So this is how we get fresh spring water into our home. It starts from a nice flowing spring found just outside our cabin.
Molding the dam catchment area with hydraulic cement a little bit at a time.
We attach the ram pump line (3/4 inch hose) and a dam catchment drainage tube (1 inch tube) through the floor and under the wall.
Then we finish the hydraulic cement and it starts to fill up. Now we hope it doesn’t leak. Good thing it didn’t.
Now we run the pipeline / hose to the ram pump.
Now that the ram pump is set and ready to go lets watch a video of it getting started shall we…
So awesome of my friend from YouTube “land to house” to share his ram pump design. Find him here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/landtohouse
The water made it to our indoor tank and filled it. Now it is overflowing nicely into the outdoor tank. The pump seen here is used to pressurize the water on demand for the indoor shower and sink.
The trickle sound is like sleeping near a stream.
Here is a look at our outdoor overflow tank and utility sink. The old on demand propane heater seen here is no longer used.
So that is our system basically. Look for the next blog on us installing the official overflow drain line to the outdoor tank.
Good idea with the tarp, will it hold snow too? Imagine the gray water vent from the tub needs to be covered from snow & ice during the winter. It’s amazing this entire system does not require any source of energy to meet the demands of your homestead. How long does it take to heat enough water on the wood stove for household use? Or is that just a big kettle on the stove all day long?
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it takes about 30 minutes to make enough hot water for 2 showers or 1 shower and dishes. We need to build some sort of hard cover for the outdoor sink before snowfall. I have a plan and will show soon if it works. The water system is AWESOME and it amazes me all the time that more off grid persons don’t do this kind of thing.
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I’m no means off grid and probably won’t be unless a forced situation occurs but I know how you’ve constructed things and show the proof they work, I have every confidence if I followed your step by step mine would also be installed properly and function as it should. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the kind words.
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Do you still use your previous water catchment system that you set up near your grey water tank?
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Yes though currently we are replacing the vinyl tubing at the spring head that feeds it and bleaching the tank. It is now used for a backup system that we keep running.
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Is there a video somewhere of how you prepped the spring head with the hydro cement? It is a bit tough for me to wrap my head around with just the pics. Or maybe I’m just being thick.
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No sorry. Just the pics. The hydro cement hardens so fast that there really isn’t time to do any filming. Addie helped mix small handfuls at a time and I placed them where I thought they should go. It sets in seconds. Basically we dug a trench from where the water comes out of the earth wall and directed it towards the dam wall. We installed a tube flush with the ground on inside of the dam where water is and ran it under the dam wall to act as a drain. The water would flow through the trench and out the drain tube while I patched the rest of the earth wall around the spring head and the floor with the cement. Then when that was all done I started cementing the ground just below where the water comes out from and worked my way slowly back towards the dam wall. First we would fill the trench with rocks the cover it with cement as we went. The drain tube is left in place flush with bottom and with a cork in it. In case we ever need to drain it for cleaning or repairs etc… The ram pump line is attached about 1.5 inches above the inside ground level of the dam. The gravity fed line is about 3/4 inch above that. So if water level drops then the gravity lines shuts it self off but the ram pump keeps going. Hope that helps you a bit better 🙂
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