Poo Lesson Learned

[pakrat]

We learned a valuable lesson in the last 24hrs. Our well unexpectedly took a dramatic drop in its ability to recover from a heavy demand. Shortly after a couple marathon showers by the teens in the house, we started getting brown silty water (rain has been scarce). Although we have a good stock of potable water as backup, we needed to allow time for the well to recover and that meant not flushing for a period of time. With 4 ‘adults’ in the house, that became a little challenging after several hours. It provided a small glimpse into a more dramatic longer-term what-if scenario.

We stock powdered lime on the property and in a long-term situation could put together an outhouse. Still, there would be a interim period of time between the loss of sanitary facilities and the grand opening of a new privy. After some family discussion, I went online and ordered a Lugg-a-Loo (5gal bucket w/snap-close toilet seat) and a box of heavy sealable blue bags with chemicals. While not the best long-term solution, the setup should get us through until a more permanent arrangement could be achieved.

Sometimes we forget to prepare for interim or transitional situations that may prevail until we can respond in more permanent or concrete ways… leaving ourselves open and vulnerable to failure.

[Targetshooter]

When our water was off when Mathew hit us I used our rain barrels " that were full of water " to use to flush , worked out great .

[mickbear]

When our water was off when Mathew hit us I used our rain barrels " that were full of water " to use to flush , worked out great .

jam up idea! i'll stick this one on the "got to do list". of course it hasn't rained here in central ga since , oh "43" i believe.

[Slippy]

I'll second what @Targetshooter mentioned. Our 500 gallon Norwesco barrels fill up very quickly during even a small rain shower and are usually filled up to the top. Good luck @pakrat

[Mad Trapper]

Get some rain gutters on the buildings and plumb them into some 275-gal IBC totes. I know it won't be a quick fix but start filling them/collecting before you think you need the water in the future. If you have a HD truck you can fill one of these and truck water in, transfer the water to a 2nd tote via siphon or garden hose on the outlet (lifting it full will be a PITA)..

Save your well water for drinking/cooking. Store what the well will still produce without draining it for drinking supply.

Try to grill food and/or make one-pot meals to cut down on dishes.

If you have a creek or pond nearby "shower" there. The solar shower setups work and you can warm extra water in black 5-gal buckets out in the sun. I don't imagine that would warm this time of year but I've used brooks into December in northern new england.

You could also rig a gravity feed for inside shower. Heat water on a wood stove if you have one. I've done that before too.

[Targetshooter]

Tonight I talked with wife about getting two more rain barrels , she agreed with me all the way . that will give us 225 gals.? when they are full , " they don't fill all the way to the top so I am guessing on 225 gals.

[Camel923]

https://www.bathvault.com/products/b...FQpYDQod5O4EUw

These work great and provide Chinese style furtilizer. Draw back is you need solar or a power source.