

• Open the tank inlet and check the lid comes off cleanly before the truck arrives.
• If the tank has stood empty and open, rinse it out first. Filling a dirty tank with clean water gives you a dirty tank.
• Check the outlet tap is closed. It sounds obvious, and it is a regular cause of a delivery draining away.
• Clear the ground around the tank so a hose can be run to it safely.
• If you have two tanks and want both filled, say so when ordering rather than when the truck arrives.

After the delivery

Close the tank lid. Check that the level is where you expect it to be given the volume delivered — a 5,000 litre load into a 5,000 litre tank should fill it. Turn any pump back on if you switched it off while the tank was empty.

If you use water from storage for drinking, treat or boil it if you have any doubt about the state of your own tank, regardless of the quality of the water delivered into it.

Related pages

• Bulk water delivery in Harare
• Residential water delivery
• Order bulk water