WATER, THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE

With the passing of each day, I can feel the onset of winter,
as it creeps insidiously into our lives.  Having lived in the San Luis Valley for a year, we are very aware of the brutality of the winters in this part of Colorado, and will not be caught unprepared.

When we first decided to go OG ("off grid"), we knew that we would  be in for some significant challenges, not the least of which included water acquisition and storage.  Since we don't presently have a well on the property, we haul all of our water.  With 6 horses, 10 dogs, 5 cats, 11 chickens and 2 ducks, not to mention the human presence), our consumption of water exceeds 80 gallons/day. 

Fortunately, there are several artesian wells in the immediate vicinity, many of which flow quite rapidly.  After some trial and error, we were able to locate a fabulous well about 15 miles from the ranch.  Twice a week, we make the trek in "Black Betty", Dubs' 82 GMC High Sierra 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup, to fill our IBC totes, as well as numerous smaller containers, ranging in size from 5 gallons to 55.  The entire process, including driving to and from the well, takes about 2 hours, assuming there is no waiting line at the well, which is more often than not the case.  It has taken us as long as 6 hours to collect 380 gallons of water.  Since this area is known for its large population of OG's, it is not uncommon to find a line of trucks waiting to fill tanks as large, or larger, than ours.

.

Repurposed IBC totes, which previously held
corn syrup.  300 gallons each. We will have a total of 8,
for a capacity of 2,400 gallons, once our system is complete.

Once we have collected and transported the water back to the ranch, it's time to distribute the precious liquid among the various containers, including a 350 gallon stock tank in the horse pasture. 

Since the weather has been quite temperate until just lately, we have been storing the water that is not used for livestock out in the open in IBC totes.  Recently, in just the past week, the evening temperatures have been dipping below freezing on a nightly basis, resulting in skiffs of ice on the water trough and dog bowls.  Although the icing phenomenon hasn't affected our larger water containers yet, keeping our water supply liquid, as temperatures continue to plunge, has leapfrogged its way to the top of our "To-Do" list, and is now the top priority at Wolf Skull Ranch.


Sketch of the cistern building, aka The Wolf Skull Ranch Water Department
 

In typical Dubs' fashion, having recognized a while ago the need to construct a cistern building that would allow us to store copious amounts of water in a liquid state, he came up with an idea for an Earthbag cistern building (see above).  Once constructed, the building will be 9' x 12', surrounded by 9' high, 16" thick walls, constructed from repurposed grain and dog food bags.  These bags are then filled with native dirt and stacked in a running bond, like bricks.   The resultant building will be well insulated and capable of withstanding all elements and natural disasters.  It's even bullet-proof!


Dubs' Earthbag Cistern Building plan calls for two passive solar Trombe walls, on either side of the entrance door, on the south facing side of the structure.  A Trombe wall is a device that captures the sun's radiant energy, converts it to heat, and causes convective currents to occur, pulling cold air off of the floor and releasing hot air into the room.  Here is an example of what Dubs intends to construct for our version of the Trombe wall, using recycled/repurposed aluminum cans.  (Special thanks to my friend Patti B. for the link!)  This technology is similar in concept to our enclosure for our Propane Tank Wood Stove.  It will cause the water in the building to heat up during the day and the large mass of water stored, in addition to the excellent insulation provided by the Earthbag walls, will ensure that our water remains liquid, despite temps of potentially -40 and colder..

We will post more on the Earthbag Cistern Building as construction progresses.  Stay tuned!

Horsey Kisses and Chardonnay Dreams