Water, water everywhere... with lots and lots to drink :-)

We all know that without water, this planet cannot survive.  Without power to provide the energy to obtain that water, we are also in a pickle.  We watched a very interesting Discovery Channel programme the other week on how water is obtained, in the dry, arid Sahara Desert, via ancient, deeply buried man-made tunnels, from aquifers. 

I subscribe to a local blog, and, sometimes, they have very interesting and thought provoking articles.

This morning a new posting arrived in my mailbox: 
http://saaea.blogspot.com/2011/03/treadle-pumps-changing-lives-of-farmers.html

This concept, naturally, piqued my interest and I just had to Google "treadle pumps".

That led me to a very interesting document, and one which I have to share with you.

I am a firm believer in being prepared for any situation, and, once we are on the farm, permanently, we are hoping to have a borehole.  Yes, I am aware that underground water is precious, and no, we will not waste what we draw from that source. 

I just need to be assured that we can obtain water to sustain us if our mains supply is unavailable, and this seems like a simple solution to the problem.  Add to that a simple solar still, to clean contaminated water and make it fit for human consumption, and we are set!  (Note: In our area, our underground water is brak [salty] water.)


Water Still
Source: "The New complete book of Self-Sufficiency"
by John Seymour

We have glass left over from our business that I would recycle and use in place of the polythene tent, and which I think would work even more effectively :-)

So, with both of these concepts, if the worst happens, we will still have water to drink and cook with, and, at a push, be a source of water for our vegetables.  A couple of years ago I read that lemon trees will accept brak water - so providing the salt content isn't too high, it will present no problem there :-)


Our existing water storage barrel

We do have a 5 000lt (1 100 UK gallons / 1 320 US gallons) water barrel, and we also plan to have a couple placed strategically around the house, to capture the rain water from the roof.  However, climbing a ladder and looking inside the one we have a couple of weeks ago, I was shocked to see a layer of green slime forming on top of the water.  And the rain water barrels, too, will eventually become slimy, I'm sure.  Cleaning the water with chlorine is not an option for me - I'm planning to live there organically without the use of chemicals.  So, that slimy water could be used for our trees, but, honestly, I do not want to drink that!  (Again, and to be honoest, at a push I could put the slimy water through the solar still, and end up with clean water - but I would probably boil that before drinking it.)

I have been pondering our water pump problem recently, be-moaning the fact that solar pumps are soooo expensive.  A treadle pump must be a fraction of the cost.  Synchronicity is an amazing thing, isn't it - and how wonderful it is when information just drops into your lap :-)

And one more niggle to cross of the list...