Just the other day, John & I were talking about the most difficult issue to deal with when living "off grid". In our case, "off grid" does NOT include lack of electricity. We're on the grid & we like it that way.
No, our most difficult issue is water. Having pump issues, or frozen lines, really makes life challenging. And so this morning, we have no water. I almost feel like we jinxed ourselves! We have plenty of stored water for drinking/cooking. But not for showers or toilet flushing. I can go a few days without a shower. But not flushing the toilet isn't so good.... YUCK!
So when my hubby and son were finished with their breakfast, the started the Great Frozen Waterline Adventure...
First, they checked under the kitchen sink, where the water line enters the house. Nope, no ice there. So out come the winter coveralls, gloves & hat, boots (it was 8F after all). And they trudge out to the pump house. They wrestle with the roof/top to expose the pump & small tank. DAMN RATS!!! Or evil chipmunks. Some little rodent-type critter has been stealing all the fiberglass insulation and now the connection for the pump and the tank are exposed & frozen. Now, they trudge out to the workshop and get the small propane torch. Five minutes later, we have water.
Out comes more insulation & a few packets of rat poison. The top is back on & we're back to life as normal.
I am so glad this problem was so easy to fix.
Living life in rural Arkansas with my husband Johnnie and stepson Joshua. Johnnie and I both have Parkinson's disease. This makes life a challenge, but we're living a full life with each other as best we can. We really enjoy living in the woods. We spend our days making things, eating good food, watching a movie or two on TV. We enjoy learning new things and keeping our life focused on the positive.
Showing posts with label water storage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water storage. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Darn, more water woes!
Monday afternoon (September 16th), I was taking a walk around the house with the dogs when I noticed that the bottom of the pump house looked muddy. So, I walked over and investigated. Crap! A big mud puddle!
So, first thing yesterday morning John and Josh went out to start the next round of repairs. This of course meant we had no water all day. Not really a problem for us, because we keep about 40 gallons of distilled water on hand at all times. And I can always flush a toilet with water from our "pond" water tank. We also have a Big Berky water filter that's full at all times. I've written about water storage in a previous post.
So, Josh started digging. First, they had to completely remove the pump house. Then Josh started digging. Yucky work, for sure!
After he finally dug down to the pipes, he had to find what the problem was. And it looks like the "patch" done last time the pipes were leaking had failed. Crap!
So, we made a trip to the hardware store in Highland. B & B Supply. They had what we needed. Some clamps, some pipe and some Rain or Shine pipe cement. Josh used to work at Lowes in Ellijay, GA so he knew exactly what to look for.
After another hour or so, he got the pipe connected back together. The water works! Hurray!
Of course, you know they had to have puppy dog supervision for this dirty task.
Thankfully, it was only 85 yesterday and not 100!
John set out a live trap last night and there was that armadillo in there this morning. He won't be digging under our pump house any more! Peanut was excited about t varmit removal. Cricket didn't want anything to do with that stinky weird looking thing. She decided the front porch dog house was a safe place to be.
So, first thing yesterday morning John and Josh went out to start the next round of repairs. This of course meant we had no water all day. Not really a problem for us, because we keep about 40 gallons of distilled water on hand at all times. And I can always flush a toilet with water from our "pond" water tank. We also have a Big Berky water filter that's full at all times. I've written about water storage in a previous post.
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| A big muddy mess. |
So, Josh started digging. First, they had to completely remove the pump house. Then Josh started digging. Yucky work, for sure!
 |
| Starting to dig. |
 | |
| Digging on hands & knees is no fun! |
 | |
| See the exposed pipe? That had to be reattached. |
After he finally dug down to the pipes, he had to find what the problem was. And it looks like the "patch" done last time the pipes were leaking had failed. Crap!
So, we made a trip to the hardware store in Highland. B & B Supply. They had what we needed. Some clamps, some pipe and some Rain or Shine pipe cement. Josh used to work at Lowes in Ellijay, GA so he knew exactly what to look for.
After another hour or so, he got the pipe connected back together. The water works! Hurray!
Of course, you know they had to have puppy dog supervision for this dirty task.
 |
| Peanut and Cricket |
 |
| Doggy supervisors |
Thankfully, it was only 85 yesterday and not 100!
John set out a live trap last night and there was that armadillo in there this morning. He won't be digging under our pump house any more! Peanut was excited about t varmit removal. Cricket didn't want anything to do with that stinky weird looking thing. She decided the front porch dog house was a safe place to be.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Water storage
Living out here in the country as we do, storing water is vital.
We have several different types of water storage. First, we have a gutter up on one of the outbuildings and put a large tank up for rainwater storage. We call it our "pond"...
We have a thriving environment there. Birds come to drink... and snakes. The tree frogs come and lay their eggs. So we get to enjoy the tadpoles. I love polliwogs!
Our granddaughter just LOVES the pond. She is always trying to catch things in the water. We don't have any running water up here on our dry ridge. So this "pond" is what we have.
Here's Tammy and Ariel playing in the pond. We now have a brim in there... and we didn't get many tadpoles last year. I guess that's to be expected. There are still snails in there. There are water lilies, cat tails, a really vibrant peppermint. It's a great space!
We also have a water barrel set up on the patio, again to store rainwater for watering plants and chickens.
Storing rain water is great, but this water would have to be filtered in order to use it in the kitchen. And so, here's how we solve that problem.
The Big Berkey water filter.
It's a great filter. We got our's at Lehmans. Lehman's Nonelectric catalog
This system will take your pond water and make it potable. No electricity required. And that's why we purchased it. To filter rainwater or river water when we need it. I keep it full with well water, and use it every day all day long.
For more longterm potable water in case of emergency, we also have an electric distiller.
I distill water to use when I can food. I also use it to make pickles. Or when someone from out of town is here to visit. They may not LIKE the taste of our well water, since it's very "hard".
Now, those systems all work. But our biggest water issue is how to get water from the well. As I mentioned in my article about bad weather here, we have a large generator we got after the ice storm on 2009. Our well pump is 400 feet down, and we haven't found a hand-powered well pump up to the task yet. We could invest in a windmill, but we don't have sustained winds here sufficient to operate one... So the generator is what we must use.
We've talked about investing in a very large storage tank & having it buried. Maybe 400 - 500 gallons or so. But we haven't done so yet.
Last summer we have 7 people living here. 2012 was the hottest year on record in this part of Arkansas. We also were very short on rainwater. And yet, our family had no water issues. Everything worked well. Clothes got washed, dishes got washed and people got washed. We didn't water the garden as often as we'd have liked. But that was more because of the temperature than concerns about the well. There's no sense watering plants, just to have them fried by the sun. Other than okra and plants in the nightshade family, I don't know of much that LIKES 111 degree temperatures. Or even 100 degrees for weeks on end.
Anyway, in case of emergency, we also have a Waterbob. This is a 110 gallon plastic bladder that you fill in your bathtub in anticipation of power outages/bad weather. It comes self-contained with it's own hand pump. We got it in 2009, and have never needed to use it. But we do have it, just in case.
We feel confident that we're prepared for an emergency. And we have our water needs met for our every day use. Many people living in urban areas don't, and aren't even aware of it. I hope someone living in town reads this article and thinks about their water needs in an emergency.
We have several different types of water storage. First, we have a gutter up on one of the outbuildings and put a large tank up for rainwater storage. We call it our "pond"...
 |
| Polliwogs in our pond |
We have a thriving environment there. Birds come to drink... and snakes. The tree frogs come and lay their eggs. So we get to enjoy the tadpoles. I love polliwogs!
Our granddaughter just LOVES the pond. She is always trying to catch things in the water. We don't have any running water up here on our dry ridge. So this "pond" is what we have.
 |
| Playing in the pond |
Here's Tammy and Ariel playing in the pond. We now have a brim in there... and we didn't get many tadpoles last year. I guess that's to be expected. There are still snails in there. There are water lilies, cat tails, a really vibrant peppermint. It's a great space!
We also have a water barrel set up on the patio, again to store rainwater for watering plants and chickens.
 |
| Rain barrel on patio |
Storing rain water is great, but this water would have to be filtered in order to use it in the kitchen. And so, here's how we solve that problem.
The Big Berkey water filter.
It's a great filter. We got our's at Lehmans. Lehman's Nonelectric catalog
 | |
| Big Berkey water filter |
This system will take your pond water and make it potable. No electricity required. And that's why we purchased it. To filter rainwater or river water when we need it. I keep it full with well water, and use it every day all day long.
For more longterm potable water in case of emergency, we also have an electric distiller.
I distill water to use when I can food. I also use it to make pickles. Or when someone from out of town is here to visit. They may not LIKE the taste of our well water, since it's very "hard".
Now, those systems all work. But our biggest water issue is how to get water from the well. As I mentioned in my article about bad weather here, we have a large generator we got after the ice storm on 2009. Our well pump is 400 feet down, and we haven't found a hand-powered well pump up to the task yet. We could invest in a windmill, but we don't have sustained winds here sufficient to operate one... So the generator is what we must use.
We've talked about investing in a very large storage tank & having it buried. Maybe 400 - 500 gallons or so. But we haven't done so yet.
Last summer we have 7 people living here. 2012 was the hottest year on record in this part of Arkansas. We also were very short on rainwater. And yet, our family had no water issues. Everything worked well. Clothes got washed, dishes got washed and people got washed. We didn't water the garden as often as we'd have liked. But that was more because of the temperature than concerns about the well. There's no sense watering plants, just to have them fried by the sun. Other than okra and plants in the nightshade family, I don't know of much that LIKES 111 degree temperatures. Or even 100 degrees for weeks on end.
Anyway, in case of emergency, we also have a Waterbob. This is a 110 gallon plastic bladder that you fill in your bathtub in anticipation of power outages/bad weather. It comes self-contained with it's own hand pump. We got it in 2009, and have never needed to use it. But we do have it, just in case.
We feel confident that we're prepared for an emergency. And we have our water needs met for our every day use. Many people living in urban areas don't, and aren't even aware of it. I hope someone living in town reads this article and thinks about their water needs in an emergency.
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