So one of the the issues at the Beta Site is that to pull water from the creek you have to, obviously, drop one end of a suction hose into the creek to allow the pump to pull water in. Creeks are, by their very nature, rather open to the environment and get all sorts crap in them…dust, dirt, small bugs, pine needles, etc, etc. And thats in addition the stuff thats on the bottom of the creek…dirt, silt, degraded organic matter of all sorts, etc. Sucking anything up into your pump that is not water is usually a bad idea. Some stuff you can get away with if its small enough, but you really want to keep the pine needles and dead bugs outta the impellors. Pretty much any plumbing supply store will sell you one of these to help keep crap out of your intake:
But thats still a bit coarse. And I need to keep as much crap out of that water as possible so I don’t gum up the internals on the water heater. So, whats an effective solution I can DIY while standing in the plumbing section of the store? The answer, as it turned out, was this:
Its an inline filter used for irrigation systems. Unscrew the bulbuous part and theres a 75 micron screen in there. As it turns out, Rain Bird also sells screens of other size. Obviously this is not something that makes water potable…its for filtering solids, not Giardia and other biologics. So I hooked this up to one end of my intake hose and tried it out. Worked awesome. When I checked the filter there was plenty of small tiny bits of sediment and gunk that the filter had kept out of my pump and, by extension, out of my water tank. For fun, I also put one on the output hose from my storage tank so that if there is anythign that works its way into the tank, it doesnt get transferred into anything I don’t want it in.
Cost? Shoot, man…the filter and a couple 3/4 adaptors was less than twenty bucks. I decided to buy the next larger size, meant for 1″ pipe, and use a couple 1″-to-3/4″ adaptors to give myself a larger setup so flow wouldnt be restricted if things got muddy.
TPIWWP, so:
Its important to note that the 3/4″ thread on the filter is not the same as the 3/4 thread on your garden hose. You’ll need a 3/4fpt to 3/4fht adaptor (the brass thing in the picture) to get them to work together and you can find that easily in the plumbing section.
Its worked out quite well for me and I keep a couple spares in the box with the transfer pump. The more crap I can keep out of the water storage tank, the less frequently I need to powerwash it’s interior with bleach.
Again, this is not something that turns untreated water into drinkable water. That should be pretty obvious. But it definitely helps when its time to purify and treat water.
I filled my 220 gallon storage tank with rainwater. It was initially going to mostly be for the garden, but I move the garden and not the tank.
All the sediment settled. I threw in some bleach until I could faintly smell it. Several years later and there isn’t any growth in the tank. Rather than keeping it potable, I will just use one of my water filters if I need to tap that source.
Sure, you should have potable water stored, but if you don’t trust it, and you are going to filter anyway before drinking, save a bit of effort…
nick
Love the journey. Thanks for sharing.
Looks like a terrific solution for a Beta site. Easy to stock spare parts for as well.
Did you get that water tested? I think I remember you saying you took a sample.
Anyway, it probably wouldn’t hurt to throw in a cup or two of bleach before you went home for the week.
If nothing else it’ll keep things from growing in there.
If you want it potable here’s a ratio for that- if your stream isn’t contaminated..
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-kitchen/bleach-water-ratio-for-drinking-water/
Excellent research !
Well done…
Thanks for sharing your adventures.
You can also pre filter the creek water by creating a catch basin using a 5 gallon bucket or other container. Dig into the creek bottom and place the bucket slightly below the water level. All of the heavy material will sink to the bucket bottom and the floaters will spill over the top. Fasten the intake hose to the bucket inside halfway down. good luck.
Gotta love that garden hoses have their own standard.
Gotta love technology, there seems to be a gadget that’s just right for most any application. The few times I filtered rainwater before putting it through the Berky was to pour it through a (used) HVAC Merv 8 paper filter. Pretty redneck, but it works. Couldn’t see any solids floating about.
The RV water filters that are made to go between the spigot and the hose should work well. They are specifically made to keep sediment out.
This looks good as well.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/389220287776?_trksid=p2332490.c101196.m2219&itmprp=cksum%3A38922028777630856647bac749f28bcdc343993153fb%7Cenc%3AAQALAAABMFyvTK8FDi5%252FSHI0lJ%252BTnhAMGcHocxkHvqpM5VgIYPKhjoHFKj%252Bb%252BxIQCxiESLOq3uSvfQ86ArctWzcUYjDDMyyHmVBqmSl15eTDPmxXrZRPCiTE3ddpDD6cIQPUYKkylWUZQRcOQVQdkTWWTfU2MS72qQ5EnuLlRRTLhg6fCkZe04z1mgke%252BSIXojOQ0DxPDFkkO8wBsz%252FcrKQfuE0SAwHL7aN%252B0RN3uDOrM8RdfdHTNy4htcCuwCtLeKHKz0jT51uzQRYdOxw%252F86wvWEkkKDi3nsL7XDkXXyrNjoaUVK2tOImjO4BTuRgJDYyXEt4Y51uZnbuLslyDlVYLScQSzv2yAw3zCsDxp55WQSzXOmg7bl%252BGwXNBj5iGYYbGHWjtw6uekeOgCmOvCwdZN3AGn2g%253D%7Campid%3APLP_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01M0510XSPMA0DJXXJQSKW2E9D
An option you might consider is to acquire a sand-point water well tip. They are designed for a sandy soil with a high water level. My dad came up with a useful version for my sister’s river property. We diverted the water away from an area near the bank, and dug a hole deep enough to get the unit under the riverbed. The hole was sized to accept a 55gal barrel’s content of sand. We covered it with rocks to keep the sand from washing away. The sand was intended as the initial filter for the water intake. A sand-point is designed to strain the sand from the intake. That river could go from 6 inches deep to 20 ft real quick. She sold the place 30 year ago, but it still exists, so I suspect the water system still works.
It was then pumped up to a plastic tank mounted on the hill on the other side of the house. The water may have had some additional filtering. Mostly used for their garden and taking showers, and fire suppression. Drinking water was jugs bought at the supermarket, about a 15-20 minute drive away.
reminds me of a Bio-sand filter. A low-tech DIY way to turn most any water to potable. I built a rough one out of a plastic 55g drum, worked well but just used it for gardening, never had it tested but would be great for a homestead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0OsnJ0Uz5Q&t=3s
Can’t tell you the number of times I’ve drunk-deeply-right out of the streams here in MT.
Once I drank from a stream about 700m from the source up in the Pioneers by my old gold claim. Another 200m upstream, there was a dead moose in the water.
Whoops.
For whatever reason, I’ve never gotten sick from the water.
That’s some heavy duty immune system! Don’t catch the yearly flu, I’m guessing?