Chris, Homestead, one of our most coveted assets.
Good luck to you and your family. Pepe
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Thanks for the explanation Chris.
I worry about water cistern but not sure if it’s warranted. Is there a possibility of algae or bacteria growth in cisterns? If so, how does one control it? We had a well at a cabin on a lake a number of years back. The previous owners had put in a water filter. I was unaware until I got sick and then found it. It had some type growth in it and I changed it out and all was better. Does you cistern plans include a filter? If so, would you use a purifier for drinking? I ask because I would like something similar for our guest cabin.
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Bill last winter I had to replace my well pump. When the water was tested it passed but had more fluoride in it than I was comfortable with. I suspect it comes from the sewer treatment plant across the river and about a mile from my well.
Anyway I put in reverse osmosis filters for the drinking water and the kit included a LED UV light filter which kills all the bacteria. I suspect the UV filter alone would address your issue.
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Those UV lights are a good solution. I have no experience with one personally, but looked into them, they have a very high flow rate, perfect sterilization, and without adding chemicals or altering the chemistry of any compounds ie, (chlorine + organics = organochlorides, = bladder cancer…)
The ceramic cartridge filters are a pretty good option too…
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Do you have a picture of what they look like?
I have some problems with my water that it is not completely clear.
(Ceramic filter)
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I bought one of the home master kits from Amazon it wasn’t cheap by any means. The 3 top kits on the chart all have fhe UV filter.
It is just the white tube with a gray cap. You see a blue purple ish glow to the top of the cylinder when you plug it in. Just enough to know it is working but not enough light to notice unless you open the cabinet and look for it.
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If light can reach the water, algae will be present during warm conditions. As pictured, we have clear tanks. We dealt with a round of algae this spring. The water smells foul when it happens, and there’s a layer of slime on everything. I had to wash the entire system out. Prevention is simple - NO light allowed. I blacked out the garage windows and it stays pitch black in there now. I could also have painted the tanks black, or purchased tinted tanks in the first place (these were free). Of course now the weather is cool enough, algae won’t grow. Now frozen pipes are instead on the horizon. An in-ground cistern preferably from concrete would solve all the issues, including freezing. Still run a good prefilter though.
Bacteria is a separate concern, you have bacteria when there is organic matter in the water. No organics, no bacteria. Normally it’s not a problem, you can filter it out. Viruses can’t be filtered, but killed via UV. We actually don’t run a filter at all, except the WISY rainwater pre-filter, since we don’t drink the water. I will say the WISY filter is critical to our setup, and despite the price it is well worth it.
To make it drinkable I would run 3 stages, a coarse string filter, carbon filter, and UV light filter. You could try just the UV but if there is any particulate in the water, the UV will not penetrate 100% and microbes can be “missed”. You could do the first two as “whole house” and the UV just for drinking water.
I ran the numbers, for us for now a decent filtration setup with UV will cost more than bottled water, at least in the couple year range. Given our priorities for now, I’ll punt on trying to drink rainwater. For everything else, it works beautifully. Showers are very pleasant, laundry comes out soft with little soap needed. The water is sweet and clean.
Forecast calls for 0.8" rain tomorrow. That should net us around 800 gallons. We’re running loads of laundry / showers today in expectation, because our tanks are still mostly full from an inch of rain last week. It is an interesting way to think about water, when it is essentially unlimited during the rainy season, and very limited when it gets dry. We have come up with ways to shift our water usage all over the place.
Have a look at these guys, their website is very informative. I learned a lot, and ordered my WISY from them.
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nice description of motives and reasoning Chris. Treating water like we do extra solar reserve… The three phase system you mentioned is what I do here with my surface well now. It is not uncommon here for people to spend 10000 on a drilled well only to find it sulphurous or even worse having crossed a vein of Uranium. When we first moved here we were short of electricity to run a UV so we did not sterilize the main house water we just had a ceramic filter at the sink for drinking water. Cheap and effective, something like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009EQNLMA/ref=psdc_13397611_t1_B009TVD0F8
or a two bag system like I use canoe camping to refilter 5 gallons at a time for drinking. Like this:
https://www.sportchek.ca/product/platypus-gravityworks-4l-filter-system-331610680.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7DtBRCLARIsAGCJWBqYJnYHr3KtqlN8LBTuc40iHL_rK7GEOlFtn_yV0yzwVobpEr7MUWsaAnFsEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#331610680=331610682
I wish you all the best, setting up a new household is amazing…
Cheers, David
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Thanks for the explanation Chris. It sure is a different way of looking at water usage. We fill up a 55 gallon drum for water from a well located outside of the house. There is a reason for that. Our well has been drilled through 409’ of granite. After all that drilling, we still only came up with 1 gallon per hour and had to frack to obtain a 5 gallon/minute rate. I’ve tested our water once per year so far and all seems good. Unfortunately it came as a cost greater than the number than what David posted. I like the idea of a cistern, it would take a great deal of planning for our climate up here. I do have plans and parts gathered for collecting rain water to use in the greenhouse.
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Melt snow and make charcoal at the same time. 
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I like that filter David! I’ve ordered one, we’ll give it a shot. I didn’t realize you could use pressurized ceramics, of course it makes sense. I associate those with the expensive Berkey filters.
Bottled water is fairly cheap but still a hassle. We buy 2-3 cases a week. A lot of plastic waste, since you can’t get much more than a single glass of water from a bottle. We’ve also had mice bite the bottles in storage and make a huge mess.
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You would probably be ahead to get a commercial water station that you put a 5 gallon jug upside down in. We had those at several placed where I worked. Here the town provides a place where you can fill your own water bottles as well.
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If taste is a problem add a charcoal after the ceramic. When you install it check it under strong light for cracks. They ship well packed but sometimes shipping can kill them. The housing in the kitchen is currently on its second filter after 14 years… In the filter box there is an abrasive cloth and a thickness gauge. when flow slows down you mildly sand it, when the thickness gets too thin you change it… I would try it on adults for a few weeks then kids… You never know what is in water. My county offers free water testing. I would probably fill the bottle with the post filter water to see if it comes back clean. I’m safety paranoid and Ive been testing water at a retreat centre for 5 years which adds to the paranoia…
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We have a 3 gallon one, they work great!
Yeh, we buy our water. Some sleeze dumped
some garbage on the local spring area.
That makes my right index finger so itchy!
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Instead of the commercial watering hole, get a fuel transfer pump. Basically it’s a small stick pump with a gas station pump handle on the end of a short hose.
Works great on the big jugs, with no need to lift, turn upside down, and set into a waist high box. Much easier and cheaper for small people or most backs!
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Filter installed, tastes good. I’ve got a call into the local health dept to come test it.
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I ended up having to use sterile bottles and taking the water
samples to them.
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That is how it works here too.
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You can call your local well company and get a container from them to submit. I paid $100 to get my water tested.
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yup same here. you pick up a bottle at the municipal office and return it filled on pick up days. Its free here…
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