Projects: water

Picture of buried cisterns (in the house berm) in Taos at the construction of a global model Earthship

We have run into some interestingly imminent projects here. Why is it that sometimes you run into a number things that demand your attention all at once. We are in one of those time periods.

The biggest project is that our water has gone kaput. We have had a local company helping us to see if there is a way to get our well pump going again. The end goal where water is concerned is to have rain water catchment and a cistern. I had planned on putting this in next year, but I think I might try to see what I can throw together before we get snow sticking on the ground. In the future the well will not be a main source of water, so I really don't want to have another one dug if that is where we end up. If we catch rainwater I'm not sure we should drink it until we get a chance to re-do the roof. I would like to have it for dishes and baths etc. We will for sure have it tested before we do anything with it.

There will be snow instead of rain soon anyway. I do not plan to install a glycol panel to heat the roof for water in the winter (as they have begun doing with Taos Earthships). This area should be able to catch enough water throughout the year that we can get through winter without that (the evaporation rate should be slow enough that small melts would still drip in as well). I am looking into having some water hauled out to get us going once I get the cistern in.

I have been looking into buying cisterns instead of making a tire or can one. I made a few calls around and had some options, then realized I hadn't asked enough questions about the poly tanks I was looking into. My conclusion so far is that if I wanted to buy a poly tank for cistern use, I would probably have to order it. I have not found any local that are covered that are new, though I have found some used ones that look like they will work well for gray water.

I have been trying to get Phoenix to Grandpa Bill's so that I can dig in with the cistern project, but ironically we blew a tire and cracked the rim on the car when we hit a giant rock in the far left lane of a four lane highway (?). We have to wait for the new rim. Then it rained for a couple of days and the truck got stuck in the mud! I hope you are getting as big of a kick out of this as I am.

I am not terribly concerned. All we can do is try and learn. If things do not turn out in time then we consider a few other options until the spring thaw when this type of work will be easier. It would be nice to just get the water going, but I love adventure and who knows what doors will open if this once needs to detour for a few months?

Stay tuned for further updates ;)