Homesteader Depot

Tag: water

  • How to Catch and Use Rainwater

    How to Catch and Use Rainwater

    To make sure that you always have the water you need for your garden and for other uses around the home, you will want to learn how to capture and make use of rainwater. Fortunately, the process is very simple. If you want to catch rainwater, the easiest way to do this is to utilize rain barrels. You can find these barrels online, and most of the 50-gallon options are under $100. In a pinch, you could use just about any barrel or container, if you are sure it will not leak, for the collection of water.

    You can set up the barrel so that it catches the rain that comes from your gutters and downspouts. You can also use tarps and create a guide that will funnel the water into the barrel. Even though rainwater tends to be relatively clean, you will still need to filter the water and make it potable if you hope to drink it.

    You can store the water and then use it for the garden during those times when it does not rain as much. This way, you are not wasting water that you need elsewhere. In addition, you can drink the water if needed. You will want to make it safe to drink, though. One of the easiest ways to do this is to boil the water, as it can kill the germs and bacteria it might contain.

    Other ways that you can use the water you store include cleaning and washing, providing water for livestock, and more. Just make sure you do not leave standing water uncovered and accessible. It has the potential to become a breeding ground for mosquitos, which can carry disease.

    If you do not already have containers to catch water when it rains, get them now. Even if you are living in the suburbs, you will find that saving some water that you can use for your plants and garden will help to cut your water bills.

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  • Why You Need a Pond on Your Homestead

    Why You Need a Pond on Your Homestead

    Building a pond is immensely useful and beneficial for the homestead or garden. While there are a few points to consider, such as cost and labor, there is so much that a healthy pond brings to the table.

     

    A Habitat for Wildlife

     

    Providing your local pond-dwelling creatures with clean water for a home environment and breeding site is a great way to positively impact your region’s ecosystem. The following pond components are especially beneficial to animals:

    • A shallow portion for bathing/wading birds and migrating amphibians.
    • Native plants, which provide shade, food and cover for diverse pond life.
    • Large rocks, branches, or other materials along the pond’s edge for cover for small animals.

     

    Potential for Aquatic Permaculture

     

    Even a small pond can be incredibly useful when practicing aquaculture. Many edible plants can be grown in backyard ponds. Check your local gardening resource to see which varieties are best suited for your region. Some edible aquatic plants include:

     

    • Wapato – food for people and livestock, beneficial insect attractor
    • Wild Rice – food for people and livestock
    • Cattail – food, materials for crafts, water filtration, cover for small/young fish
    • Lotus- food for people, cover for fish, beneficial insect attractor
    • Pond Lily – food for people and livestock, cover for fish, beneficial insect attractor

     

    Water Storage Preparedness

     

    Among the many utilitarian benefits, a pond can act as your own personal reservoir in case of an emergency. With a good, powerful water filter, you can have complete peace of mind that you’ll never lack safe, clean drinking water.

     

    Education and Recreation

     

    Nothing adds to the visual appeal of a yard or garden like the idyllic view of a pond. If planned thoughtfully, the construction of a small pond can even be a solution for soggy spots or rain runoff in the backyard. With a couple of comfortable lawn chairs or a picnic table, it becomes a favorite gathering place. If you have children, a pond becomes an outdoor classroom with limitless hands-on learning opportunities about biology and ecology. The magic of watching water insects or tadpoles grow and transform beats a science textbook any day!

     

  • 3 Ways to Purify Water

    3 Ways to Purify Water

    If you are homesteading or in a survival situation, water will always be your primary need. If you have a source for fresh water on your homestead, that’s a huge advantage, but you also might need to purify the water.

    Whether you are collecting water from a stream, spring, rainwater, or what have you, it’s important to be able to make the water drinkable using one of many possible purification methods. Here are a few of the easiest and most popular purification methods for your consideration:

    Boiling

    By far the easiest way to purify water, it is not always the simplest, especially for large amounts of water. But in a pinch, this will be your go-to, given you have the energy and container to boil a large amount of water. By bringing the water to a boiling point and letting it simmer for five minutes, you will kill the vast majority of harmful bacteria and microorganisms.

    Chlorine treatment

    This is another common way to purify water, and typically what your municipal water provider will use. Chlorine isn’t ideal for many people, especially those who are health-minded, but when the choice is between contaminated water or no water at all, and drinking water with chlorine in it, having chlorine tablets or bleach around to purify water is prudent. It doesn’t take much, usually 2 drops of chlorine bleach per quart.

    Filtering 

    It’s not too complicated to make a DIY water filter that will remove the majority of water impurities, and this might be a possible long-term solution for regular water consumption. What you do is find a container that can funnel the water, upside down plastic pop bottles are the popular choice, and fill 1/3 of the way with sand, 1/3 of the way with charcoal, and 1/3 of the way with pebbles. Cover the spout with cloth or screen mesh, then pour your water through.

     

    These are a few basic ways to filter water, but there are other, more complicated options out there like purification tablets, distillation, and higher-dollar filters that might suit your needs long-term. But in a pinch, if you have no money or find yourself cut off from modern water supply, these are great methods to know.

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  • Harvesting Rainwater (Video)

    Harvesting Rainwater (Video)

    I love to see how real-life homesteads operate, and of course YouTube is great for this. Seeing different rainwater collection setups is particularly appealing, and I really enjoyed this short little video on this guy’s simple rainwater catchment system. Catchment is something that doesn’t have to be too complicated and that can benefit your homestead or garden greatly, once you start to collect rainwater you’ll see every drop of rain on the ground as a wasted resource! Enjoy this short, informative video on a basic rainwater catchment system that anyone can enjoy!

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  • Using Rain Catchment Water on Your Homestead

    Using Rain Catchment Water on Your Homestead

    If your homestead is off-grid, then water catchment is essential.  But even if you are connected to the grid, why pay for a resource that you can get for free?  No matter where your homestead is, water catchment is not an option that you should dismiss without consideration.

     

    Why use Water Catchment?

    If your homestead is off-grid then you will either have to haul water, or run a generator to power a pump to get your water.  Both of these options require you to have a steady supply of fuel for either your vehicle, or your generator, and that they are running when you need them to.  Mechanical failure or bad weather can easily have you without water if you don’t have another source.

    For those with a suburban homestead water catchment can still help.  Rainwater is what your garden is expecting in the first place.  It doesn’t contain chlorine or other chemicals found in municipal water.  And though it doesn’t have the mineral content that ground water has it can be used to provide drinking water for your animals, or in an emergency even for you.  Best of all it will cut down on your dependency on outside resources and your water bill.

    How to Catch Water

    To catch water that is suitable for your garden, bathing, washing clothes, or giving to your animals, you will need a clean surface on which to catch the water, and large enough container to collect the water in.  Painted metal is one of the best surfaces.  If you have an asphalt shingled roof, this won’t work, the water will be contaminated with chemicals.  However; you can use an asphalt roof if you have sealed it with several coats of roof sealant.  If your home’s roof won’t work, consider using a tool shed.  You won’t get the same amount of water, because your surface area is lower, but it will still work.

    Install gutters and down spouts on whatever structure’s roof you will use to catch the rain.  You will want to down spouts to end about 4 feet from the ground so that you can place a container under them.  Use any clean container like a new trashcan, or 55-gallon plastic drum.  Cut some black landscaping cloth so that it is large enough to cover the top of the container and overlap the sides by several inches.  Then using a bungee cord secure the landscape cloth over the top of the container.  This will allow the water to flow in, but will not allow debris or bugs like mosquitos to get into your supply.

     

    As with anything these days there are ridiculous laws restricting one’s rights to catch rainwater for their own use.  So be discreet with your catchment system and know your local laws.  But don’t let this free resource go untapped, start you utilizing rainwater on your homestead.

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  • 2 Common Water Sources for Homesteads

    2 Common Water Sources for Homesteads

    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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