Backup water systems overview - May 2023

Some older houses had the mains feed into a water tank on the roof and down into the house from there. No pumps were involved. Although this was done primarily for pressure regulation would an old-school system like this not solve some current problems if the tank has sufficient capacity?
 
Gaz{M} said:
You say emigrate, but the cost of living in the 1st World is insanely high. It's much cheaper to self provide everything in SA.
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Maybe it depends on ones situation .

Doing my budgets, I'm paying about R18,000 on schooling & medical aid for the family.
There are other costs that I wouldn't have, like solar or inverters.
In some parts of Europe, I can away with no car
 
Dolby said:
Maybe it depends on ones situation .

Doing my budgets, I'm paying about R18,000 on schooling & medical aid for the family.
There are other costs that I wouldn't have, like solar or inverters.
In some parts of Europe, I can away with no car
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You forget you will have to live in a R20 million cold shoebox with one bathroom.
 
Advantage of living on a plot I guess.

Our main water source is borehole water fed to jojo tanks from one of two borehole pumps.
Both pumps have diesel generators as backup.
There is also a 50000l diesel reservoir buried on the plot (kind of like a petrol station but more simplified and log books instead of cash and paypoint machines).

If that fails there is municipal water as a backup.

If that fails there are several plots and farms from 5 to 50km away and several water trucks to manually refill the jojos
 
AstroTurf said:
Advantage of living on a plot I guess.

Our main water source is borehole water fed to jojo tanks from one of two borehole pumps.
Both pumps have diesel generators as backup.
There is also a 50000l diesel reservoir buried on the plot (kind of like a petrol station but more simplified and log books instead of cash and paypoint machines).

If that fails there is municipal water as a backup.

If that fails there are several plots and farms from 5 to 50km away and several water trucks to manually refill the jojos
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What if none of that fails but the grid does and you have roving hoards of zombies?
 
Gaz{M} said:
You forget you will have to live in a R20 million cold shoebox with one bathroom.
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Again, that depends .

My brother left for Maastricht about 2 years ago with his (then) girlfriend . Got married / baby / house / two cars.

He had an average life here in SA ... stayed in a sub R1,000,000 flat / Mini Cooper S etc etc - and last year over there they bought the house that is 4 levels and he has more space than ever. Granted, converted to Rands now it is R8m rand that he paid - but you can't do that calculation there. I think the payments amount to 1/3 income ... which is very similar to here for many people

Below is not his place, but hardly a shoebox @ 125sqm living & 224sqm meter plot (his is larger due top level being a converted attic and the bottom level being a converter garage)

https://www.funda.nl/en/koop/maastricht/huis-42045225-drachmenruwe-15/

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Gaz{M} said:
.
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And he has benefits like water & electricity . He doesn't have have to cater for himself. He has solar (no battery because ... you don't need it) his house generates the power. I think it also reverses the meter and he gets a subsidy, or something. Dutch guys will tell you.

This morning I dropped my girls at school ... with no water ... and then took an hour to get home .. because no electricity .
 
garyc said:
Some older houses had the mains feed into a water tank on the roof and down into the house from there. No pumps were involved. Although this was done primarily for pressure regulation would an old-school system like this not solve some current problems if the tank has sufficient capacity?
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Actually, that is a very good point. But then most houses had peaked roofs and were built with proper trusses and timber bolted together and had a special place where the tanks were installed. I have looked into this as an option at our place in CT because the yard space is just inadequate for very large Jojo tanks. So the idea is to create a backup storage system in the roof fed by the main water supply and or augmented from rainwater harvesting The idea is to feed things like toilets, baths and showers from such a source permanently and as a backup for other uses if and when required.
The problem is he roof trusses are just not good enough for the added load and that would need fixing first.
 
I know water thread however should we blacked out food will be an issue. Shops will be emptied/looted within a day or two. Do what you can while you can. Kak is coming no doubt about it.
 
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