Temporary Cabin water system

[kmack]

With the way the drought has been this year and last year, we're currently having water issues at our lease. The property owner's house and our hunting cabin are plumbed into a pump system fed by the owner's 2.5 acre pond (about 25' at its deepest point). That system has been working great over the years since I've been coming out in 2005. Last year there were concerns about water levels and the pump foot valve was extended 40' then 60' then 80'.
However this year has been worse as the lease has had only about 1.5" of rain since last year. The remaining water in the pond is only about 5' to 6' deep and almost unusable. Earlier this year I starting collecting pieces and parts to install a temporary water system for the cabin just in case we didn't get any rain. I installed it this past weekend.

Parts list:
250 gal water tote (IBC container) with a 2" course thread valve
2nd 250 gal water tote as portable fill tank
2" x 3/4" IBC course thread adapter - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BCW7LY42/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?pd_rd_i=B0BCW7LY42&pd_rd_w=ZT ogt&content-id=amzn1.sym.f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_p=f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_r=RWJKKWFJBBS0K5DA8QKR&pd_rd_wg =ZsXSz&pd_rd_r=4862fdf1-0bb9-484e-85eb-76a99320b9d3&s=hi&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRha Ww&th=1
RV style 12V water pump (3gpm @ 45 psi) - https://www.amazon.com/Diaphragm-Pri...ef_=ast_sto_dp
Other misc. items: water hose, PVC fittings, battery connections, solar panel

We hooked up it up while still on the trailer our first night out.



There is a shutoff valve for the water line feed coming from the property owner's pump. That valve remains closed, and this tank setup is plumbed into an outside water hose spigot to effectively back-feed water into the cabin. It worked great and we had great pressure for showers and for the two sinks and toilet.

This is the final setup...



The 2nd water tote will be used to remote fill this current tank, using a small transfer pump.

[donpablo]

Nice! Eventually when I get my setup done, I plan to do something similar but it will be the sole source for the cabin. I'll likely build a raised platform and gravity feed rather than buy a pump as we won't have electricity either.

[Dusty Britches]

Very cool!

You need to take the tank out of the cage, paint it black and put it back in the cage. The black will prevent algae from growing. I'd be surprised if it wasn't already growing.

[Gunnyart]

Looks good. I need to do this too. I may add a propane tankless heater to it also. I like my camp showers hot!

[Bowhica]

Very cool!

You need to take the tank out of the cage, paint it black and put it back in the cage. The black will prevent algae from growing. I'd be surprised if it wasn't already growing.

Painting the tote is a must. Scrub with dawn soap, air dry then prime and paint a few coats of black with a roller. Don't spray. Light is your enemy.

[kmack]

Yeah, painting the tank needs to happen. We just didn't have the time. I'll work on that this weekend.

[Javelin]

as others Paint the tote, BUT I go a step farther as paint tends to flake off. I paint mine then wrap black 3 mil plastic around mine. I stuff it between empty tank and cage. When take fills it expands and holds plastic in place. I actually use those 3mil contractor 42 gallon trash bags from lowes. So technically I have 6mil thick plastic around and over my tanks. beeen doing it for years and some of my bags are 8 years old and still like new, they really hold up to sun well.

[kmack]

This past weekend, I picked up another tote out of Fredericksburg for use in our water system. This is a larger tote that can hold 300 gals and was in better shape than the other one pictured.
After getting it to the lease Friday night, I pulled the plastic container out of the cage and painted it black. After getting the needed connections and re-mounting the pump, we filled it and covered it with a heavy duty black tarp to help keep it clean since it sits under a huge Live Oak tree. Plus the tarp keeps the pump out of the weather.

So far, we've been averaging about 20-30 gals for a weekend. However, this is only with 2-3 people. With a full crew of 5-6, the usage will definitely go up. Not to mention any water used for cleaning activities. We'll see how things fare throughout the season.

[14JKURX]

We bought one of these for our water tank.easy to install and has an flap to open to fill without removing.

https://www.amazon.com/Cover-Zipper-Gallon-Materials-Waterproof/dp/B09ZPTN4LP/ref=asc_df_B09ZPTN4LP/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=647335864292&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10819307106927512325&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1026313&hvtargid=pla-1981275771804&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI__2b28W5gQMVaSzUAR1AyQGGEAQYBCABEgIujfD_BwE&th=1

[Rwc]

You mention "Cabin", is there away for you to throw up some cheap gutters and start collecting any rain run off from the cabin roof as another source of water?

We have a 1500 gallon black ploy tank buried that we run all the rain run off from our river ground cabins roof. The last couple of summers has been tough on collection, but for the most part it works well.

And drop a small chlorine tablet in that tote every once in awhile.

Rwc

[Tbar]

For years I gravity fed a little cabin. Put one tote on top of some scaffolding(with some extra bracing) and transferred water to it from an identical tote and small submersible pump. Water came from a neighboring property.

[Texas Made]

This is what we use as a main source for our cabin. We used a 1 HP well pump with a pressure tank from harbor freight for water pressure and it has been good so far. Had problems with the pump short cycling due to the pressure from the tank at first but that was fixed when we installed a check valve.

[kmack]

We bought one of these for our water tank. Easy to install and has an flap to open to fill without removing.

That's something I hadn't seen before...I like it!

You mention "Cabin", is there away for you to throw up some cheap gutters and start collecting any rain run off from the cabin roof as another source of water?
And drop a small chlorine tablet in that tote every once in awhile.

Here is a pic of the cabin a couple years ago when we did a "deep clean" of the inside. You can see the two large oaks that cover all but one small corner of the cabin roof (to the right, off camera). The tank placement is behind the cabin, off to the right of the white truck. We have to get up on the roof a couple times a year to blow all the debris off from those two trees. Any rain that would come thru the trees and make it onto the roof, would bring with it all the tree trash that you currently see in the picture. And since the roof slopes in three different directions, there would be a lot of "system" to make the most use of the roof area. It's just not worth it based on the current conditions.

Thanks for the chlorine tablet idea. I'll get some picked up.

[Javelin]

It doesnt take much roof to catch tons of water. Just that porch roof or the roof on the side of the tank would most likely keep two totes full enough so you would never run out. It would cost less than $50 to put gutters on one side to catch the water and probably less than an hour to do it. I would not use chlorine tablets they can over concentrate. If using water from home as long as no light gets to the water you should be ok. If not going to be using any water for a month or so a half cup of bleach would be all I would add.

[BowCrazy]

We used well water (from the land owner) and transferred it to a tote. Used a pump from a travel trailer to transfer it. Never painted it black but each time we filled it we added quart of bleach to it. Worked fine for shower, washing dishes etc. Not for drinking at all. No problems.