Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Water Transfer

Here is the temporary solution we've come up with. It has morphed over the 4 days we've been doing this.



The first day we transported water in a green pepper barrel and 3 seven gallon blue drinking water containers.

The next day we had purchased the tank you see in the photos. We tried a hand transfer pump but at 80 revolutions per 8 gallons it was just too difficult. Paul ended up carrying the 210 gallons of water up the ladder 7 gallons at a time.





Next we purchased the blue transfer pump in the pictures but the hoses just didn't work quite right. Today we graduated to the setup you see. The water flows through a suction hose into the pump, which is actually a shallow well pump, into another suction hose attached to the green storage tank.


Since we've been incredibly frugal with our water usage we are actually gaining more than what we are trucking in. Yesterday we gained 100 gallons from the well and 200 from town. Today we gained 50 gallons from the well and 200 from town. At the rate we are going the tank should be full by Sunday afternoon. After that we figure we will only have to haul in 1-2 tanks a week. We noticed a dramatic improvement as our temps have dropped 10 degrees over the past few days and none of our "neighbors" are here (they don't live here full-time).

We know this is only a temporary solution but at least I no longer have to worry about our immediate needs.

4 comments:

Presbytera said...

God provides! And look at the circuitous way He is doing it but He is providing you with your daily bread.

Kim said...

Yes He does.

I have such a difficult time trusting when things are going poorly. It's so much easier when things are going well :) We may not like the way God provides (this time through a second job which made it possible to borrow the money necessary to purchase the tank and stuff) but He has made it possible for us to continue our existence.

The Hen (Charity) said...

I know of people who live in the Black Hills of SD who can not hook up to water or drill a well. They do just what you do and haul water every week. Even when it is -20 outside. Plus one couple is in their 70s. Good luck with the water hauling.

Kim said...

We hauled water in CO only in one gallon milk jugs so our current set-up is way better :)

It was common in CO for water to be hauled in a tank like we have now. There was a station in the middle of town where you could buy your water and quickly fill your tank. I would give anything to have that here.

I think what makes this so much more difficult for me is that we planned on having a working well. It seems like we went from it being fine to it not working over the course of a few days. When we planned on hauling water in CO it was easier to deal with but here we chose to have a normal house, so it's much harder to cope with. Can you tell I'm a planner :) Now that the storage tank is full and I've gotten used to the situation I'm starting to get a better handle on things.