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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Water system for lake cabin
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rachelsdad
Member
# Posted: 18 Feb 2023 14:30 - Edited by: rachelsdad
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I just purchased a nice clean IBC tote from the local Bud brewery.

Anyone have a good source for top and bottom caps with fittings I can attach water line/hoses to?

Thanks

FishHog
Member
# Posted: 18 Feb 2023 15:50
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usually the bottom is a camlock fitting 1.5". Should be able to find a camlock to hose fitting, or get a threaded camlock (male end, to threaded), go to the hardware and since the threaded fittings down to whatever size of hose you are planning to use.
Should have come with a top cap, if not you should be able to find a used one.

Don't forget to keep the top cap lose so it vents or you will suck in your tote

rachelsdad
Member
# Posted: 19 Feb 2023 05:29 - Edited by: rachelsdad
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That last line was one of the best bits of advice ever!!!

I would have not thought of thatl

Thanks,....boy that would have been bad

Grizzlyman
Member
# Posted: 28 Feb 2023 14:39
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Ok. Putting plans in place for springtime.

One thing I am still not clear on is the treating of water in the tank. This will be held in a 55 gallon or so tank from a fairly pristine lake in N Minn. tank will be under the deck and out of sun. ( and it will be a black or green tank).

It will then push through a sediment filter folllowed by a filter for giardia.

Is it necessary to treat a 55 gallon tank of water if it will get pushed through a filter? If so- what’s the best way to do so? Does it affect taste?

Thanks.

Nobadays
Member
# Posted: 28 Feb 2023 15:30 - Edited by: Nobadays
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If you are pumping from a lake I would recommend chlorination. If done correctly there will be little or no taste/smell. The attached chart is for 1ppm or 5ppm. I have always strive for ~3ppm.
disinfect_drinking_w.jpg
disinfect_drinking_w.jpg


Brettny
Member
# Posted: 28 Feb 2023 18:59
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The FDA web site also has a chart for putting bleach in water for potable water.

How ever if you start with a new barrel and shock the complete system (with bleach) then dump it and fill with a proper filter it should be totally fine.

Can you post the link to your filter? Really the only one I know of that's safe to use with almost any water is a ceramic style filter.

You can run a charcoal filter after the barrel to improve the taste.

Grizzlyman
Member
# Posted: 28 Feb 2023 20:06
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No filter yet…

spencerin
Member
# Posted: 8 Mar 2023 18:57
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I would treat it, yes. Filters vary in size by microns, so what you get may not filter everything out. For example, viruses are smaller than bacteria - a filter can remove bacteria but allow a virus to pass by.

With a 55g drum, the easiest thing to do would be to add bleach like suggested.

Brettny
Member
# Posted: 9 Mar 2023 19:11
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Quoting: spencerin
a filter can remove bacteria but allow a virus to pass by

UV lights kill viruses. They sell them for water systems. I have one on my house. I believe they kill bacteria also.

rachelsdad
Member
# Posted: 13 Mar 2023 16:57 - Edited by: rachelsdad
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UV lights kill viruses. They sell them for water systems. I have one on my house. I believe they kill bacteria also.

This is true. In fact the lake my place is located on just converted it's water treatment system to UV. I used a Steripen for a bit while backpacking but too fragile.

Hmmmm how much draw do they have for off grid use??

Brettny
Member
# Posted: 14 Mar 2023 08:18
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Quoting: rachelsdad
Hmmmm how much draw do they have for off grid use?

They make them in all different voltages..even 12vdc. Not sure how much they use but would be easy to figure out. My house is grid connected.

gcrank1
Member
# Posted: 14 Mar 2023 10:42
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Think the bulbs are a different spectrum(?) fluorescent, so should be pretty efficient?

razmichael
Member
# Posted: 15 Mar 2023 07:56
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Although UV water purification systems can work really well, there are a number of factors that you need to consider, especially for off-grid:
-They need to operate along with a filtration system as sediment and even minerals will "shadow" the bad stuff.
-Standard mercury bulbs are designed to be on 24/7 as the bulb needs to warm up. I was looking at a 12V in-line system that used 40 watts which is not bad until you realize that it is running 24/7.
-I have no experience with the newer LED UV systems that do not need to warm and designed to would work great in an on-demand system although I suspect they are expensive - more research needed.
-Maintenance of the filters and the quartz sleeve are vital to keep them working properly (although many/most include an alarm to warn if the intensity is down).
-Bulbs have a limited lifespan and would likely need to be replaced yearly (and they are not cheap).
-There are different types of bulbs so make sure you get one that works against your likely threat, especially if dealing with Cryptosporidium and Giardia (need strong UV).

For me, I find chlorinating the lake water pumped into a tank and then filtering the drinking water through berkey filters (and used with a foot pump through a separate faucet) is simple and effective for our small system and use case - obviously everyones needs are different.

Grizzlyman
Member
# Posted: 15 Mar 2023 08:00 - Edited by: Grizzlyman
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razmichael

Thanks the last paragraph of your reply is about where we are at... the only difference would be the possible addition of an RV pump based on recommendation here.

UV sounds interesting... but ain't happening... A lot more complexity than I'm looking for in my off-grid 12v Simple Solar Powered Cabin...

Brettny
Member
# Posted: 15 Mar 2023 11:03
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My UV system is actualy quite simple and cheap to operate. I run a yarn style filter then a charcoal, then it runs through the UV light. I have only had one bulb blow out on me and it warned me when that happened. The bulbs are about $60 for 2 so not very expensive and a 2pack of each filter is $9-14.

But the light should be on (at least for my system) 24/7.

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