Homesteading Multipart Series Part I – Mountain Stream Water.

 

Should we buy and already operating homestead or start from scratch? Well, I have had eight years to dwell on this question. It would have been so much easier had we been able to purchase an already established working homestead outright.  It might even have been easier had we purchased a prefabricated home and put it on raw land. But, we got the homestead we were destined to have. There are some real considerations that most people who have not lived this lifestyle or lived rural just never considered. I think I will do a multi part series on just this topic. There are so many aspects that can be explored. Today we are going to explore WATER, Mountain stream water to be exact.

First things first, when you are considering a homestead and you have checked all the boxes on the location that fits what you and your family needs, the first thing to look for is water. No homestead in existence can function without water. Fresh, clean, potable water is an essential. Living in eastern Kentucky for 52 years I can tell you that potable water is a lot easier to say than to obtain.

Eastern Kentucky is a land of mountainous terrain. Ever mountain has a stream or branch coming down from its summit and I have drunk water from those streams my entire life as long as the water is moving. Pooled water on the mountain is a breeding ground for putrefaction.  In the spring, winter and early summer there is plenty of water on the mountain. Seldom ever did we take a canteen into the woods on a hunting excursion – which was nearly every weekend growing up. However, from August thru October there was little to be had in the way of mountain spring water. Oh there were pools still on the mountain but those non-flowing pools were just waiting to assault your intestines if you dared drink from them. There are millions of barrels of fresh water flowing from these mountain tops and none of it in pipes – well almost.

Many a mountaineers placed a 55 gallon steel barrel on the mountain using black plastic pipe and ran a water source. A barrel placed on the mountain with a 300 foot rise will yield a pressure of nearly 150 psi in a 1 inch water line. You cover the barrel with a screen to keep most debris and wildlife out and you have running water. Make a trough to divert water from above the barrel into it. Don’t place the entrance of the pipe lower down than 2 thirds of the barrel to leave room for debris to settle. If you place the barrel directly into the stream it will inevitably get washed away and you will have a messed up system. This is a great, cheap water source that will work well if installed properly.

There are drawbacks. If you live in an area with lots of freezing temperatures you have to dig the water lines into the ground. If you don’t the lines will freeze and bust during cold temps – I have been told the new PEX line will not burst but don’t know. This will not be easy. Every creek has rocks that will be hard to dig up and around. Also, even if you insulate the barrel there will be times when the creek freezes over and water will not flow. Then, dealing with the pressure is not as big a deal as one might think. Household fixtures can’t handle that kind of pressure, 150 psi plus. One of those pressure valves like on your municipal water will clog up and not work within the first week or so. There will be debris in that water. But the other thing you can do is a pressure drain. In other words, a tee placed with a valve to let water come out all of the time and return to the creek in a controlled amount so the pressure on the line is decreased to household level. This constant flow will also lower the temp at which the water in the lines will freeze. But may have to be shut off in the late fall with low water flows.   

Now you have water in the house to wash clothes, wash dishes, flush commodes, etc. you still will be limited in other ways. Sometimes, after rains this water will be muddy and or sandy. So during these times you will not want to wash clothes or dishes with it unless you let it settle. This is not as big a deal with washing clothes as you can wait when the water is clearer. However, dishwashing is nearly a daily routine.  Some would say you could put a filter on the water and that would take care of everything. You would at times have to change the filter every hour or two and those filters tend to be expensive and therefore basically useless. It is just the nature of this kind of water. Keep a settling jug for those times when you need to have dishes to wash and the water is muddy. A cap full of Chlorine Bleach will stabilize the water and allow you to keep it in a container for quite a few days and you can use this to wash your dishes during those times when there is a muddy water day or week.

Then there is the potable water situation. It is amazing how much water you use every day as potable water. Potable water is what you cook with, drink, take a bath and brush your teeth. Many mountaineers got potable water from a city source, or from springs set up at different places in the community with perpetual running water. They collected it in jugs and brought it home.  But if you plan things out you can use your mountain stream water as your potable water source. You will need a storage container and a way to boil this water. Boiling is the preferred method for making potable water. On days when the water has little to no debris you can boil and store potable water. I have showered in this mountain water with no problem. But when it is really muddy you just don’t want to wash your hair in it so you have to have water that is mudless at least to rinse off with.

This water does create maintenance issues in a modern home. There are plenty of things that this mountain water causes issues with. The screens on the water lines in your washing machine will have to be cleaned regularly. Some mountaineers removed them altogether. This shortened the life expectancy of the washers valves. The screen on your faucets will clog up more often especially from small sand particles and little rocks. The back of your commode will start to accumulate debris and will have to be mucked out on occasion or else the seals on the tank will not stop the water from running all the time. The water heater will have to be drained occasionally – maybe monthly during the spring - to get the debris out. Finally is the septic system. If water from the mountain stream is going to be your main water source then you need a separate drain field for black and grey water. The septic system will fill way faster with this type of water if you allow your grey water to also run into it. The mud and sand will generally settle out in your commodes tank and you can clean it out but will go directly into your septic system from your grey water sources forcing more often pumping. A septic system with just black water will also last way longer because of bacterial digestion.   

I hope this finds you well. Next issues we will talk about WELLS and CISTERNS on the homestead. Send up a prayer for us and we will send up one for you. Starting a new homestead will take years so remember Homesteading, like Life, is a Marathon Not a Sprint – Slow Down and Enjoy the Ride.   

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