As caveman like as it might have been, I could have held out for about three m
ore days without any outside help giving it a total of five to six days of self sustainability.That is what bothered me. If the tornado that tore through Dallas yesterday came this way and took out the power lines, it might be two to three weeks before the power company could hook us back up. Then I would be having a problem.
I was struggling with what project to do next and this little two day episode has made my mind up.
I plan to focus on the big water system and the outdoor bathroom. Even though I have a outdoor shower now, it is one of those little solar tent camping rigs and it would work for a while but the ware and tare of five people would tare it up in no time.
The two 1500 gallon tanks are in and all I need to do is run the gutter and plumb them together.
I plan to use a 12 volt positive pressure pump so it will have pressure any time you need it. It will run through a filtration system so the water could be used for bathing but not good enough to drink yet. That will come later.
Our well is shared with others out here and the shear panic I saw in their eyes yesterday was amazing. One lady has six kids without no water reserve in the house. What if this was a real problem and we were out of water for a month or two. These people do not have a clue on what to do. One of them asked me last night what I was going to do. I told them I was going to draw up about 20 gallons of water for the toilets and then make a glass of tea and relax.
The one thing I hate the most is being vulnerable. I get lazy and think the necessities are the things other than survival. Yes I might be making a mountain out of a mole hill on this but I can't get over the what if's.
As I always say I work well under pressure. Glad to hear you've got your plan all worked out. Praying it all goes smoothly for you.
ReplyDeleteWe have an electric pump but also a hand pump for our well. The water has been tested and is good for drinking, but we also bought a Big Berkey water filter, just to be sure and this water is fairly hard, so the Berkey filters that out. We also have the river as a back up.
We do have rain barrels( old oak wine barrels) but when watering the seedlings in the greenhouse the 4 barrels emptied fairly fast. We also have 4 food grade plastic 55 gallon drums for water storage and I save all of our vinegar gallon jugs and refill with water, marking each with the month and year. Water stays good, although it will go flat, so you simply shake it up to add the O2 back into it. I've not had any problem with any water two yrs old going bad, or growing algae.
You are in our prayers and PTL you are a redneck( modern or old fashioned!)
Blessings,
Kelle
Most of us take having water for granted. Funny how being without it never crosses your mind, until something happens and it's not there. I live in a trailer court that seems destined to have electrical issues. Our electric gets shut down several times a year and without electric we have no water. We usually don't have any warning before it happens either. Every time there is a storm we are all filling our bath tubs "just in case". I never drink the water here either because half the time it is a weird color. I do cook with it, but at least then it is boiled. Sometimes it has a yellow cast to it, other times it has almost a pink cast to it.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was a kid, our water came straight from a spring. The spring that went into the house would dry up when the summers were really hot, but there was another spring down the road a ways and we would just fill up containers full of water and take them back to the house. No big deal. But here in this place when the electric goes out there is no other place to get water other than the store. It really sucks! I applaud you for having the ingenuity and the fore sight to make sure there is water when you need it.
Kelle, I looked at the Berkey filters and they are so expensive. I would love to have one so I could use the rain water to drink. I thought about just getting the filters and making my own. I sounds like you have a plan on your end, now it's my turn. Thank you for the prayers.
ReplyDeletewoodsprite, You might want to call the State on your water system. It might be as simple as flushing the systems water lines but something needs to be done to help the quality of water you are buying. I worked in the water industry for 15 years and I can tell you there is big help out there for you to get better water if you want it. Our water is drinkable but I never tested it. I kinda don't want to know.