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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Monday, December 15, 2008 How to live without running water Water has always been my nemesis here. There was the time I started a load of laundry, went to bed, and woke several hours later to an odd noise. When I got out of bed to investigate, my feet went down into several inches of water on the floor. The water level switch in the washing machine had failed, and water had been sloshing over the top of the tub for hours. Since the trailer isn't level, the water had of course run to my room in the front. Clarence's bedroom didn't even get damp, but half my books had to be thrown out. And then there were several instances of roof leaks, a sink which is still leaking, a leaking shower, and the most recent leaking hot water heater. Is it any wonder that I'm not panicking over the thought of not having pressurized running water?!Doing without running water is not really that difficult. I've managed on multiple occasions here when the pipes froze, in earlier years when I was backpacking, and during the period I lived on my small sailboat. And during childhood, when we were traveling, we carried a big can of water with us for the times when we couldn't hook up to city or trailer park water. So cooking, washing and bathing without running water isn't a big deal. But you do have to develop different habits. Water is precious. It isn't something you just run down the drain. Every drop gets used more than once, if possible, and potable water is strictly separated from water used for other purposes. You don't pour your drinking water down the toilet!I use two dishpans for washing dishes--one holds hot soapy water, the other holds a smaller amount of hot water. Wash in one, rinse in the other. When the dishes are clean, the soapy water goes on the roses, or whatever else looks like it could use a drink. The rinse pan now becomes the washpan for the next meal, so the rinse water isn't wasted. It sits in the sink and gets cold, but when I'm ready to cook the next meal, I just pour half a kettleful of hot water into it, a couple of squirts of Dr. Bronner's (or my own soap, when I have time to make more again), and voila--hot soapy water for washing dishes, and for washing hands during the meal preparation. The wash pan gets rinsed out with some hot water from the kettle, and it becomes the rinse pan.Bathing hasn't been affected, since we don't have hot running water anyway. The quart of water it takes to wash and rinse my hair just comes out of one of the rain barrels instead of the faucet. I set aside an old aluminum pan for heating non-potable water, since this barrel had carwash detergent in it at one point. It's been rinsed and rinsed, both with well water and rainwater, but I don't want to drink it anyway. The pan is one that Clarence had before I moved in with my stainless steel cookware. I couldn't bear to throw it away, even though I wasn't going to cook in it, so it's been under the sink for years just waiting to be needed again.Showers are managed with a 3-gallon agricultural sprayer, which works very well. I fill it half way with cold water, and heat the other half almost to boiling. The combination is too hot for Clarence, so I shower first and then add a bit of cold water to cool the rest of it down for him. Between the two of us, we use 3 gallons and perhaps a quart more. I capture as much as possible in a bucket that sits in the shower stall and use that to flush the toilet. If the well has run dry, the water toilet will be replaced with a sawdust composting toilet. I've wanted to do that anyway, but Clarence was balking at the idea. I'm halfway hoping we have no choice about it. For the moment, I'm using the laundromat for washing clothes. That's a cop-out, but with the workload I have right now, doing the laundry by hand takes more time than I can spare. Two hours at the laundromat yesterday got two weeks worth of clothes clean and dry, and gave me some quiet time for knitting as well. Added a bit later . . . It turns out that the well is full of water, the pump is fine, but the 230v. electric line had a nice little hole in the insulation. Bill (my all-round fixer-upper) and I pulled the pump out and just above the pump itself was a chewed-up place. As we examined the cable we found additional damaged areas where the wire had rubbed against underground rocks. After cutting out the bad section and making a temporary re-connection, the pump came back on. The repair is going to be relatively minor, thank God. I priced new pumps yesterday, and the cost isn't pretty.So Clarence is getting running water again, and it won't cost so much that I can't afford to go ahead with other parts of the rainwater system. In addition, I learned that the actual water level is only about 50 feet down. We dropped the well bucket that I bought last month from Lehmans, and brought it up full of water from roughly 50 feet. That was extremely good news, because I want to get a manual pump, cylinder and drop pipe to use if the power goes off permanently some day, and pumping from 50 feet down is not only much easier but a heck of a lot cheaper than from 250 feet.Back to work, which is what I was supposed to be doing today, not messing around with the well. There's still time to make it to the West Virginia store that's due this week. posted by Liz @ 8:31 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Water has always been my nemesis here. There was the time I started a load of laundry, went to bed, and woke several hours later to an odd noise. When I got out of bed to investigate, my feet went down into several inches of water on the floor. The water level switch in the washing machine had failed, and water had been sloshing over the top of the tub for hours. Since the trailer isn't level, the water had of course run to my room in the front. Clarence's bedroom didn't even get damp, but half my books had to be thrown out. And then there were several instances of roof leaks, a sink which is still leaking, a leaking shower, and the most recent leaking hot water heater. Is it any wonder that I'm not panicking over the thought of not having pressurized running water?!Doing without running water is not really that difficult. I've managed on multiple occasions here when the pipes froze, in earlier years when I was backpacking, and during the period I lived on my small sailboat. And during childhood, when we were traveling, we carried a big can of water with us for the times when we couldn't hook up to city or trailer park water. So cooking, washing and bathing without running water isn't a big deal. But you do have to develop different habits. Water is precious. It isn't something you just run down the drain. Every drop gets used more than once, if possible, and potable water is strictly separated from water used for other purposes. You don't pour your drinking water down the toilet!I use two dishpans for washing dishes--one holds hot soapy water, the other holds a smaller amount of hot water. Wash in one, rinse in the other. When the dishes are clean, the soapy water goes on the roses, or whatever else looks like it could use a drink. The rinse pan now becomes the washpan for the next meal, so the rinse water isn't wasted. It sits in the sink and gets cold, but when I'm ready to cook the next meal, I just pour half a kettleful of hot water into it, a couple of squirts of Dr. Bronner's (or my own soap, when I have time to make more again), and voila--hot soapy water for washing dishes, and for washing hands during the meal preparation. The wash pan gets rinsed out with some hot water from the kettle, and it becomes the rinse pan.Bathing hasn't been affected, since we don't have hot running water anyway. The quart of water it takes to wash and rinse my hair just comes out of one of the rain barrels instead of the faucet. I set aside an old aluminum pan for heating non-potable water, since this barrel had carwash detergent in it at one point. It's been rinsed and rinsed, both with well water and rainwater, but I don't want to drink it anyway. The pan is one that Clarence had before I moved in with my stainless steel cookware. I couldn't bear to throw it away, even though I wasn't going to cook in it, so it's been under the sink for years just waiting to be needed again.Showers are managed with a 3-gallon agricultural sprayer, which works very well. I fill it half way with cold water, and heat the other half almost to boiling. The combination is too hot for Clarence, so I shower first and then add a bit of cold water to cool the rest of it down for him. Between the two of us, we use 3 gallons and perhaps a quart more. I capture as much as possible in a bucket that sits in the shower stall and use that to flush the toilet. If the well has run dry, the water toilet will be replaced with a sawdust composting toilet. I've wanted to do that anyway, but Clarence was balking at the idea. I'm halfway hoping we have no choice about it. For the moment, I'm using the laundromat for washing clothes. That's a cop-out, but with the workload I have right now, doing the laundry by hand takes more time than I can spare. Two hours at the laundromat yesterday got two weeks worth of clothes clean and dry, and gave me some quiet time for knitting as well. Added a bit later . . . It turns out that the well is full of water, the pump is fine, but the 230v. electric line had a nice little hole in the insulation. Bill (my all-round fixer-upper) and I pulled the pump out and just above the pump itself was a chewed-up place. As we examined the cable we found additional damaged areas where the wire had rubbed against underground rocks. After cutting out the bad section and making a temporary re-connection, the pump came back on. The repair is going to be relatively minor, thank God. I priced new pumps yesterday, and the cost isn't pretty.So Clarence is getting running water again, and it won't cost so much that I can't afford to go ahead with other parts of the rainwater system. In addition, I learned that the actual water level is only about 50 feet down. We dropped the well bucket that I bought last month from Lehmans, and brought it up full of water from roughly 50 feet. That was extremely good news, because I want to get a manual pump, cylinder and drop pipe to use if the power goes off permanently some day, and pumping from 50 feet down is not only much easier but a heck of a lot cheaper than from 250 feet.Back to work, which is what I was supposed to be doing today, not messing around with the well. There's still time to make it to the West Virginia store that's due this week.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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