indeed, but some people did drink the water.  

So, if you had a system like this, and had gas and electricity to your water heater, then the water heater would work normally and you could take gen-yu-wine hot showers, no?

I care about this because I'm on a well.  No power=no water.  But I never lose gas to the water heater.  And water heater controls take VERY little electricity.  Seems like this would allow me to have full home water, including hot water, during a power outage.  Am I right?

Another reason I care––I was in the Loma Prieta quake of '88.  No power for 3 days.  And a LOT of repair work during those 3 days.  Running water and a hot shower would have made things SO much nicer.

Yes, that's the idea and if something serious enough happens to knock my NG service out Ill have bigger issues to deal with than no water pressure. I have electricity covered 9 ways till Sunday..
Taking a good but quick shower used about 7" of water from the 55gal barrel...

I was at Port Hueneme in Oxnard in '89 when the quake happened. Didn't affect us but we helped get Seabee equipment ready to go out to help with disaster relief..

This morning I took a refreshing sponge bath [not really a sponge, but a wash cloth]  incl washing my hair [short] and shaving, with just a tea kettle of water, made hot from a Coleman single burner propane stove, and have been doing the same almost for the past week.

I'm tickled with some folks having to use gallons of water to bathe in a SHTF. I can't imagine how you're going to deal with stuff...

EXPY37,  anybody can get by on a "whore's bath".  Hell, while in the military and while camping or at sea I have done the same many times.  Some times it was related to speed and sometimes it was related to water conservation.  Given a choice, I would rather take a nice hot shower than bathe out of my mess kit.

The reason many of us prep is that we want to live our lives as normally as possible regardless of any problems or disasters that may befall our country, economy, or locality.  We store the food we eat because we don't want to have to radically change our diet just because the Pigly Wigly is not being stocked because of fuel shortages.  We have gennies because we still want to surf ARFCOM despite the lines being down from the wind storm.  We have kero heaters and wood stoves because we want to remain warm in our homes when the ice storms take out the local grid.  We have savings in the bank so that if we should loose our job, we can still cover our expenses without going begging to "The Man".

The serious prepper has back up systems for as many things as he/she can, and then has back up for the back ups.  For the serious prepper it is not just about surviving, it is about weathering the various storms life throws at us with as much grace and as little fuss as possible.  Just because we choose to keep our showers running does not mean that we can not get by with a "whore's bath", we can.  It's just that we would rather have showers and flush toilets, and appreciate finding any method or technology that will allow us to keep them up and running as long as possible.

I know that is why I prep.

stasiman

And that is a brilliant essay.

Couple the pump with one of these and your set-

http://www.survivalandpreparednessforum.com/showthread.php?225-Ag-Water-tanksWater tanks

We've used a similar setup for over a decade.

Lowdown3

Just ordered 2 SHURflo Extreme series, Smart Sensor, 5.7 pumps......with hose fittings.....can be set for upto 65psi.

Camping World got them for me for a reasonable price.....I'm going to go ahead and get a repair kit to have on hand.

The hose I got is from a beverage distributor...it's a 3/4" line clear hose with nylon braiding in the middle....anyone use this for their water lines?

I was wondering if the fact that it is a clear line would permit or premote the growth of algee....these are used in relitively dark enviroments.

SO simple what a great idea  i cant belive i never though of this.

Yeah, well, us REAL pros can get the job done with a couple of KFC moist-wipes...

Nice just need a bigger tank or more barrels. Waste a lot using toilet that way.

Have used the 1/2" reinforced hose from HomeD or Lowes.

In 7 yrs haven't had a problem.

What did the pumps cost?

Pumps were just over $200 per unit.

Nice setup.
Thanks
RLTW

toliets would be the best way to use a roof  rain catch system.....55 gal drum and gravity fill to float valve. surly you could rig a double valve "Y" into the system with a quick disconnect. A 3/8" plastic line could be ran in from a window. Toss a little bleach in to the barrel and stir before you start the flow.

I use a 25 gal spot sprayer as a primary water system at my cabin. I fill the tank with water from a nearby year round spring. There is a 12vdc 1.1gpm Shurflo pump to supply a kitchen sink and a shower. I ran clear plastic tubing supply lines so I could watch for any algae build up. There is a 1200watt shower head that gives a nice warm shower. I have used this system for over 5 years. I do clean out the water tank each year. The clear plastic supply lines have not shown any signs of algae. This system is really simple to install, use and has worked very well. This system is simple to run off small generator or truck battery if needed.



This is an old pic of the 15 gal system. I now use a 25gal tank.











 

 

Fantastic idea-thanks for sharing

For someone who wanted to set up such a system in their basement, would anything stop them from backfeeding their pumped water through the cold water supply of the washing machine?

The controls for your gas heater should take no electricity from the grid, usually the controls are powered by thermoelectric devices within the water heater itself.

As to being on a well, you may want to consider a holding tank as a moderate $$ solution. We have a 500 gallon reserve tank that feeds the pressure pump for the house. That coupled up with a small generator to power the pressure tank, you have hot water with the least amount of muss and fuss.

Harbor Freight and Northern Tool (on-line stores) both carry small pressure tanks that would work well on a limited budget.

c0
____________________________
Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
Tpass.org

Follow up...

The last several weeks in Oklahoma we have had very little rain and the temperature has been over 100 for the last 22 days. Highest temp this year was 110.
With everyone using water much more the pressure has been low but not unusable. Yesterday the city started odd/even rationing for watering your lawn.
This morning I guess half the city decided to water their grass because we had water pressure of only 6 or 7 psi.. It just dripped out of the shower head...

I anticipated some kind of water problem this summer and had filled two of the drums up last week with fresh water.
So this morning I pulled the pump, battery, charger and other gear out, hooked it up and was taking a perfectly good shower in about 15min...
The pressure came up later in the day so I was able to refill the one drum I had used most of and so I'm ready for tomorrow...

I plan on leaving it setup for a while until this drought is over with..

ETA: I have found that using the dish washer uses less water than washing by hand... About 7" out of the drum. The same as a reasonable shower...

Part of prepping is to be able to make disasters into inconveniences.   Nice work.

Chocked full of win!

Great thread. Looking at setting one up indoors through the cold water line.