Off-Grid Living for Agrarians, Part 5: Water

Every movement is diverse and can consist of widely different philosophies. Some philosophies of Agrarianism are really good, and some are really horrible. It is not politically correct today to call someone else's ideas "horrible", but I am far from politically correct. Agrarian movements in the past have been founded on a vast array of philosophies, some which are completely antithetical - much like our concept of Biblical Agrarianism is antithetical to the Communist and Marxist "agrarian" reform ideas of Pol Pot and other dictators. Pol Pot's communist and collectivist agrarian reforms in Cambodia left about 1 million dead. Even among those who call themselves "Biblical" or "Christian" agrarians, there are a plethora of philosophies and ideas - some which, frankly, aren't truly agrarian at all. It is a mistake to say that you cannot define terms, even if the proper definition of terms excludes some folks who want to identify themselves as Biblical agrarians. I will talk more about this topic in a future chapter in this series, but for now I just want to point out that just because someone lives on a farm, engages in some gardening or agrarian activities, and declares himself a "Christian" does not mean that the philosophy that he lives by is Christian or Biblical Agrarianism. There are some really good materials and blogs out there by Christian agrarians, and I have often plugged them:

The Deliberate Agrarian
Ante Family Agrarians
Tabletop Homestead

...and many others - these are just a few I try to check out regularly. But there are some really, really bad ones out there too. I read one the other day that literally defined EVERYONE as an Agrarian. Basically the thesis was that if you eat food, then you are an agrarian. Well, frankly that is just ridiculous. Eating food doesn't make you an agrarian any more than drinking water makes you a fish. I suppose the fact that there are electrical synapses that fire in my brain makes me a power plant or a junction box. If, as the Bible says, everyone who claims to be a Christian is not one (Mat 12:50 - For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother), then it should be evident that everyone who claims to be an agrarian is not one. Always remember that there are tares in every field of wheat, and it takes wisdom and understanding to discern them.

Ok, in the next couple of parts we will be talking about water and food. Water is more important than food, so we will talk about water first. The other day we met a man who was very serious about the dangers out in the world today. He had imbibed some of the myths and lies of the government (about boogeymen and terrorists), but he had determined that the world is not as safe and dependable as it pretends to be, and he spoke as if he had realized that the "grid" system of life was in a tenuous condition and that it is destined to collapse. One of the things he told us was that "the terrorists" (Fasist-speak for "anyone who rightfully distrusts and dislikes Amerikan imperialism) are going to attack our systems of electricity and water. Ok. So we looked around and saw that he was on city power and water. He might have a generator or two socked away, but, like I mentioned in part 2, generators are just an intermediate step and not a permanent solution - not to mention that, according to his philosophy, "the terrorists" control the worlds oil supply; and with all the roof lines this man had on his property, not one had a gutter or any semblance of a catchwater system. Do you see the disconnect between what people say they believe, and what they show that they believe by their actions? I never believe what a man says to me... not ever. I believe what he shows me by his actions.

There is no doubt that there very likely will be an attack on our already dwindling fresh water supplies in Amerika. Where that attack comes from and who is ultimately responsible for it, I cannot tell you - but there are two things you ought to know about the current water supply:

1. It is already poisoned. If you are living on unfiltered and un-purified city water, then you are already being poisoned. If you didn't already know that, then you need to do some research, because this work on Off-Grid living is not going to be big or long enough for me to catch you up on the dangers of city water supplies. Here is a hint: Heavy metals, dangerous and caustic chemicals, toxic build-up in pipes, fecal matter, etc. Think about it.

2. It is highly susceptible to attack, and it is tenuous at best even if there is no attack.

One of the most glaring realities that urbanites and suburbanites face every day is that they may wake up in the morning with insufficient water, undrinkable water, or no access to water at all. Just this past year, Coleman, Texas, which is only 12 miles from here, had a serious water situation. During a "random" test, a water test expert detected dangerous levels of toxins in the water supply. The word went out for everyone to boil their water. Stores and restaurants were informed that they could not provide water or ice for drinks. The problem is that if you do not listen to the radio, then you would never have known there was a problem. This happens in cities around the country every day. Not to mention the state of the power supply system that is required to pump water to city dwellers. I could go on and on, but the point is that you cannot trust water that is provided by government. Ever.

Now, I am speaking to people who are already rural, or who will be rural very soon (we hope), so - how do we separate Agrarians think and plan for our water needs?

There are several ways to procure water for an off-grid life, and I will discuss each method and then give you some positives and negatives about which you ought to think:

1. A water well (either deep or shallow)
2. Surface water (lakes, streams, ponds, tanks, etc.)
3. Catchwater
4. Water from the air (Air-wells, dehumidifying systems, etc.)

You should note that you will need water for your own family use, for drinking and every other use of water; and you will need water (huge amounts) for keeping animals, watering gardens and trees, etc. Your long-term water plan needs to provide for sufficient water for every conceivable need. Modern urbanites use about 100 gallons on average per person per day! Smart, efficient, off-grid agrarians may use anywhere from 5-15 gallons per day - usually closer to 5. I figure our absolute minimal needs for personal use (not including gardens or animals) at 6 gallons per day per person, which for my family of 6 adds up to almost 14,000 gallons per year.

Our first thought is always to have a water well. I would say that 95% of the people who ask me about our off-grid life here ask me if I have a water well. I do not. A water well is a great thing, if it works, and if the land you buy has a working water well - then great. I would warn you that a deep water well isn't always as dependable as people think. Wells often have problems. They can cave in; the water can dry up or go bad; the pumping system or mechanism can break or stop operating, etc. Having a well is great, but always be careful not to depend too much on it. Most of the people who homesteaded out in the Great Plains a century ago failed because of the failure of water wells. A good water well in an area that has a pretty dependable aquifer at a reasonable depth can cost you between $3500 and $5,000 - and that is before you ever pump a drop. That does not include pumps and pump supplies, pipe, power, etc. If you plan on using a deep well hand pump you will still probably spend over $1000 for the pump and all the pipe and other supplies you will need. A hand pump is more dependable than an electric pump though. Some people choose to use both, and it is possible to have both an electric (12V or AC) pump and a hand pump in the same well hole. Again, the well is susceptible to cave-in if it is not properly and carefully cased, and there is always the probability that the well can run dry during a period of extended drought. Here in Central Texas, the digging of water wells is really iffy. There have been two wells dug in our community: One was successful, though it is a low-output well. The other was a dry well... a failure. The failure cost $2500 even though it was a dry well. A water well could be a great solution if used in conjunction with other water solutions.

Surface water. If you happen to procure a property with a very large lake that has good, clean, water - then you are way ahead of the game. One of our neighbors has a 4 acre pond with a pump that serves his house. The pond always, even in the drought, holds enough water to provide for his needs. In this case you would only need to work out a pumping and purifying system (pumping for the whole system and purifying for any personal use and drinking water) and you should be alright. You could also make a large tank, pond, or lake on your property if there is enough water running through the property when it rains. This can be an expensive process if you have to do it all from scratch. Here in Central Texas it can cost upwards of $15,000 to hire a crew to come in and build a cattle tank (Here in Texas the word "tank" on a ranch usually means a small pond) that may be less than 1/4 acre in size. Here on our ranch, Elder David has been working to build a tank on his own by renting a backhoe and doing all the work himself. It still will likely cost several thousand dollars in backhoe rental costs before it is all done. Always remember, though, that these costs are generally one-time costs, and if your water plan can provide you with dependable water year-round, then it may be worth it to you to spend the money (if you have it). One of our two tanks here on my property went totally dry during the drought we had in 2006, so always remember that surface water can also be tenuous during drought conditions.

Catchwater. This, to me, is the ideal solution for most situations. When we were in Western Australia we noticed that virtually every roof line, no matter how small, fed water into gutters that ran into a personal cistern - even in the cities. Every drop of water that fell from the sky was caught and stored. This is the way we ought to live. It is a great philosophy for several reasons:

1. Rainwater in most rural areas is pure and clean. It only must be filtered because of the material that gets in the water from the catchwater surface (such as roofs and gutters), but as it falls it is pure and perfect.

2. Catching rainwater shows and displays our complete reliance and dependence on God, and not on the systems of men. We rely on our Father God to provide us with the rain necessary to maintain us. When we rely on rainwater, we show this dependence, and we are more likely to remember to pray and give thanks to God for His provision. City people do not think of God when it comes to turning on or off a faucet. People who rely on rain directly for daily use water are more likely to pray for it, and to thank God for it.

Although we live in Central Texas, there is plenty of water (many, many, many times more than all of the families here in the community could ever use) that passes through our property. The concept of Catchwater is to utilize as much of this water as possible, not only by catching it from roofs into cisterns and tanks, but by catching runoff water in tanks or ponds. For the same amount of money that you would spend on digging a water well and procuring pumps, etc., a structure can be built and a tank bought that will supply you with a good percentage of your water needs. I have less than $1500 in my catchwater system on my cabin, since it catches water from the roof lines on the cabin and is not a structure built specifically to catch water. My cabin is 610 square feet, but it has 710 square feet of roof line. This means I catch somewhere near 350 gallons for every 1 inch of rainfall. That is not a lot, but it adds up to close to 10,000 gallons of water a year. Not enough for a family of my size, but it is a lot of good water, and it helps. Two of the families here on the land have roof lines that are capable of catching between 1200 and 1800 gallons per inch of rain fall. This capacity would provide an average of 31,000 to 46,000 gallons of water a year in an average rainfall year. For a small agrarian family, this ought to provide most of the necessary daily use water. This would have to be augmented for watering large gardens or for watering animals, but if used in combination with other surface or subsurface water projects, this method is very successful. I plan (if the Lord blesses and wills) to catch the water off of every roof line we build. If the Lord wills for my office to be completed this coming year, that will add an additional 350 gallons of water per inch of rain, or another 9100 gallons of water per year on average. Some of our younger families are subsisting on the water caught from the roofs of goat sheds, farrowing sheds, outhouses, campers, etc. It is doable. But catching water ought to be on our mind as we engage in any building project. We also will be (if the Lord wills) expanding our surface water projects, including expanding our ponds and tanks, and building new ones when we are able. In my opinion, the new agrarian homesteader ought to focus his/her resources and time on catchwater resources FIRST.

Water from the air. It is possible, and in some cases doable, to produce water from the air. This would fall under the category of "intermediate" or "ancillary" steps in providing water. Let me give a few examples. Many of you know that air-conditioners, freezers, refrigerators, etc. will produce water from the air in high humidity situations. This is why you will see water dripping from your A/C unit in the summer when the humidity is high. This is called "condensing" and the water is "condensation" which builds up because of the drastic temperature transfer and differential between the freezing cold in the tubing and the warm, wet, air surrounding it. Using this theory, some companies have developed low energy "air wells", which are units with condensers that condense water from the air and then catch it and purify it for consumption. This is something to look into for anyone who lives in a high humidity environment, and who produces their own electricity via solar power. Several of these units could be powered by solar power to provide water - although it would be very expensive and it would still be subject to failures and problems. I have considered purchasing one or more of these units (or manufacturing one ourselves) and putting it in a special root cellar or "dry room" where we want it to stay less humid than in a regular root cellar, which might have humidity levels of 70-95%. For example, a couple of automobile compressors could be powered by solar power in an underground room with high natural humidity. The water running off of the compressors could be caught. I reckon that up to 10 gallons a day could be caught in this manner. Water can also be gathered, in small amounts, from anywhere (either natural or man-made) were condensation appears regularly.

Water storage is more important to your survival and success than food storage. Storing water in ponds, tanks, lakes, etc. is ideal; water can also be stored in man built tanks and cisterns. We have a 1500 gallon above ground storage tank for our cabin catchwater that cost us somewhere around $800. A good and talented construction guy could build one with much more capacity out of wood and/or concrete. We are also considering a 20,000 gallon above ground pool for water storage. The homesteads in this area 100 years ago used below ground rock-lined cisterns for water storage. The old home that used to be on our neighbors property had water provided from a small pond which was pumped up to the house where it was stored in a rock-lined cistern.

I am still studying ways to further enhance our catchwater system here on the ranch. Off-grid water is an important issue, and I imagine we will be studying and adapting our system as long as the Lord tarries and he continues to bless us with peace and quiet here on our off-grid ranch.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker