CHAPTER 3: "WATER"

  Your third life quest to live a self-sufficient, off-grid, rogue home lifestyle involves your installation of a safe and consistent water system that eliminates or reduces your dependency upon a public water supply. The following checklist will assist your quest: aboveground and underground rainwater harvesting, atmospheric water collection, and siphoning of lakes and oceans.

  Obviously, home geographical locations throughout the United States that provide strong and consistent rainwater and ground water are clearly more suitable for optimizing rainwater harvesting.

      Always make certain to install a water filtration and treatment system to ensure the above ground or underground water you collect meets all legal health and safety standards for you and your family and home visitors.

America Public Water History

   America’s history of public water supply involves a fascinating journey that spans nearly 20 centuries. Public access to safe and consistent water has basically become a fundamental human right in America.

   Ancient Roman civilizations that existed when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth, invented ingenious engineering systems to meet their citizens demand for water. Roman engineers created an intricate network of aqueducts, channels, and reservoirs that trapped and transported water from distant geographical locations and sources to local public fountains and bath houses, and government and business establishments, and private home residences. Roman aqueducts provide a wonderful testament to the human ingenuity of early engineers in providing a centralized water distribution system for the general public.

     Public water systems slowly evolved during the next 20 centuries. Throughout the Middle Ages, from 500 A.D. to 1,500 A.D., human engineers invented waterwheels and mechanical pumps that created more efficient water extraction from rainfall, lakes, streams, and underground aquifers, for the gathering and distribution of water to the general public.

 During the American industrial revolution of the 1800s and middle 1900s, civil engineers first confronted, and attempted to resolve, the bothersome historical issue of waterborne diseases by implementing new scientific water filtration, treatment, and disinfection methods. For example, chlorine and other chemicals were added to the public water supply to better ensure public safety. Beginning in the late 1900s, the general public created a vast network of government water regulatory agencies while passing new laws that required higher health standards for America’s water quality and supply to the public.

  By the time the 2000s arrived, Americans had passed additional water laws that deregulated the public water supply by replacing public and government control of our nation’s water supply with quasi-public and private water companies. Proponents argued that water deregulation promoted fair competition, efficiency, and innovation in the water industry, and would improve service quality while lowering costs for the public. However, critics of water deregulation expressed serious concerns about potential risks to the public’s health, variable and unpredictable costs throughout our nation, and environmental sustainability. Both sides of the water deregulation argument, good and bad, proved correct.

  Today, our public water supply confronts serious new challenges, such as increased population growth, limited water supply caused by drought, aging water infrastructures, and climate change. These new challenges have produced new technological, scientific, and infrastructure innovations, advancements, and regulations.

     Examples of recent developments and changes for homeowners includes a progressive water pricing for home water consumption based upon water usage each month, home smart water meters that allow consumers to observe and monitor their water usage, sustainable water management and conservation practices that include limited watering of residential land during specified days of the water, and public financial incentives to convert a conventional front yard and backyard home to a xeriscaping home consisting of drought-tolerant plants, efficient water drip hose irrigation, special organic soils and mulch to improve water retention and conservation, and natural and colorful small and large decorative rocks, while preserving an attractive and functional home landscape and vegetations.       

Let’s now turn our attention to alternative sources of water that will empower your self-sufficient, off-Grid, rogue, home lifestyle.

Roof Rainwater

   A good source of water that can empower your self-sufficient home lifestyle involves a home roof rainwater harvesting system that captures, stores, and converts natural rainwater into efficient, inexpensive, safe, and consistent water for your personal consumption.

    Here is how it works: After natural rainwater from overhead clouds falls upon your home roof, the roof directs the water downward toward roof gutters and downspouts that funnel the water into a large metal storage tank located outdoors next to your home. A pump extracts the rainwater from the storage tank and sends the water through a water filtration system and a network of pipes for use inside and outside your home.

     The biggest advantage of a rainwater collection system is its ability to harness the power of nature for your personal use, in this case rainwater, which is a free, clean, and abundant natural resource. The biggest disadvantage, besides weak and inconsistent rainwater, involves your rainwater collection being limited by the square foot area size of your home roof.

Land Surface Rainwater

  A good source of water that can empower your independent home lifestyle involves a residential land surface rainwater harvesting system that captures, stores, and converts natural rainwater into efficient, inexpensive, safe, and consistent water for your personal consumption.

  There are basically two types of residential land rainwater harvesting systems: concrete or plastic basin rainwater catchment and permeable surface rainwater catchment.

Basin Rainwater Catchment

     When natural rainwater from overhead clouds falls upon your home residential land, the water is captured and stored by a concrete or plastic catchment. A pump extracts the rainwater from the catchment and sends the water through a water filtration system and a network of pipes for use inside and outside your home.

     The biggest advantage of residential land surface rainwater catchment, as compared to a roof rainwater harvesting system, is your rainwater collection is only limited by the square footage area of your residential land, instead of the square foot area of your home roof. 

   The biggest disadvantage of residential land surface rainwater catchment, as compared to a roof rainwater harvesting system, is the use of your residential land which might otherwise be allotted for fruit trees, vegetable and herb gardens, and domestic farm animals. Also, a land surface catchment system tends to be less aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. It can be an eyesore to view in your backyard.

Micro-Hydro Turbine

  Consider owning a cost-free and reliable micro-hydro turbine. Here is how it works: Home water running through a home pipe or hose passes through a small turbine which contains blades which spin from the water pressure. The spinning blades generate electricity for home usage. After the water passes through the turbine, the water resumes its journey through the home pipe to its intended destination.

     Permeable Surface Catchment

     When natural rainwater from overhead clouds falls upon your home residential land, the water is captured by specially designed land surfaces, such as driveways, walkways, and patios, built from common permeable or porous materials, including permeable pavers, gravel, and asphalt, or porous concrete. The interconnected or separated pore spaces within the permeable surface material either catches rainwater and channels it into a storage reservoir or allows the rainwater to enter the underlying soil to irrigate the surrounding vegetation. 

     The biggest advantage of a permeable surface rainwater catchment, besides collecting rainwater for your home use, involves its natural and cost-free irrigation of your residential land vegetation, instead of a water sprinklers or water drip hoses which require additional and potentially costly water from another source.

Underground Water

  A good source of water that can empower your independent home lifestyle involves an underground water harvesting system that captures, stores, and converts natural water into efficient, inexpensive, safe, and consistent water for your personal consumption.

    There are basically two ways to collect underground water: a pump system and well system.

Water Pump

     Drill a “small” diameter hole down into your residential land to locate an underground water source. Once you find water, install an above ground mechanical pump that brings the underground water to your residential land surface, and then sends the water through a water filtration system and a network of pipes for use inside and outside your home.

Water Well

     Drill a “large” diameter hole down into your residential land to locate an underground water source. Once you find water, install a concrete or brick casing to prevent the well walls from collapsing and to protect water from contamination. Also, cover the well with a sealed cap to prevent additional contamination and prevent anyone’s unauthorized access to the well water. Next, insert a mechanical pump through a hole drilled into the casing. Finally, pump the underground water to your residential land by means of the pump which sends the water through a water filtration system and a network of pipes for use inside and outside your home.

     Before you install any underground water system,  decide upon whether you will use a submersible pump or jet pump that brings the water above ground. A submersible pump is normally placed underground, while a jet pump is placed above ground.

    Most importantly, before you make any attempt to drill down into your residential land to siphon underground water, make absolutely sure you know all the relevant laws and applicable property owners’ covenants, conditions, and restrictions (“CC&Rs”) for legal permission to siphon underground water for your personal consumption. Most laws and CC&Rs also require a government inspection and code permits.   

Atmospheric Water

     A lesser-known source of water that can empower your independent home lifestyle involves an atmospheric water harvesting or generation system. These systems can capture gallons of water, moisture, dew, and fog, right out of the air for efficient, inexpensive, safe, and consistent water for your personal consumption.

    There are essentially three types of atmospheric water systems: dehumidifiers, generators, and solar. Both systems can be powered by electricity or solar panels.

Dehumidifiers

     A dehumidifier extracts humidity from air inside and outside your home by cooling the humidity below its dew point and then causing the resulting humidity water vapor to condense into natural liquid water which can be safely filtered and drank by you and your family. One popular solar dehumidifier can produce up to 1.3 gallons of filtered fresh water every day.

Generators

     A mechanical generator also extracts humidity from air inside and outside your home. The basic difference between generators and humidifiers involves additional permeable filtration systems used by generators to better ensure the purity and safety of water collected from the humidity in the air.

     The advantages of the forgoing atmospheric water systems involve their ability to extract many gallons of water per day, as well as their low purchase price and hassle-free maintenance.  A home atmospheric water system can extract between 1 and 10 gallons of water each day, while a more commercial system can extract up to 100 gallons of water every day. The only real disadvantage involves their dependence upon your local climate and environmental conditions. Obviously, geographical areas with higher humidity levels produce a larger water supply.

Lake

  A good source of water that can empower your independent home lifestyle involves your personal consumption of local public or private lake water, provided of course, you’re fortunate to live at or near a lake.

   Before you make any attempt to siphon a public or private lake, make absolutely sure you know all the relevant laws and applicable property owners’ covenants, conditions, and restrictions (“CC&Rs”) for legal permission to siphon lake water for your personal consumption. Most laws and CC&Rs also require a government inspection and code permits.  

    Also keep in mind that many public and private lakes across America that allow people to siphon lake water for their personal consumption have strict limitations regarding which homeowners can siphon the lake and how much water they can siphon from the lake. Here are three examples:

Reasonable use

     This legal doctrine allows property owners to siphon a reasonable amount of water from a lake for home domestic purposes. What constitutes "reasonable use" can widely vary from one lake to another lake.

Riparian Use

     This legal doctrine grants certain lake or local property owners first rights or extra privileges related to the siphoning of lake water for home domestic purposes.

CC&Rs

 Many lake communities have established strict water rights by means of covenants, conditions, and restrictions that serve all or some of the homeowners in a lake community. CC&Rs can also widely vary from one lake to another lake.

    Obviously, make certain to send any siphoned lake water through a water filtration and treatment system to ensure the water you collect meets all applicable health and safety standards for your personal consumption.

Ocean

   A good source of water that can empower your independent home lifestyle involves your personal consumption of ocean water, provided of course, you’re fortunate to live at or near an ocean.

    Before you siphon any ocean seawater, make absolutely sure you know all relevant laws and applicable property owners’ covenants, conditions, and restrictions (“CC&Rs”) regarding legal permission to siphon seawater for your personal consumption. These laws and CC&Rs can vary widely amongst ocean shoreline areas. In fact, many ocean shoreline regions consider oceans and seawater public property that no one can siphon for their personal consumption.

     In the event an ocean shoreline region allows you to legally siphon seawater for your personal consumption, you must first “desalination” the seawater to remove all the salt, diseases, and other impurities from the seawater.

  There are many ways to desalinate seawater, but most methods use a permeable membrane for the distillation and/or reverse osmosis of the seawater, to make seawater into fresh water that is safe for human consumption.

Distillation

  A simple explanation of distillation consists of boiling seawater in a cooking pot upon an electric or gas stove to create steam and then condensing, precipitating, and filtering the steam back into liquid freshwater inside a glass jar or container. The freshwater is then sent through a permeable membrane or other water filtrations system to make the freshwater safe for human consumption.

Reverse osmosis

  A simple explanation of reverse osmosis consists of sending seawater through a permeable or semi-permeable membrane that separates harmful salt, minerals, diseases, and other impurities present in seawater from safe freshwater molecules present in the seawater. With reverse osmosis, pressure is applied to seawater to overcome osmotic pressure which is the natural tendency of water to move from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration.

     One important warning: you cannot simply boil saltwater within a kitchen pot on your home stove to remove salt and impurities from the seawater within the pot. The salt and impurities will always remain within the pot. Instead, you must boil saltwater within a kitchen pot to create steam and then condense, precipitate, and filter the steam back into liquid freshwater within the pot to remove the salt and other impurities.

  Until you decide to purchase a commercially marketed desalination device, you might enjoy having fun inside and outside your home with these rudimentary desalination methods:

Solar Bowl

   Fill a glass bowl halfway full of seawater, or alternatively, with freshwater and kitchen table salt. Place a drinking glass inside the bowl, but do not allow any saltwater to enter the glass. Stretch clear plastic cling wrap tightly over the top of the bowl. Place a tiny weight such as a small rock over the top of the plastic wrap. Put the bowl outside for direct sunlight. Wait a few hours. Fresh water will fill the drinking glass while the salt remains inside the bowl. 

Solar Land Hole

     Buy a small plastic children’s pool. Dig a hole the size of the pool upon your residential land. Place the pool inside the hole. Fill the pool halfway with seawater. Stretch clear plastic wrapping tightly around the entire circumference of the pool.  Place a weight such as a rock over the top of the plastic wrapping to create a downward slope to one side of the pool. Put a bucket next to the slope and pool. Wait a few hours. As sunlight heats the seawater, freshwater vapor arises from the seawater, condenses onto the plastic wrapping, drips down the slope, and enters into the bucket, while salt remains inside the pool.

Solar Dome

   You may also enjoy understanding how a large, sophisticated, and expensive, solar dome desalination device works. A solar desalination dome consists of a large diameter plastic foundation or floor, similar to an above ground home pool, placed upon the ground, with a clear concave dome supported by metal brackets installed over the foundation. Solar energy panels positioned around the dome, and directed at the metal brackets, then assist the existing natural sunlight to heat the seawater within the plastic foundation by creating additional heat for the evaporation of freshwater from seawater.

Personal Filtration Straws

     Consider owning a commercially sold, personal water filtration straw. They provide a very inexpensive, efficient, and safe method of drinking water from lakes, ponds, rivers, and even the ocean. These straws were first invented for people who backpack, hike, camp, or travel somewhere without any fresh water supply.

     Here is how a personal filtration straw works: A cylinder plastic tube houses a hollow-fiber membrane which contains activated carbon. Activated carbon is a highly porous material that absorbs and extracts water impurities such as dangerous chemicals, harmful organic compounds, diseases, bacteria, parasites, and unpleasant water taste and odor.  A plastic straw extends above one side of the plastic cylinder tube. Water is placed inside the opposite end of the tube. When you suck on the straw, the water travels through the hollow-fiber membrane and into your mouth for a safe drinking experience.

Lifestraw

     The hollow-fiber membrane inside a lifestraw can safely filter up to 1,000 gallons (4,000 liters) of water! It can filter this amount of water down to 0.2 microns.

Membrane Solutions

     A competitor’s “membrane solutions” straw can filter the water down to .01 microns.

   The lower the micron number, the more dangerous and harmful microscopic water particles are removed by the filter. To better comprehend how amazing this 0.2 micron number truly is, simply consider the 250 microns found in the average public tap water supply in America. Some Americas have recorded more than 500 microns in their home tap water.

  The membrane inside personal filtration straws can be replaced with unlimited additional membranes when the membrane stops filtering the water. The only disadvantage with these straws is their inability to store any significant water when you have no access to a water supply. The membrane solutions product can store more water because it includes a plastic storage bottle. Consumer reviews also claim the lifestraw is more difficult to suck water through than the membrane solutions straw.