gsfish said:
Are you drinking that water? If so how are you treating it? How much water do you use a day?
Guy
Yes, I drink that water, use it for bathing and dish washing, toilet flushing as well as laundry. The only other water I harvest is from my one window a/c, via a bucket underneath, and I use that in addition for flushing the toilet.
I use the family sized filter by Lifestraw for my drinking water that I don't boil. (Family 1.0) I have a non aluminum window screen covering the marine cooler at intake to keep out debris. Because of the location of the cooler drain and our rainfall (currently 37" for the year), I rarely hit the bottom layer of water (about 2") For cold water kept in the fridge, I also run the Lifestraw filtered water through a Brita filter.
As for usage, I usually keep 20-30 gallons raw water on hand inside and process 1-2 gallons a day via the filter. Depending on dish load, whether I need to shower or shower and wash my hair, I use as little as three gallons in a day up to five gallons. When I have known rain coming I might splurge and take a 7 gallon shower with the camp shower pump as I did this week in advance of the hurricane
For laundry, that day might hit 7 gallons, again which is recaptured post laundry for toilet flush use as I use a manual washer and drain the water into a bucket after each 'cycle'. All water pretty much gets recycled - showering water is re-captured to be used post bathing as toilet flush water. I use a spray bottle with water, Mrs Myers and vinegar to wash my daily dishes as far as utensils/plates etc., and sometimes also the cooking containers. I save up my big dish items usually for twice a week wash if I don't do them at time of use because I need to heat up the water due to grease or other things.
It's just me now, although for a while I managed same with a child and a dog as well. So my usage is pretty small compared to then. We averaged probably 10 gallons a day then. We did use the YMCA for showers regularly, as the lack of hot water in winter is a bit more than I really wanted him to endure, although I have managed bathing myself with water heated on the wood stove and a small heater in the bathroom. It makes for a very, very quick bath, lol. Now that I am back by myself, I will probably bathe in the living room by the wood stove in winter
When I am working out regularly, I usually shower at the Y before returning home.
I will say that living without water automatically coming from a tap will make you VERY aware of what you use, what you waste, and how to reuse what normally just heads down a drain. In my time here I have only needed to have assistance from a neighbor once or twice in the winter for about 20 gallons from his hose.
If you have any additional questions, just let me know.