My new well in installed complete with a hand pump.

I would like to receive advice from people who store water outdoors. What is the best way to store it outdoors? What types of tanks are you using, etc.

I am concerned about water freezing in the winter outdoors.

-- John (rappahannock@hotmail.com), June 01, 1999

Answers

I would like the same advise please.

graham

-- Graham hyslop (Bob@ghoward-oxley.demon.co.uk), June 01, 1999.

I installed a solar well and ran it into a 500 gallon enclosed tank. I built a shed to enclose the well and tank and put the solar array on the roof. Freezing isn't much of a concern on the Gulf Coast, but there's no reason why I couldn't tack up some fiberglass insulation inside the shed.

Good luck.

-- Doug (douglasjohnson@prodigy.net), June 01, 1999.

This depends on your particular situation, but FWIW: A yard is about 250 gallons. Rent a dirt mover, dig a big hole with sloped sides, line it with a plastic tarp, fill it up, buy a filter. (Sloped sides lets little critters climb out if they fall in.) If you have space, continue the tarp to its full length uphill, and let it catch rain.

If your land lies right, maybe pushing a berm across a low spot will dam up a dozen cubic yards of water (with the tarp, of course, not just an earthen dam.) Check your local laws, flood plain stuff, etc. You could end up with a couple thousand gallons stored for a couple hundred bucks (not counting the filter).

Any opinions?

-- bw (home@puget.sound), June 01, 1999.

Tank, barrel, whatever, three feet down. Frost line in US mainland is about 2 feet. Pump it up. OR..... DIG HOLE IN BASEMENT put tank in.

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), June 01, 1999.

How much will it freeze?

Let's say that you get cold enough to put a solid 1 foot of ice on the top and around the sides.

If you're pumping from the center of the tank, you should be pumping water......the ice will just collapse as the water is pumped out of the tank.

Think of ice fishing......the top is frozen to the point where maybe you can drive a car on the lake, but there's unfrozen water under the ice.

-- fishing (through@ice.man), June 01, 1999.

Just a thought - trying to be original:

If the tank is exposed to sunlight and you paint the exterior black it will absorb heat.

Perhaps you could also surround it from a few feet away with some reflective material (like white plastic or tin-foil) to reflect the sun's heat on to the tank.

How about space blankets?

I don't know anything about solar systems, but based on an earlier comment that mentioned solar panels, maybe you could rig something up that uses a solar panel to keep your stored water above 32 degrees - maybe uses the convection from the heat produced by solar panel to keep water circulating through solar panel or something to that effect?

-- just (a@thought.com), June 01, 1999.

I've just finished installing a 750 gallon water tank here at my place. I got it from the local AG supplier. These tanks are hefty duty, used for water storage, etc. on farms around here. They have a bottom outlet and a top fill. I setup the unit on a concrete slab and ran the outlet down to my water main. I setup the connection so I had an anti-backflush fitting from the water main and a valve to shut off the "city" water and turn on the water tank water. I tested it and while I have little pressure I have water flow which is the goal. I also setup an additional T valve on the bottom outlet so I can get water directly from the tank if I need to. I set it up with a reducer so I can connect a garden hose up to it.

My area does not get very many, if any, freezing spells. The tank is black so it will absorb the thermal and keep the water from freezing if it should ever get that cold. My total cost so far has been $700.00. I will keep the tank filled through out the fall and use it to water the garden to keep the water "fresh". I fill it off the normal water supply system via a 2 inch hose. The tank is about 6 foot tall and about 5 foot around. I plan on a final top off fill in late December with the water additives being introduced then.

Hope this helps....

Freelancer (Will code for food!! :)

-- Freelancer (mercenary2000@yahoo.com), June 01, 1999.

I have a 500 gallon plastic tank that I plan to enclose in an insulated shed. It will be used for irrigation and stockwater in summer, but I need to keep the temp. down to prevent algae and bacteria growth. (it gets over 100F in the summer.)

I need to have it above ground to gravity feed my gardens and greenhouse.

We do have snow and some days in the twenties and teens in the winter (mostly hovers around freezing.) If I do need use it, I have read that a heavy duty fish tank pump can be hooked up to it to make bubbles and discourage freezing. Problem is getting the power to run the pump. (Too overcast for solar.)

Another solution is using old tires for insulation. Our ranchers needed to run their irrigation ditches for stockwatering in the winter because troughs would freeze. Fish screens for salmon have to be pulled in the winter because of the heavy volume of water in our snow-fed system. It was discovered that old tires could insulate the troughs to the point that they did not freeze. Our RCD (Resource Conservation District) designed the schematics. Going to ask for a copy and visit the project of the rancher who uses it. Might be able to adapt it somehow. (At least for keeping chicken waterers from freezing.) Could also use the insulated blankets they use for hot water heaters as long as the tank is in a shed and the fiberglass doesn't come in contact with the water. (Probably the easiest solution.)

Just remember not to fill the tank all the way full if there is a danger of freezing.

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), June 02, 1999.

I bought a little wading pool for my grandson. It is about 10 feet in diameter. So using 3.141596 x R squared x 1 foot high wall, I figure I should have about 75 cubic feet of water storage for the toilets. Since a cubic foot holds approximately 7 gallons, this simple solution should provide my family at least 375 gallons of storage. Toilet flushing will be minimized.

I am glad I am on my own septic system instead of a public sewage system that might back up into my house if the electrical power goes out for a long time.

If you are on public sewage, buy a metallic pipe cap now to cap off the exit from your home and dig a latrine. You do not want your neighbor's sewage backing up into your home. Especially if you are at a lower elevation than them.

I'll set the pool up in my garage in mid December, fill it then from the hose and keep the garage door closed.. I'll divert rainfall from my roof's gutter downspot into the wading pool to keep the pool filled if necessary. I'll support and keep the sides of the pool from collapsing outwards with my cases of canned food. Freezing should not be a serious problem where I live. I will use my multiple 50 gallon plastic blue barrels for storing drinking water with bleach additives.

I am also buying a new set of 45 gallon $20 RubberMaid gargage cans (my current ones are pretty gross like yours.) I bought a 100 bag case of 56 gallon FDA-approved clear plastic pages from United States Plastic Corporation (800-537-9724 and www.usplastic.com). They are item #6724 and cost about $60 for the 100 bags. I will line my new and current garbage cans with bags and store 40 gallons of water in each.

I also intend to give the bags to my DGI neighbors so they can also store water in their gross garbage cans and not beg me for water.

Ron Sander Ron

-- Ron Sander (judy_sander@hotmail.com), June 02, 1999.

John

You did not mention how cold it got. When I lived in northern Canada The drums were in side the house and the water truck had a hose and filled up the drum or the house had a exterior input. The sewage was basicly the same. Tank fills up and you call a pumper truck.

One thing about the cold, you can use a 5 gallon pail in the "closet" (non heated) and let the contents freeze. You have a couple of plasic bags lining the pail and once it fills up you put it in the garbage and the truck picks it up. That is the way of life up north concerning the toilet *BG*

-- Brian (imager@home.com), June 02, 1999.

Frost line 2 ft. down??? In St. Paul MN it can go as deep as 7 ft. in a severe winter.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), June 02, 1999.