off the grid water

[systemnt]

Ya exactly, if you are on a RWH system then there is no way to shower or take care of yourself, you are guaranteed to stink! Also, just drill a well! There is an endless supply of water underground! 👍

There are many areas of Texas where underground water is not available, AND there is no rural water line. In these areas your only choices are to haul water to use for your house, not live there, or to use RWH. These people are not “hippies”, nor do they stink. They are very conservation minded and are able to live normal lives just like the rest of us.

Put your emotional panties away and Read what was posted again.

[stinkbelly]

There is no ground water in the area. The neighbor just drilled and he gets a max of 1 gallon per minute. That won't do you any good.

The co-op will run water for $60,000. I am sure their water isn't cheap either.

[kmitchl]

Using rainwater for household use is pretty common in the Hill Country. I don't know where you are located but Texas A&M has a lot of information on how to size systems and predict the amount collected. Rain Harvesting Supplies in Denton sells the components and has the knowledge to give you good advice. Meeting your family's needs might be as simple as adding an additional storage tank.

[91cavgt]

There is no ground water in the area. The neighbor just drilled and he gets a max of 1 gallon per minute. That won't do you any good.

The co-op will run water for $60,000. I am sure their water isn't cheap either.

1 gpm = 60 gph = 1440 gallons per day. If you ran that into one of the storage tanks then you would have all the water you and a large family could ever waste.

[texasair]

Decades ago we lived off of the grid for 2 years with 2 kids.

We had a well with unlimited capacity, but no electricity and had to run a small generator for a few hours every couple of days to pump water into our 1000 gallon pressurized storage tanks and recharge our battery bank.

We were not in super conservation mode but were careful in water use.
On an average week we used 2,000 gallons.

[stinkbelly]

1 gpm = 60 gph = 1440 gallons per day. If you ran that into one of the storage tanks then you would have all the water you and a large family could ever waste.

Wouldn't it burn up a well pump to run it that long? Mine currently runs for a minute or two and then is off for a while.

[RiverRat1]

Wouldn't it burn up a well pump to run it that long? Mine currently runs for a minute or two and then is off for a while.

No, you would just set it up to run when tank lowers to a certain point.
But I'd be worried about drilling and not hitting any water. But you never know as you could also hit a lot of water.

If you don't waster water, have a pool, hot tub, water grass, run a slip n' slide for a TBH party I would think 8k gallons could/would stretch further than most people think.

[Capt.Brown]

Outside of a couple of old hippies we know, that smell ALL the time, i dont know anyone that could do it....especially anyone with kids...
there is no way we could do it... to each his own i guess....but in this day and age... there's no reason to.

get a well.

How much of a major deal you getting due to no water? Certainly they arent using it as a selling point.

We install them every week , but it needs to be 35,000 or bigger

[stinkbelly]

We install them every week , but it needs to be 35,000 or bigger

So you think a 16,000 gallon system is too small for a family of 4?

[RJK70]

We used 15,000 gal in July but a bulk of that was through the sprinkler system which I doubt you would have. Average months where I am not watering the lawn is around 5,000-7,000 gallons.

[Heath]

There is a home close to my parents place in Central Texas that has a swimming pool and runs on off the grid water. They are asking close to $1M for the nice home and land.

[stickbowcoop]

...100 gal a day is based off the wastefulness of today's society, go back some years and the average person probably didn't use a 100 a month...

You would have to adopt the "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" methodology to stay under 100 gallons a month just from flushing the toilet unless you lived alone.

Years ago (1992) I lived in a mobile home with my brother that didn't have water for months. The well dried up and we had to wait until we could afford to move. Hauling water in got old really quick. I have no interest in living like that again. I would for camp, but not everyday living.

[MadHatter]

You would have to adopt the "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" methodology to stay under 100 gallons a month just from flushing the toilet unless you lived alone.

Years ago (1992) I lived in a mobile home with my brother that didn't have water for months. The well dried up and we had to wait until we could afford to move. Hauling water in got old really quick. I have no interest in living like that again. I would for camp, but not everyday living.

I wasn't referring to modern society, I was more along the lines, of climb off the horse, take a cramp, get a drink from your canteen and mosey on down the road.

[hopedale]

I think the real question is how do you get water to those tanks if they run dry?

Like someone wrote earlier is putting in a well not an opition?

If not, is there a water delivery service you can use to fill up?

Or, can you set up tank you can drive some where to fill up and top off the tanks for the house?

[crawdaddct]

I could do it, but my wife, not so much....