You simply cannot survive without water. And while you might very well be able to purchase land for a homestead that has county or agricultural water, you might also want to consider self-reliant options for water. You also might not be able to buy land that is already irrigated and on the water grid, and either way, considering grids can always fail and if you’re homesteading, you are most likely intending to be as off-grid and self-reliant as possible, so alternative sources of water are always ideal. Here are a few of the most common methods for getting and keeping water on a homestead.
Wells
Wells are ideal, but they can also be expensive and are dependent on a few factors, like the water table on your property and the kind of ground you have. Wells are an invaluable resource though, so they’re definitely worth considering. If you are shopping for land, a property that already has a well is an excellent criteria to take into account when shopping around. If you already have land, you’ll want to research will drilling a bit first and compare different services if you can so you get the best deal and the most knowledgeable and experienced well drillers. Here’s a great video from a prepping vlogger on everything you need to know about drilling a well.
Rain Catchment
Harvesting rain water is a very cheap and easy way to collect water, but how reliable it is will of course depend on your location and how often it rains, as well as the means with which you have to collect, store and treat the water. For a simple off-grid homestead, or even if you have county water and simply want to harvest some rain water for your gardening and bathing needs, there are a few different cheap set-ups for very basic water catchment systems. One of the most common is building a sloped roof with a covered gutter that feeds into a large drum or container. There are also containers specifically designed for water catchment that have thick plastic mesh on top to keep out wildlife and filter out debris. Drinking catchment water can be a bit more complicated-you’ll have to filter or treat it, but there are low-budget options for this as well.
What are some methods of storing weather that you’ve considered for your homestead?
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