Water collection and use in Texas

No HOA on the property so I am good there. There was another property dad would have loved. It was on General Bruce way next to the gun range. I find myself thinking of him at the weirdest times.

 

I am hoping to avoid a well with the initial home installation with a combo of water catch/city supply. Save myself a cool 10-30k depending on how hard the rock is to drill through and how deep they have to go to get to the water.

 

The first flush is going to be a smart move, and I am good with some maintenance. I am going to retest my current generator set up here at the city house and then run it dry for storage until I need it at the new place. With all the trees on the plot, firewood isn't going to be an issue for a long time. I figure I'll start with the dead stuff and pile it up, as I will have a fireplace.

 

I miss Dad, too. I would love to have just an hour to talk through things. He would have been all over the move out of Austin into the countryside. I am trying to talk my mom into setting up a cabin of her own on the property so I can look out for her but there is more family in Utah, so I probably won't win that one.

 

I run two of these in different kitchens :
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0OERWZ/?tag=survivalmonke-20

They need at least 25 PSI to run the system . I filter the entire house off the well with a 10 micron filter to remove bits , and that system is under the sinks for eating/cooking water .

Sloth

 

Texas doesn't get a lot of rainfall in general, but if you wanted to do it affordably, you would want to make a gutter rain collection system like they do in Hawaii. Hawaii is too volcanic for most people to get city water.

What you do is collect the water from the gutters into a water tight 3 inch PVC pipe system and just make sure where it ends up is lower than the collection point and the water will get there. A lot of people use metal-sided 5000 gallon pools painted forest green with a woven black tarp on top of it to prevent algae from growing. You can make a simple valve to where your water is coming from, and behind the catchment line install a simple pump, and a pressure tank. You can call any water catchment company on the Big Island or ask people from the Big Island in social media groups (or message me), to find out specifics. The pump is about $150, air pressure tank maybe $75, and you can get a pool for about a grand. Alternatively if you just want a little water you can get a 250 gallon tank at home depot. ALSO, you need an inline UV filter and a double sediment filter. 30 microns to 5 microns. A lot of people install a dedicated drinking-water sink that has a finer 1-micron filter and they only use that for drinking water because those filters only get about 250 gallons before they clog.

 

Times change, in 1980 we put in a shallow well for less than 500 dollars pipe up to the house and water running. 5000 for a drilled well 10 years ago and 40 gal a minute at 250 feet. Used one of last cable rigs left. Rotary rigs will and do drill 600 feet a day plug the rock and get 10 gallons per minute. Code doesn't like shallow wells. Some places won't let you drill, deplete the existing users prior rights.

 

Lived in Wichita Falls, TX, for 20 years. Pretty sure that if you're on town water, you're going to want to make sure you have a backflow preventer between your cistern water system, and the city (which will do exactly what it's labeled....prevent backflow of your captured water, into their "pure" water system). I know in WF, the city would charge you a minimum of one "unit" (750 gallons) of water, regardless of whether you used it or not.
I'm sure your dad would be proud to see you here, asking questions, and showing us you're just one of the monkeys.

 

Yep He was well respected here and still is, Cisterns put a wire mesh screen like rabbit wire etc. across the inlet
Although raccoons and other animals are ''floaters'' only for so long its far easier to clean the screen vs pulling out a floating critter.
The term you need is a Flow Safety Valve or ''Check Valve'' put in line correctly this prevents backflow. Welcome again btw!

 

I really think all you need is this on your water line coming from the city.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CY82T9B/?tag=survivalmonke-20

 

I guess I'm hybrid: I use city water for the sinks and shower, and rainwater for laundry, toilets, and outside spigots. I pump from a tote outside to an 80 gallon water heater in the attic over the carport and gravity feed. I can turn a 3 way valve under the sink for rainwater to the kitchen, filtered either way. Our city water sux, full of sand and tannins and eats away chrome plated brass fixtures every 10 years, so there is a sediment and charcoal filter on each of the 3 sinks. I also have a shallow well in reserve, although it's that good 'ol rotten egg smelling coastal water.

 

Ha that is a shallow well, Need to get below the clay. All the chemicals lay on top of the clay

 

Tempstar I am down the road from you in Mcclellanville on the coast 40' down we hit a rock layer and the water is great no surfer small amount of iron. Used to have flowing wells but so many people drawing off the aquifer only a few left. I believe that's why the town was settled here years go. Many times the town of MT Pleasant wanted to run water out here thank god the town voted hell no,
UV is used a lot to sanitize water kills viruses and bacteria drawback runs on electricity ----anyone have experience with UV light systems?

 

Its official I got the property ****Happy Dance***** and get this. The property may already have a septic system. We asked the sellers about a cement 4 ft wide concrete cap/ring on property. They think their parents put in a septic preparing to build. We are going up to property with the land surveyor and engineer this week so I can't wait to see what we have. Septic/old well either would be amazing . I'll keep you all posted on the treasure hunt.

 

3' topsoil, 30' of sand and sugar sand, 12' of blue clay, 21' of solid rock, and 20 more feet of blue clay when I quit drilling. Put the strainer in the coarse sugar sand.

Jodi, congrats on the land and lets hope there are some goodies on it!

 

Mine draws 13watt for the UV system .

 

Congratulations on the property, The would be a big plus if there is a septic system and a well. Here in SC cost my son 7K to put in a septic system and another 2K to drill a 45' well

 

Don't know why you couldn't use rainwater and city water in the same plumbing system. Look at RV's, they typically have a freshwater tank for boondocking and allow connecting to a water supply via hose from a hydrant. It would be the same type of system. Your city water connection would have a check valve to prevent your rainwater from going into the city system and you would have a pump on the rainwater side to pressurize the system when needed.

 

Well, the septic isn't going to work too old, too small, etc. But we did find the water tap for a 4k savings today. I got some brush in my hair and a little out of breath from following the game trails all over the property. I did see a few deer. We have some oak trees mixed in with all the cedar that I'll thin out the cedar around to let them thrive