Water: you don't know what you've got til it's gone

There are times when the off-grid life seems idyllic.  There are other times when it's a royal pain in the ass.  One day, you're walking through a winter wonderland, marvelling at the pristine landscape and the sheer beauty of the snow-covered wilderness.  The next day, you're at the threshold of Hell.



Winter Wonderland.  (I don't have any pictures of Hell.)

Remember when Paul rented a backhoe and buried our water line so that it wouldn't freeze during the winter?  Then painstakingly insulated the parts that couldn't be buried, again so that it wouldn't freeze during the winter?  Well, winter came, and we were doing great, we had a runoff pipe that we kept constantly flowing.  Whenever the mercury dropped below zero, we simply opened up a valve.  As long as water is flowing, it won't freeze, right?  Everything was working perfectly until one day the temperature plummeted to -8.  Even though the valve was fully open, the water flow got slower and slower, until there was no water at all.  The pipe was frozen solid.

A trip up to the water intake revealed that animals had discovered our pipe insulation, and decided it made great nesting material.  They had stripped the pipe bare, exposing it to the sub-zero temperatures.  Paul tried heating the line, and took it apart in various spots to try and get the flow back, but it was futile - until the weather warmed up enough to melt the stubborn ice, we would be without water.  Even then, we knew that as soon as the temperature fell again, it would freeze again.  We needed a backup plan.



Frozen water pipe up at the source.

Ironically, the stream that flows down the mountain was providing plenty of water, and it all ended up in our pond.  We had brought with us from Ontario a number of large plastic barrels, and luckily, they just happened to fit through the door to the basement ...

A couple of trips to the hardware store furnished us with a heavy duty pump, as well as two 12 volt mini pumps.  The plan that was hatched in my (genius) husband's mind began to take shape.  One barrel, fitted with a shut-off valve, went into the back of the truck.  Three empty barrels stood ready in the basement, one of which was hooked up to the heavy duty pump which fed into our household water pipes.  Paul drove the truck to the pond. A length of hose with a filter on the end went into the water that feeds our pond (at which point Paul had thrown a few shovelfuls of clean gravel to act as a natural filter) ... thence through one of the mini pumps ... into the barrel in the back of the truck.  Once we had a full barrel, Paul reversed up the drive to the basement window, stuck another length of hose through the window into an empty barrel, the other end attached to the full barrel, turned on the pump and down the water went into the barrel in the basement.  We used the second mini pump to transfer between barrels.  It's important to note that we add a small measure of bleach to each barrel-full of water - this is essential to kill any bacteria that would grow in storage.

*pause for breath*

As you can imagine, this arrangement, although brilliant, was just not workable for the long weeks and months of winter that stretched ahead.  It's only when you are suddenly deprived of unlimited free water, that you realize just how much of it you use in a day!  We needed a better, and more permanent, solution.  We had been toying with the notion of getting a well drilled for a while, but needs must, and after some research and phone calls we discovered that this was in fact the perfect time of year to get it done.  So we called George Rudderham and they came and drilled us a well.

The drilling of a well is an all-day job, and quite something to watch.  We were kind of hoping they'd strike oil ... or gold ... or (Paul's idea) rum.  But it didn't take them long to strike what we'd been waiting to find: water.  The well ended up being 62 feet deep, but the water sits only six feet down.  It's a financial investment that we really didn't want to have to make just yet, but it ensures that we will have a year-round source of water, no matter how low the temperature falls.



Now that we have a well, we no longer have to fetch water from the pond, but we still had to devise a way to get water from the well into our storage barrels.  Eventually we will dig a trench, lay in a water line from the well to the house, and our heavy-duty pump will deliver the water directly to our household systems.  But until this is done, we're still using the barrels.  Regular garden hose is no good at low temperatures as the hose freezes and becomes hard and unmanageable.  We ordered 100 feet of rubber hose from the hardware store ... and they gave us vinyl.  Apart from being half the price, it actually turned out to be better because for one thing, it's transparent, so if there are any freeze-ups, you can see where it is.  You can also watch the water coming through the hose.  So currently, we are using clear vinyl hose, drawn directly from the well, into the basement window and pumped into our storage barrels.  We're conserving water as much as possible, but we have a 200 gallon storage capacity over 4 barrels (remember the one from the back of the truck?) and it's really surprising how much water you can re-use and conserve when you put your mind to it.



Our water storage barrels and pumps.



Our brand new well head.

When the temperatures are steadily above freezing, we'll be able to return to our mountain stream water system.  But until then, thanks to our new well, at least we know that we'll never be without water again.

Stay tuned for The Threshold of Hell, Part 2 ...

Going Back to Work for a Rest

There are times when we stop for a breather and say to each other "Have we really only been here since June?"   Knowing that winter is coming, and that we have to take full advantage of the time available, it seems like we've been working at this place for a lot longer.  Of course, as those that follow this blog know, we took possession in May 2010, but that first year was made up of a week here, a week there, as our suburban and city life permitted.

The other day we took a break and went for a walk around the grounds.  As we walked we realized that we were actually beginning to make progress.  When Paul was building the shed for the power and fuel storage, he remarked that it felt good to be building something from scratch instead of repairing something.  The house, gardens, and practically every system in the house had been in such a run-down state when we took over ownership, simply because it had stood empty for such a long time.  Everything we've done up to now has been repairing, fixing, tearing out and re-doing, let alone the regular maintenance that has to be done along the way.  With the building of the power house for the oil tanks, it finally seemed like we were getting somewhere.

One of the most important jobs that had to be done before winter was the undergrounding of the water line.  Last winter we had problems with the water line freezing, and although Paul did replace the entire line, it still needed to be buried in order to prevent it from freezing again.  We rented a trencher, which was useless, so we rented a backhoe.  It took a few days to dig a trench, and Paul definitely brushed up on his backhoe operating skills!  Between tree roots and huge rocks, not to mention climbing up the side of a forested mountain, this little backhoe certainly proved itself.



The trench must be deep enough to prevent the water line from freezing.  Paul dug down two feet, which hopefully will do the trick.



There goes another load of earth and roots.  Paul used the "thumb" attachment to move logs and downed trees out of the way.  Did I mention it was hot, humid and buggy?  Note the open cab, and Paul's full-face bug shirt!

After the trench was dug, the water line was dropped in and then came the tricky part: filling it back in again.  One crimp in the line caused by a rock would affect our water supply to the house.  Luckily, Paul managed to fill in the entire trench without causing any reduction in our water pressure.  For maintenance purposes, he marked every joint in the line with a piece of blaze orange cord.  This will make it easy to locate the joints if we ever need to dig up and repair a portion of the line.  A little forward thinking means less headaches in the future!

It wasn't possible to bury the entire 1200 feet of line, but most of it got done.  The rest will be wrapped in special insulation material.  In the meantime, talk about killing two birds with one stone: we now have a two-person wide, cleared trail, with no more fallen trees, trip hazards or huge rocks!



When we take stock of what we've done since June, it makes our head spin.  When Paul was done burying the water line, he went straight back to work on the power house (fuel shed).



He left a good eaves overhang because we get a lot of snow in the highlands.



Plywood sheathing goes up next.



Now that's a strong roof!



Plywood is on the walls and roof, with a coat of Thompson's Water Seal to protect against the elements.  We've got tarps on the roof for now because it was calling for heavy rain - and a good job we did that because for the next couple of days it poured!

Now, remember those sono tubes we'd had installed for the cabin back at the beginning of the summer?  Well, they had sat there through rain, shine and high humidity, and were beginning to rot in the ground.  Paul had been called back to work, and it was obvious that the tubes were not going to last until he got back.  The weather forecast said that heavy rain was imminent, and so we had to make a fast decision.  We called Ideal Concrete at 10 o'clock that morning, and they had a cement truck at our place by 12:30 pm the same day!   The guy was very helpful and we were delighted with their prompt and courteous service.



The cement truck arriving.



Using one of the "bigfoot" foundation bases as a funnel, Paul guides the cement into the tube.  The cement then has to be quickly tamped down using a sturdy piece of wood.  There are twelve of these tubes, three feet deep, and each one has a bigfoot base.



Hopefully we'll have enough cement left over to make this pad for our backup propane tanks.



The 12 sono tubes, each one with a bigfoot foundation, all filled with cement, then fitted with a metal plate.  And yes, we had enough left to do the propane tanks pad!



All done, and covered with plastic against the rain.  And just in time, because that afternoon it poured!

Now we can safely leave the cabin site until the spring, when we can start building!

It was an excellent decision to get the tubes poured that day, and now with this done, the power house framed and sheathed, and the water line buried, we finally feel as though we're making progress.

Aha!  You thought that was the end of this blog, didn't you?  Hold your horses because that's not all.  You know the phrase "it never rains but it pours"?  Well ... we noticed the bridge across the small creek that crosses our road was in a pretty bad state.  Most of the timbers were rotten and very soft, making it dangerous for vehicles, especially heavy ones (like, ahem, cement trucks).  And it just so happened that our neighbours (and the people we bought the house from) were having an open house for their woodlot on Friday and Saturday, with gravel trucks and school buses ... you get the picture.  So, we ordered the wood, got it delivered, and around midday Wednesday, Paul took the Suburban with the trailer down the road and started to dismantle the bridge.



Partially dismantled.  The hardest part of the job was pulling up the big spiked nails, as we needed to use them again.



You can see how rotten these 4 x 4s are.



Our lovely new bridge!  Once again, Thompson's Water Seal got slapped on, and a few shovelfuls of earth and gravel to protect the ends of the top planks.  And there's my husband, making some kind of triumphant gesture or is he giving me the finger I'm not quite sure.



First vehicle across the brand new bridge!



On he goes ... hold your breath ...



Huzzah!

This bridge should last now for a number of years.  It was something that was on our radar, but we really didn't plan on having to get it replaced this quickly.  Nonetheless, it's a good job done and one less thing on our "to do" list.

Having been called back to work, and leaving on Friday, Paul took Thursday off, after announcing "I'm going back to work for a rest."

I'll update soon, with a crop report, and a visit from sixty school kids!