water usage in off grid living

experience is a wonderful teacher

We live with what we catch off our roof or haul from the creek. I camped and hiked as a kid, but nothing prepares you for living with only the water, YOU , yourself provide, like the experience of actually doing it. Right now if you are "on the grid" with your water....try hauling it out of a single faucet and use only what you obtain that way. It will teach you .......a LOT!!!!!!!! When we first had to haul water, I QUICKLY learned that a clothes washer load was 40 gal. hand carried in 5 gal. buckets, was a lot of work. I already knew how to brush my teeth using a cup for my water due to camping as a kid, THAT was easy. Flushing the toilet with "fresh" water is a "sin" no mater where you live A shower and shampooing your hair become huge luxuries and you really appreciate them. A lot of little water uses that you take for granted unless you have actually moved it yourself..... come to light when you "practice". If you have kids.....make it fun!

 

off grid water

Hey RSBHUNTER. I guess that I replied to this thread in a previous post you made about living off grid. We have a private well and solar power to produce electricity also there is a small creek on our property and numerous springs. With the type of house we built (Earthship) there could have been a 1500/3000 gallon system for drinking water, bathing, washing clothes and finally flushing the toilets. all of this was supplied by rainwater that comes off the roof into the initial collection system. It is then in turn filtered, from washing and drinking water (gray water) to flushing (black water). We did
not go that route because off the outrageous cost of plumbers and pipes...And as a final backup I have a 5550watt generator attached to the house if all power fails.

 

I have gotten by with 7 gal a week for a summer.. My water comes from a well that is pumped with a 4000 w Gen into a 1100 gal tank buried up the mountain from the cabin and piped down. All gravity fed with real good pressure ... Until you cant pump it!! I live 7 miles from the sm country store that serves as the water supply for a lot of the neighbors. Some carry a lot of milk jugs, others 55 gal polly barrel, and all between. showers can be had there at a very modest cost. Or theres the river for bathing. My point is people already live that way.. Some have wells, some don't. Some have the grid and others are glad not to. And for every problem there are several salutions. Choose the one that best solves your troubles at that moment. Then plan out a permanent solution.

Adapt, improvise, and overcome...

 

..........

 

Here's some information on sand filtration. Follow other links within these websites, let me know if these do not fit your needs. Some of these may be redundant in their information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_filter

http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/pdf/OT/TB/TB14_slowsand.pdf

Slow Sand Filtration for Water Treatment

Biosandfilter.org - The Biosand Filter

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/9241540370.pdf This is a 120 page pdf, give it time to download.

http://www.metrocouncil.org/environment/water/bmp/CH3_STFiltSurfSand.pdf

Slow sand water filter construction and study and harvesting rainwater

Rain water harvesting Biosand water filter slow sand water filter

 

Water.. location, location, location. One thing that sold me fast on our land (we will be building soon and it will be off grid) was the hillside cut for a skid road made by a cat in the 1960s when they took the real giant trees out (thankfully they left the mere 2 to 4 foot dia trees that are now huge) and they hit the hillside aquifer.. it is now a trickling stream coming out of the hill with 250 feet of head for hydro. I instantly knew we had a massive aquifer there and it was an excellent site for a home up there. I expect a shallow 75 foot or so well drill and we may even get artesian pressure, not sure yet. Hydro? YES!

 

Water and survival

We have five years of experience here with slow sand water filters, roof water harvesting and shallow well water filtering; and 35 years of experience with well water as our only source of water in the cascade foothills of Washington state. As far as survival goes, clean water is an absolute must - a no brainer. Anyone on a well knows the feeling of concern for water supply.

I've studied and tested slow sand water filters ( often called biological sand water filters because they work with natural biological action) for 5 years and had over 60 tests done on them by epa certified labs. They work. They really work. Contrary to popular belief, water from a composition (tar) roof is very usable (providing there is no asbestos or moss killer embedded in the shingles). A functioning slow sand filter will remove most of the petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metal contaminants and 99.999 percent of the bacteria and virus contamination from harvested roof water. I am not selling anything here but the desire to share valuable information with others concerned with survival. Most mainstream Americans don't think seriously about water. I would think anyone here really knows the importance of clean water. I have 3 websites and a blog documenting the tests and work done. There are also lots of other sites with similar (and better) documentation and examples.

As far as "water rights" Some states are coming around on rainwater harvesting. Here in Washington state the laws have been changed after 90 years of it being against the law to harvest rain water. As of 2009 it in not against the law here. I could go on; but here are the links to the sites:
slow sand filter study
slow sand filter diy
roof water harvesting
And, the blog:
slow sand filter blog
These are not for profit sites, and are licensed under the creative commons license. All sources are cited and noted as such.

I should mention one very important fact I have learned. What ever you do, do not - i repeat - do not "backwash" a slow sand filter to clean it. You will poison your water and ruin the filter. All the info about that is on the sites I mentioned above.

 

I am not planning on telling the state I am installing hydro. In WA State there is no permit required for a private well, either

 

rain water in Colorado

Actually, the law in Colorado that USED to prohibit collecting rain for use by the land owner has been repealed, or done away with....Thats the one MAIN reason i bought the property there...between rain fall, and snow, i "should" be able to collect a good amount of water for either drinking, after filtering, or as water for irrigation...rsbhunter

 

calculating your water needs, this comes from a boating site but its not bad as a place to start

Water Requirements Calculator For Boats | Sea Clear Watermakers

 

Nice necro-resurrection Ganado.

Winning the water in an off grid environment is one issue....conserving the water won, by thrifty water usage techniques is another....the link to this site has some nifty thrifty ideas...it just requires a change of thinking, habits and water discipline to put them into effect.


How to Conserve Water in the Kitchen - An American Homestead - Living Off Grid in the Ozark Mountains

Thrifty water conservation can be a fun team effort:

Off-Grid Geeks: Oh, What's the Use! Really!

Then there's the shower water conserver that tells you when your showering water ration is used up...

Artist Creates Shower Curtains That Kick You Out If You Stay In Too Long