Small Cabin Property Water Supply
What I mean by small cabin water supply is off-water-grid water sources. From the small cabin living point of view, water could be :- Non-drinking - for shower, washing, plant flowering, construction (i.e. concrete mixing), etc.
- Drinking - for drinking and cooking
Non-Drinking Water
Many people, including me, dream of owning a beautiful waterfront property; however it's becoming unaffordable luxury these days.
Having a small spring, creak, lake or pond on your small cabin property could be a reasonable alternative, at least from the water supply point of view.
If you don' have that, collecting rain water would be an alternative water source. Although I have a river at the edge of my cabin property, I'm also planning to construct a simple but effective rain water collection and distribution system. Highlights of my small cabin water supply system:
- To my advantage, I used the fact that my cabin property has some slope - that provided me an elevation point for the water barrel location.
- Rain water is collected form the roof of several structures - cabin, shed and veranda
- Water passes through a simple filter that filters out leaves, small debris, etc.
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Water is collected in ~200L (45G) food grade plastic barrel. (I picked up a used one for $20 at the roadside sale. The barrel does not look pretty - I'm going to paint/camouflage it so it blends nicely with wilderness surrounding). - Water is distributed underground using inexpensive sprinkler-type tubing.
- Water can be drained out of the system for the winter.
Water Heating
If you want to have a warm shower after the hot day, few water heating options are available for your cabin:-
Solar water heater - in one of its simplest forms, basically a black water container exposed to direct sun. The heat time varies depending on size of the the container, temperature, sun exposure and angle, but on a sunny day at a temperature of 21°C (70°F) the water temperature will warm up to around 40.5°C (105°F) in around 3 hours. -
Propane Water Heater - in-line/on-demand type of water heaters, hooks up to a small propane tank.
Although pictured model uses battery-based pump to feed the water, I'd experiment with just placing water container high above the heater and let gravity feed the water. -
Electrical Water Heater - Many models available, but since I'm not hooked up to the grid and use a moderate solar power source for my electricity needs, electrical water heater is not really an option for my small cabin.
Drinking Water
When you have sufficient amount of non-drinking water, the actual amount of drinking water you require is relatively small.
I may consider some sort of water purification system in the future, but for now I bring my drinking water with me.
After all these years I have an idea how much drinking water I will need for a particular trip to my cabin. For a few days weekend of 2-3 people, I usually bring a 10-20 L (2-4 Gallon) canister of drinking water - either from home or purchase in the local grocery store. You may consider having some sort of water purification system - there are quite few available. I guess whether you need a water purification system for your small cabin or not largely depends on you usage requirements. I don't need it at this point... Perhaps someone can share first-hand experience of purifying rain or river/lake water, inexpensively - please share your thoughts.