E-Book Content
July/August 1999 Backwoods Home Magazine
By Michael Hackleman (This is the first of a two-part series)
rban-dwellers rarely concern themselves with a water system. Getting water in a home or an apartment is usually a phone call, some paperwork, and a monthly bill away. In this case, the water is simply turned on by the local water company. Or it’s already on, and only the name is changed for billing purposes. Rural dwellers may experience a similar process if the habitat is located in a water district, or a water system has already been developed and is fully operational. What awaits the proud owner of an undeveloped piece of land? If you’ve got utility electricity available, the local chamber of commerce will probably point you at the local well drilling company. Thereafter, you need have no more to do with the process of developing a water system than writing checks for the hardware
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and labor. If the raw land lies too far beyond the utility grid, you will go through the throes of information hunting and a myriad of confusing decisions that may or may not result in a satisfactory water system. Left out in all of these scenarios is any real thought process that will result in a well designed water system. There are functions, processes, and materials in every system. Today, where utility power is available, there is a distinct prejudice toward the demand system, i.e., one using a submersible pump. Once informed, many people will choose a store system, i.e., one using a piston pump and tank. Which is better and why? What sets the well-designed water system apart from others? Ease of use? Versatility? Functionalism? Efficient use of water and energy? The hallmark of a well-designed system is simple: it cannot be improved upon. You might find its equal but you can’t find its better.
The lifeblood of a water system is the water itself. If it is to sustain you and perform the uses you will put it to, the water source must be carefully selected lest it become a source of concern. Water found in nature is “wild.” Transforming it into a form that will satisfactorily do the things we ask of it requires energy. This is the system’s heart. The system’s energy source must also be selected so that the two, water and energy, merge in a hard-working symbiotic partnership that will demonstrate again and again how wise it was to expend the effort toward this end. Let’s look at sources of water, sources of energy, and the components involved in processing water itself.
SOURCES OF WATER There are many potential sources of water for use in the rural water system (Fig. 1). Among the more promising sources are streams, springs, ponds,
FIGURE 1
There are many potential sources of water.
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July/August 1999 Backwoods Home Magazine
FIGURE 2
A shallow well may be dug with a backhoe. and wells. It is even possible to collect the falling rain. Access is everything. Right off, some of these potential sources may be eliminated from the list; you either have them or you don’t. Some sources can only be listed as “probables,” particularly if there’s no visual evidence of their presence. The extremes are interesting. It would be just as rare to find a piece of property that boasted all of these sources as one where none of them existed. So it’s safe to start with the assumption that there is at least one source available to any piece of land and a strong possibility of more than one. Each source of water is unique. But if it is to find a place as the source of water for a water system, it must pass a test. It’s not difficult to list some of the questions we would be likely to ask of it. However, let’s first look at some of the characteristics of each source that both define it and help distinguish it from the other sources. Rivers and streams: Rivers and streams represent a good s