In 2024, the City of Austin Water Conservation department updated their water conservation rebate process to institute an online application. This post runs through the online application process for the rainwater harvesting rebate so that you can be educated about the various items that are needed throughout the process.
When you visit the main Rebates webpage on the City of Austin website, there will be a Residential Rebates dropdown section on the page. When you click the dropdown, you will see the following information…
Important Note:
If you are installing a rainwater tank or tanks that total 500 gallons or less, you do not have to go through this process before you install the tank(s). You can wait until after they have been installed. I will show the rebate application process screenshots for this later on in this post.
If you are install a rainwater tank or tanks that total more than 500 gallons, then you are required to go through this process before you install the tank(s).
Continuing on…
Once you click “Click here to apply”, you will be presented with the following screen where you will select the water conservation rebate program that you are applying for. In the following screen, the choice of “Rainwater Harvesting” is picked…
The Rainwater Harvesting Rebate program eligibility & guidelines will pop up after you have clicked Next.
After reviewing the guidelines and after you have checked the box stating that you understand the program guidelines, eligibility requirements, and rebate checklist, click Next.
The next screen is where you will fill out your contact information, including Water Account number with your particular water provider. Remember that the City of Austin supplies water to many surrounding municipal utility districts and water control districts so you can qualify for the City of Austin water conservation rebates even if you don’t receive a water bill from Austin Water. After you have entered all your contact information, click Next.
Then you will be presented with the next screen…
On this screen, you will choose whether your rainwater harvesting system will be 500 gallons or less, or more than 500 gallons. You will enter in the number of gallons that you are installed. You will also indicate if you will have a pump on your system and whether there will be multiple tanks connected together.
Installations Under 500 Gallons
If your installation will be 500 gallons or less, after clicking that choice, an installation date entry box will pop up. Assuming that you will be doing this rebate application process after you installed your system, you will fill in the date the rainwater system was installed.
If you are installing 500 gallons or less, after clicking Next, you will be presented with the following screen. You are required to upload your proof of purchase which is a receipt from the business you purchased the rainwater tank or rainwater system from. For Innovative Water Solutions, we will provide you with a paid invoice receipt that you would upload at this step.
Installations Over 500 Gallons
If you are installing a rainwater harvesting system with more than 500 gallons of capacity, then after clicking Next on the previous screen, you will be presented with the following screen. You are required to upload the following documents:
- Photographs. These are photographs of the area where the rainwater tank will be located (this shows the City of Austin proof that you aren’t applying for an already purchased and installed system)
- Site Drawing. If you are installing the system yourself, the easily way to create a site drawing is to hand draw the system on your property plat or survey document. You should have your plat with your homeowner information. If you are contracting with us to install your system, we will provide a site drawing to you that you will upload at this step of the process.
- System Drawing. This drawing is typically an elevation view of the rainwater harvesting system detailing the items that the City of Austin wants shown. If you are contracting with us to install your system, we will provide a system drawing to you that you will upload at this step of the process.
- Operation & Maintenance Guide. This guide details how the rainwater system will be maintained. If you are contracting with us to install your system, we will provide an operation & maintenance guide to you that you will upload at this step of the process.
After you have uploaded these documents on this step, you will click Next which will take you to the final screen where you will officially submit your rebate application.
We hope that this tutorial has been helpful. We would love the opportunity to design and install a rainwater harvesting system for you. Please contact us in order to schedule an onsite consultation so that we can determine the most efficient system for you. We also have rainwater harvesting system kits which you can purchase from us. This kits are available as kits that you can install yourself or kits that we can install for you. This kits are perfect for people who want a simple rainwater harvesting system that collects rainwater from one downspout.
If you are ready to apply for your City of Austin Water Conservation Rebate, click below…
