For Robyn, a 34-year-old animal care professional with experience working on farms and training dogs, the dream of starting a smallholding and living sustainably was always a driving force. Faced with the high costs of traditional housing and land ownership, she turned to a creative and affordable solution by converting a shipping container into an off-grid home.
“Unfortunately, it is near impossible to buy land to live on at an affordable price,” Robyn explains. “I started looking into alternative ways people across the world live, and I stumbled across the idea of a container home. I had not seen it done before in the UK, but there was plenty in Australia and Africa. Being off grid just came in part and parcel with that lifestyle I was looking for.”
Her main goal was independence and freedom from the grid and the ability to live self-sufficiently while keeping costs low.
When Robyn purchased her property, she discovered that connecting to the mains water supply would cost over £30,000, as the supply line was privately owned.
“That’s why no one else would buy the property,” she says. “But I always had the intention of living off grid, so I rigged up one of your 5000L water tanks to the roof of my container, which is then filtered and goes through a UV light before being pumped into the taps in the container home.”
She needed a cost-effective, reliable water source for her new home — one that could function year-round and didn’t depend on expensive infrastructure.
Robyn chose an Enduramaxx 5,000 Litre non-potable vertical tank in black, paired with a rainwater harvesting kit A to collect and store rainwater from her container roof.
“I chose this tank due to its size, really, as it fits nicely into the area beside our container,” she explains. “Enduramaxx staff sent me a helpful diagram, and I managed to install the system myself with minimal DIY experience.”
To optimise flow from the roof guttering, Robyn made a small adjustment by cutting a lower inlet hole to create more height difference, ensuring efficient water collection into the tank.
The stored rainwater is filtered, passed through a UV light, and pumped into the taps, shower, and washing machine, inside the container home.
“I use the tank to supply all the water to my container home, everything except drinking water,” Robyn says. “Because we’re under a flight path and near a power plant, there’s likely some pollution, so I prefer not to drink it.”
Important note on drinking rainwater
Enduramaxx does not recommend drinking rainwater collected or stored in a non-potable tank. Rainwater can contain contaminants from roofing materials, bird droppings, or airborne pollution.
If rainwater is intended for human consumption, it must first be properly filtered and then sterilised using an appropriate water treatment system to ensure it meets drinking water standards. Enduramaxx’s non-potable tanks are designed for the storage of water for non-drinking uses only, such as irrigation, washing, or toilet flushing.
The system has given Robyn complete water independence, eliminating the need for a costly mains connection.
“The tank is a great purchase and performs as it should”, she says. “I can’t fault it and I will buy another one before next summer as a secondary tank to ensure I have plenty of water storage going forward.”
During the drier months, Robyn monitors her usage carefully and plans to add additional tanks to create more reserve capacity. She’s also exploring using another tank for greywater recycling, to irrigate trees and gardens in summer.
“My experience with Enduramaxx was good,” Robyn says. “There was a bit of a muddle up with the delivery dates, which set us back quite a bit, but once it was sorted, it arrived fine, and the delivery driver dropped it right into the place we needed it to be.”
She adds, “I’d 100% recommend Enduramaxx. You’ve got everything you need in one place for all your off-grid water needs.”
Robyn’s biggest piece of advice for anyone considering rainwater harvesting for off-grid living?
“If you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly! Meaning if you think a 5,000 litre tank is enough, go bigger! You can’t have enough water. You’ll be surprised how much you use even for the simplest of tasks in your home, never mind the garden.”
Robyn’s container home project demonstrates how practical and affordable off-grid living can be with the right water storage solution. By using an Enduramaxx rainwater harvesting tank, she’s built a sustainable and independent lifestyle and one that’s completely free from reliance on the mains.
“Having our own water supply is a vital part of our off-grid journey,” says Robyn. “Without the tank, we wouldn’t be able to store as much water safely.”
Find out more about Enduramaxx rainwater harvesting kits here.