Gravity Fed Water System {Running Water}…

39 degrees - 2:31 pm - 5" of snow - raining...

This time, we really do have running water – outside the house at least.

A month ago we had a little ‘uh-oh’ with the gravity fed water system, but since then the system has been completed up to the house but has yet to be connected to the house.

For the past two weeks we have had the water running constantly.  This to make sure the water lines and holding tank are clear of any dirt, rocks or any other debris before we clean the system with chlorine. 

Any new plumbing, pipelines and distribution systems should be sanitized to kill bacteria when first put on line (or if repairs or service has been performed).  Shock chlorination is one of the most popular methods for sanitizing the pipelines.  Chlorine’s powerful germicidal action eliminated slime bacteria, molds and algae.  After the chlorine does its thing, then we will run the water once again to make sure the chlorine is out of the system and then we should be ready to hook the water up to the house.

To be continued…

Gravity Fed Water System {Uh-Oh}…

40 degrees - 12:29 pm - raining...

We Have Water – Well, Kinda…

Before the winter storm hit, Tony was able to get the intake line for the gravity fed water system laid out.  The only thing he has left to do now is a small bit of plumbing at the source end and then he can hook it up the house.  The last few steps have been delayed due to the weather.

Yesterday we topped out at 40” of snow.  The falling flakes then turned to heavy rain, which is still coming down hard.  We have had over 2 inches of rain since yesterday turning the blown off driveway into a big slushy mess.

All of the rain and snow melt are now causing the streams, creeks and rivers to swell.  Basically the water table on the mountain has seriously risen, which caused an ‘uh-oh’…

Last night Tony went out to turn off the generator but instead found water squirting everywhere.  The water pipe, which had been taped off so dirt and whatnot couldn’t get in, had sprung a leak! 

What?  The water pipe isn’t even completely hooked up at the source end yet!?!?  Apparently due to the drastic increase of water on the mountain, the missing parts were not needed to fill the holding tank which then filled the 1,000 or so feet of pipe to the house, in addition to having the overflow pouring out water, and have the pipe at the house squirting like crazy.

What a day…

Gravity Fed Water System {Water Storage}…

37 degrees - 9:14 am - foggy... 

All the trenching for our gravity fed water system is finally done, now onto the cold-water storage tank.

We are using a used food grade IBC Tote (which has been cleaned out several times) that we got off of Craigslist.

Tony has placed the water tank at the end of the trench and plumbed it with an intake line, vent pipe, and a p-trap.

 

The tank is surrounded on all sides with plywood to keep the dirt from crushing the tank.  All water lines and tank will be completely buried; the only thing you will see will be the top two feet of the vent pipe, which will be spray-painted brown.

The only thing left to do is lay out the intake line, which will be above ground, to the water source.

To be continued…

Gravity Fed Water System {Still Trenching}…

35 degrees - 6:33 pm - cloudy...

Our last post about trenching the gravity fed water system was over a month and a half ago.  Since then, we have been busy with work, holidays, and other projects around the house. 

Now that the main winter holidays are behind us, and there is no snow on the ground, back to trenching he goes.  Tony now has just over 1,500 feet of pipe laid, and still has about another 150 feet to go to the holding tanks.  Once he gets to the holding tank area then he will have to lay another 200 feet of pipe from the new well down to the holding tanks.

The last few hundred feet of trenching has not been easy since Tony has had to dig through large amounts of rock.  The final stretch will hopefully be much easier and go much quicker.

Here are some pictures of what Tony has done so far…

laying out the pipe over the open trench, getting ready to put it in

last section of trench has the pipe in and is covered up -
ready to start trenching the last stretch 

the mini bosses out giving their opinions on what they think needs to be done

Jack pointing out the pipe to me and explaining what Daddy is trying to do

To be continued…

Gravity Fed Water System {Trenching}…

35 degrees - 9:28 am - foggy...

The past several days Tony has been working on digging a trench and laying the pipe for the gravity fed water system.  Our well requires a pump, which uses a lot of electricity, while the gravity fed system only requires elevation.  We will still have our well and pump available if needed, but prefer the simplicity of gravity.

So far, Tony has laid just over 1,000 feet of pipe, and still has about another 500 feet to go.  Here are some pictures of what he has done so far…

Isolation Valves

pulling back all the limbs and brush to make the smallest opening possible

Valve Cover for the Isolation Valves

using tie downs to hold back the limbs so the excavator can get thru

the muscle

trench has been dug, water lines have been laid, everything has been covered up
and put back - by next summer this little trail wont even be noticed

final stretch of the trench running up and along the runway (aka main driveway)

To Be Continued…

Water Storage…

1:06 pm - 50 degrees outside - calm with an increase in clouds...

The need for water storage has been around forever.  A water tank provides for the storage of drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression as well as many other possible solutions.  Most often water tanks store water for human consumption.

In the US, estimates vary, but each person uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day.  Which means, the average family of four can use anywhere from 320 to 400 gallons of water per day.  This is where the water storage tank comes into play.  Our water storage tank system will allow a large volume of water to be placed into inventory or storage and during peak demand times we will be less likely to run low or out of water as the tank is constantly be replenished by the well.

We have a well with a pump (our water source), that pumps water up into the cold-water storage tanks that are buried up on a hill that is higher in elevation than our house.  The water that is stored there will then be pumped to the house when needed.

A cold-water storage tank is simply a tank designed to hold water at the current temperature and pressure in the atmosphere.  This water is generally used to feed cold water to the home or to the hot water heater and the taps in the home.  The reason for putting the tanks higher than the house is to have a constant feed of water.  If the pump at the water storage tanks should happen to fail, we would still have some water coming to the house from gravity.  The pump at the tanks is just to give added water pressure.

We are custom building our own water storage tank system.  We went and picked up two, used food grade, 275 gallon IBC Totes.  Being used food-grade totes, they previously held potato starch and have since gone thru a triple wash and are ready for us to use.  We eventually would like to have 8 of these, which will give us 2,200 gallons of stored water.

The two IBC Totes we just picked up.

IBC stands for Intermediate Bulk Container.  IBC Totes are large tanks, which are used to store and transport fluids and other bulk materials.  IBC Totes are composed of 3 primary components – the plastic container bottle, the galvanized steel tubular cage, and the container’s galvanized steel pallet.  Measurements are approximately 45-1/2” tall x 39-1/2” wide x 47-1/2” deep and they weigh approximately 125lbs empty.  They have a 6” screw on cap center top; 2” NPT male connector with cap, controlled by a lever actuated butterfly valve.  These are excellent for potable water storage containers, hydroponics reservoirs, rain catchment tanks, etc.

To Be Continued (once everything is in)…