An idea for Water storage!

[Dedicated_Dad]

~5500 Gal. Indoor swimming pool.

Granted - it's not PURE, especially given the odd chemical additive, but I figure filtered it should be more than adequate, and even if forced to drink it straight would beat hell out of the river out back...

Doesn't seem to hurt the dogs/cats any...

ETA: I've considered shoring up the garage and installing a tank in the attic-space so gravity-feed could provide water-pressure even in a no-grid situation... Never really got past the dreaming phase though....

[HTRN]

In the case of a pool, which would be better - a salt setup(which doses the water to about a 1/10th that of seawater), or regular chlorine?

[blackeagle603]

I have a saltwater system with chlorine generator in the pump line. As far as user/owner of a pool it's a great way to go. As far as a back up water supply? Hmm, dunno. Prolly need an RO system to make it potable.

[Evyl Robot]

I had no idea you could get used water containers that cheap through traditional sources! I've been keeping my eyes open at garage sales and that sort of thing. Nuts to that! However, I think I'd prefer to valve up five 55-gal barrels rather than get the 275-gal tote for most purposes. Then again, each has its strengths and weaknesses...

I've thought about beefing up our water storage capabilities just on the grounds of rainwater collection. Without looking back at numbers, I can typically fill up our 55-gal rain barrel with about .2-in of rain. Every now and then, we get a good 2-inch gulley washer, even when we are in 'drought' condition. It sure would be nice to have access to all of that when the city can't provide enough water for us to keep our garden wet. Plus, when we are eventually capable of building our 'forever' house, it's going to be out in the sticks, and such practices will be nearly mandatory. May as well get used to it now.

[Netpackrat]

I had this hit me like a ton of bricks while perusing Aquaponics forums - the 275 gallon totes that are so popular there are perfect for water storage, and can be usually found used for under a hundred bucks each on Craigslist - just make sure to get a food grade one, that has only been used to store potable liquids like wine.

I've seen a set of plans, to turn one of those into a wood fired hot tub.

[blackeagle603]

I've seen a set of plans, to turn one of those into a wood fired hot tub.

Ok, I'm listening now.

[Netpackrat]

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... d-hot-tub/

[blackeagle603]

Love the hot tub heater at that link. The commenter who included old heater cores in the exhaust stack got me thinking too. I need to do something like this to heat our pool hottub on the cheap. Propane cost is outta sight. I had a line on servicable old wood stove for cheap last winter. I was going to run stainless lines inside it for heat. The day I was going to make the deal/pick it up I hare'd off. Too many unfinished projects around the place -- for the sake of peace in the home I needed to close the loop on a few before starting another.


back on original topic: This has me thinking about some dead/weed space along a fence that could hold some barrels easily enough. I have a run of 1/2 low pressure (25 psi) black flex line feeding drip system to fruit trees. The barrels could be put in series with that supply line. A couple things make that site appealing.

1) It's uphill from the house and I could run a gravity drop water hose to the house in a time of need.
2) Lower concerns about leakage in this resevoir since it's lower pressure and only is pressurized when that irrigation valve is open on it's regular cycle.

[blackeagle603]

For outdoor storage containers to last it seems like you'd want to be selective about container material. Most plastics don't like UV very well over the long term.