[Water]

stepka · Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject: water wells

http://www.lifewater.ca/ndexdril.htm

I just found this site. It looks like a really good one. It is about developing a rural water supply in third world countries, but the info may come in handy some day. I will probably print it out and keep it in a binder.

I have a spring on my property, and someone had put a tile in there sometime in the past. I'll be interested to see how the water tests out. It would be nice to be able to use it in case of power outage. It has about a 1-1/2 foot diameter tile with an overflow pipe which feeds into another much older tile that has a pipe which goes at a 90 degree angle from the bottom up about a foot, then into the side of the tile. Then there is a pipe that comes up out of the ground next to it, but there is no water running from that pipe. I assume it did at one time. I'm going to mess around some more and see what I can do with it. The pipes are all rusty and definitely need to be replaced. Then voila', a low tech water supply.

The water table used to be so low around here that folks could sink a pipe 3 feet into the ground and get water, but with all the irrigation going on, they have to go much deeper these days, so a spring is a good thing.

gonin02 · Tar Sands Joined: Oct 24, 2004 Posts: 33

Do any of you own water purification devices? Would the best bet be something as simple as chemical treatment, e.g chlorine dioxide? I was considering that and maybe one of those hiker units like Katadyn. The only downside to the mechanical stuff is breakage and the need for replacement filters.. (hmm..perhaps not such a great idea after all!) Razz

jato · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:13 am Post subject:

I had a â€œPurâ€ â€œExplorerâ€, a portable purifier. I think it was recalled, I still have mine.

When backpacking last year, I used a filter %100 of the time and also a commercial purifier liquid. I think it was chlorine based. I don't have the name of the pump or the liquid.

I just bought some plain bleach in order to purify water at home. I am still learning the process (ratios of bleach, water storage, water rotation, etc.) I am getting ready to store some emergency water.

I am going to watch this thread for some more ideas.
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NTBKtrader · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 19, 2004 Posts: 588

I bought a Katydyn hand filter, it cost me about $75 though.

Pops · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:01 am Post subject:

Thanks stepka, I added that to the links page.

Down in SW MO they drill the wells very deep 400-600 ft. As I understand it the overlaying rock is very porous so you need to go deep to get good water.
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jpatti · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:30 am Post subject:

We are on a well that we share with the neighbor's cows. When the electric goes off, if the cows happen to be thirsty, they empty the small reservoir and we lose water.

So we store water in 2-liter soda containers. We add 2 or 3 drops of bleach to each bottle.

We have a large windowsill in the basement that holds 60 bottles. So we have 120 liters stored at minimum. This is enough to keep us and our animals watered for a couple weeks, assuming cooking and dishwashing, but ignoring stuff like bathing and laundry.

We also fill the freezers with the bottles whenever they're partially empty as a full freezer is more energy efficient and the larger mass will keep things frozen longer in the event of a power failure.

They're also useful to grab for camping and whatnot... they keep your food in the cooler plenty cold without melting all over and getting everything soggy.

We empty them all out and refill them every six months. This is a two day process since the frozen ones have to thaw.

stepka · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:01 pm Post subject:

Yeah, it's good water though. Most of the time. It amazes me how much variation there is. Our church has water so bad it would probably kill you to drink it. It's really rusty. Then a fourth of a mile down the road from there is the best water I've ever had. We could probably bottle and sell it. And the well is no more than 20 ft. deep.

mikela · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:10 pm Post subject:

I bought a Katadyn Combi on eBay a few months ago, and for $70 you can't do much better. The Katadyn Pocket, Combi, and a few larger models use ceramic filters that last about 13000 US gallons, and so even with comparatively expensive replacement elements they are the cheapest per gallon. The Combi uses the cheapest replacement filters, so that was the one I chose. I am a little suspicious of its many O-rings, and I think the pricier Pocket is a more elegant design.

I wouldn't choose the Combi or Pocket for backpacking, though. They're just too heavy compared to some of the models made by PUR, Sweetwater, and MSR.

For the ultimate in low cost per gallon, there are ways to purify with sunlight, or at least a UV lamp. In a pinch you can also use a little bleach. Don't know the details, though.

NiKfUrY69 · Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 1:15 pm Post subject: