Water at the cabin

[nube]

I have figured out quite fast that hauling water tot he cabin is not reall all that great. What do you guys do for water at the cabin for cooking and eating?
I was thinking of getting some kind of filtration system or even better yet was thinking of digging some type of well and pump the water out of the ground. Anyone have any ideas for this?

My cabin is about 50 yards from a lake so I would think water levels would not be that far under the ground.
My uncle once drilled a 12" hole once with a bobcat and put a culvert in it that had holes in it then he filled it with crushed gravel and had a pump that would pump the water out of the gravel. He had this set up for the horses and wondered if I could get any decent water that way to drink or not?
Any ideas guys besides hauling water every time I go?

[Cowtown guy]

The biggest pain would be keeping it from freezing in the winter I think.

[nube]

Not if you could allow the water to go back down and loose prime after each use. I don't plan on having a shower or high amounts of water but enough to wash dishes and drink would be nice. Just looking for some ideas. It would be nice to know how deep under ground the water level is. Like I said it is not far from shor so I would think if I had a hole 20' deep I should be able to get some water but who knows.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by nube

Not if you could allow the water to go back down and loose prime after each use. I don't plan on having a shower or high amounts of water but enough to wash dishes and drink would be nice. Just looking for some ideas. It would be nice to know how deep under ground the water level is. Like I said it is not far from shor so I would think if I had a hole 20' deep I should be able to get some water but who knows.

Melt snow.

Or keep a hole opened at the lake and get a small pump that can be attached to your chainsaw and pump the water up to a small insulated holding tank.

The old style galvanized cream cans make good drinking water containers at a cabin.. If they freeze you can put them over a fire. They will hold 3 to 5 days water.

[Redneck 7]

I'm having the same thoughts with my cabin and figured hauling large amounts of water sucks but I was thinking of just a water cooler/ heater tap they have in lunch rooms. Bring two of those jugs and that's more then enought for cooking eating and cleaning. Depends how many you have at the cabin though.

Nice thing is with that hot water tap, your ready for hot chocolate or tea and you can never go wrong having cold water on tap.

How do you currently haul water? Tank and trailer or tank in truck box. Is the water for grey? Maybe you can get away with holding tank/s and rain water collection.

[harrydude]

Paper plates. Lol

[wasteland.soldier]

How deep into winter do you want water?

[outofbounds]

I'm lucky enough to have a spring not more than 60 yards from my cabin. It runs year round. My cabin is built off a river system which drops 1200 ft in elevation so has good flow even in the drier times of the season, such as late August and early September. I've utilized both the river and the spring year round. Cabin is built 60' from the high water mark of the river so water is very handy.

[nube]

Originally Posted by wasteland.soldier

How deep into winter do you want water?

The Longer the better. I was wondering how deep a line under the ground would have to be for it to not freeze. Probably 3-4 feet?

[Team Anzac]

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thr...2949&mid=16851

Might help you out.

[pikeslayer22]

More like 8 to 12 feet

[bill9044]

Originally Posted by Redneck 7

I was thinking of just a water cooler/ heater tap they have in lunch rooms. Bring two of those jugs and that's more then enought for cooking eating and cleaning. Depends how many you have at the cabin though.

Nice thing is with that hot water tap, your ready for hot chocolate or tea and you can never go wrong having cold water on tap.

Easiest way. Clean water to ready to go. After a long day of trapping, breaking trail, cutting wood, it is nice just to have water at the ready. Bring it with you in the truck won't be frozen back and forth from Edmonton. Those jugs last surprisingly long. And no water well maintainence no shocking of well to keep water clean. No major costs.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Nube, we find best is to bring 1-2 5 gallon containers for drinking water/coffee etc. Then if have spring/creek/river haul local water for washing/dishes. Also consider adding alittle bleach to creek water as never know if beaver upstream. Wells are a pain in butt, as cabin will get cold water lines freeze waste trapping time. Also supplement with snow in pail on heater/stove good for humidity in very cold months and some extra washing water. Hope this helps.

[nube]

It all helps. Thanks guys.

[benamen]

At our cabin we have a bored well with rust bacteria in in. So we use it for washing and showers. Line is only two feet under the ground and I did have problems with it freezing below minus 30. So heat traced and insulated it. For drinking we use the water cooler with jugs of water. We Use the cabin all winter now. All water lines in the cabin drain to a low spot with drain valves on the hot and cold. The main supply drains back to the well and we have a valve about two feet down. The top of the well is insulated with a 1500 watt heat. If pipe is froze I turn on the heater and norma?y it thaws within an hour. Last winter it took eight hours. First time for that. Draining the hot water heater takes the longest. I hooked up a nipple for my air compressor to pressure the heater to 50 psi. Takes only 45 minutes then. Outside shower saves on waste disposal costs.

[nube]

One other problem is my electricity is either stored in a car battery or run the generator. If I had non stop electricity it would help a bit as well. I think I just have to wrap my head around what I want to accomplish and see what my options are. It is neat to see the different ideas here guys thanks

[Dodge]

Nube,

Check this out. My brother set this up and it works well. The ground around his cabin is mostly sand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGfgJwUyByE

Might be worth checking out.

Dodge

[nube]

Originally Posted by Dodge

Nube,

Check this out. My brother set this up and it works well. The ground around his cabin is mostly sand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGfgJwUyByE

Might be worth checking out.

Dodge

That looks like it would work if your ground isn't too rocky. Thanks.

Does anyone know of how clean the water would be from underground 10-20 feet? Would you have to worry about parasites and that kind of stuff or would you still have to use a bit of bleach before you drink it?

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by nube

That looks like it would work if your ground isn't too rocky. Thanks.

Does anyone know of how clean the water would be from underground 10-20 feet? Would you have to worry about parasites and that kind of stuff or would you still have to use a bit of bleach before you drink it?

It can look like clean spring water but looks can be decieving. Aside from parasites there is also bacterial and chemical contamination.

Boiling is still the safest way to have clean water, but even boiling does not remove chemical contamination. That's why shallow wells should be tested no matter where it is located. And in old oil drilling country it is possible for water to be contaminated.

I think the Health Canada website can answer your drinking water questions.
Alberta Agriculture has lots of info on suface wells too.

[Red Bullets]

You may have to keep the old tradition of dragging water 50 yards to the cabin alive.

[ditch donkey]

I don't have a cabin, but this is what I would do. I like the idea of bringing in a skid steer with an auger and drilling a well, adding on as many extensions as needed. Putting pipe invite ground. Probly PVC with he's drilled, wrapped in fine stainless mesh, with pea gravel between the pipe and dirt. I would test the water the first week, and then in 6 months. Maybe build a shed around it to keep it dark.

And two water bottles for back up, and coffee. I can drink poor water, but a guy needs a good coffee to start his day.

Even if it freezes off, it will provide easy water, most if the year.


Might not be the best advice, but you've helped me a lot Nube, so just trying to give you what I can!