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Josh8880
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2013 06:58am
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I'm new here and love all the ideas I'm getting! I'm in the process of purchasing a 4 acre property in chenango county, ny...and I'm looking to build a 12'by16' cabin. My plan is to collect and re-use rainwater for showering(with an indoor water tank option to bring water if need be) and for a toilet. Does anyone have any suggestions in this process? I don't plan on doing a septic system, my hope is to just run septic out to a very small tank to be pumped out when it needs to be.
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Bzzzzzt
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2013 09:01am
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I built myself a temporary shower out of a Mason's tub and shower curtains hung from the ceiling with string. I have a generator and use a bucket water heater like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/MARSHALLTOWN-Premier-742G-Bucket-Heater/dp/B000BDB4UG/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365770935&sr=8-1&keywords=bucket+water+heater
It heats the water within about 30 minutes to the proper temperature and I use a fountain pump in a 5 gallon bucket to pump the water up to a shower head. I set up a pull chain switch over the shower to turn the pump on and off. Water on, get wet, water off, lather up, water on, rinse, water off, shampoo, water on rinse. 5 gallons of water is usually good enough for my wife and I both to take a quick shower. Sometimes we want a longer shower and so we each use our own 5 gallons. One takes a shower while the other one's water is heating.
The "water limiting" shower heads they have now a days will bring very poor results until you drill the thing out to about ΒΌ" or maybe slightly larger. I purchased the cheapest shower head they had at Lowes (less than $3) and tried it and it wouldn't pump worth beans so I drilled it out too large and it emptied the bucket in about 1 minute flat! So I had to buy another shower head and I kept drilling progressively larger holes until I got it to work like I expected it to.
We've been very satisfied with this set up but I'm considering adding on to the cabin just enough room (and I do mean JUST enough) for an actual shower. Catching rain water has been a great thing for us and the water itself makes you feel awesome. There are no harsh chemicals in the water and it's as soft as can be.
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GomerPile
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2013 10:53am
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If you use a composting toilet then you won't need a septic tank or black water holding tank.
Collect rainwater into either used poly drums (soda syrup) or buy a poly rv tank. Attach a shurflo 12V RV pump and you will have on demand water for every faucet in the house.
I use a thru the wall RV water heater which runs on propane and 12V DC. You might think it would freeze up in winter but it does not provided that the house is heated.
For grey water, either collect it in a poly drum and water trees with it. OR check out this page for a simple system:
http://www.omick.net/graywater/graywater.htm
Local codes may not let you build a grey water system...you have to do some homework.
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skootamattaschmidty
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2013 07:37pm
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I have a 100 gallon holding tank in a crawl space. This is filled with a submersible pump which is powered by the generator. The holding tank is connected to the water system in the cabin. A 12 volt shurflo pump pumps the water to the faucets etc. I have an eccotemp L10 propane on demand water heater mounted outside. For my shower I found an old claw foot bathtub. The drain runs outside to an area that is sandy. I dug down several feet and placed a five gallon bucket that I drilled holes in the bottom of and placed in this hole. The bucket and hole was filled with sand and small gravel. The drain enters into the bucket, runs through the small stones, then sand and into the gravel soil. This grey water pit is no where near any source of water. The system works great and we love being able to take hot showers with unlimited hot water.
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Josh8880
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2013 06:35am
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Thanks everyone, this is really helpful! Skoot, where'd you get the 100 gallon tank? Is the pump hard wired? Or is it just a plug in? Thanks!
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skootamattaschmidty
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2013 09:35am
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Josh my crawl space is about five feet deep so I'm lucky that the water doesn't freeze in the winter. The pump is also located in the crawl space. I have it switched here as we'll as on my wall close to my battery. The pump is hard wired and fused directly to the battery. The pump is about 12 years old now and has been very reliable.
I guess when I said I had 100 gallon water tank I should have been more clear. I actually have two 50 gallon tanks that are beside each other. The one tank came from an RV dealership. It has been there about 12 years as well. I wanted to increase my storage capacity so i didnt have to fill as often. The other tank I got last year from my father in law who always has "a guy". He got it from a landscaper friend who used it for water storage on a trailer behind a riding mower. The tanks are readily available on the Internet or from RV dealerships. They also carry them in Canada at TSC Stores. The water I use to fill it comes from a source beside the cabin and I do not use it for drinking.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2013 12:16pm
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I use a Coleman "instant hot water" heater for my shower. I dont use the collapsible bag, I just stick the pump onto the mouth of a 7 gallon blue water jug I got from Cabelas.
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Water-On-Demand-Portable-Water-Heater/dp/B0009PURE0
Here is the water jugs. I have 4 of these.
http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Products-Aqua-Tainer-Gallon-Container/dp/B001QC31G6/re f=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1365869780&sr=1-2&keywords=Water+Jugs
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Josh8880
Member
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2013 04:25pm
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Toyota,
Can you use that inside? Or do you have to plumb it in from the outside?
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 14 Apr 2013 09:21pm
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I think I'm lucky cause I have 5 sloping acres, so I was able to build a water tank shed at the top, collect rain water, then pipe it down to my camp site in poly pipe in the ground. So I have water pressure at the camp site and don't need a pump. Lot of work building a separate shed for the water tank, trenching for the pipe, etc. but it's SO nice having rainwater on tap at the camp site. The Coleman hot water heater I use for showering comes with a pump that works off the lead acid battery in the water heater. I used that pump to pull shower water from a 5 gallon bucket before I installed the piping. Coleman has a solenoid operated water valve for use with the heater if you have water available on tap. I use that now instead of the pump- just hook the water heater up to a hose and its ready to go.
But all you flat landers have to figure out how to operate your pumps to get the water where you want it. Buy sloping land. It's cheaper than flat, and has other advantages
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 15 Apr 2013 12:00pm
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Quoting: Josh8880 Toyota, Can you use that inside? Or do you have to plumb it in from the outside?
You can use it anywhere. It carrys like a suitcase. It also has an instant hot water for coffeee, but you have to hold the knob full hot to get that (its sprimng loaded, so you dont burn yourself in the shower) and as long as you have a shower pan under you to run the gray water out, it will work anywhere.
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skootamattaschmidty
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2013 12:30am
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Before I installed my shower that I have now we used the coleman on demand heater. We took it camping with us too. It even comes with a shower attachment. You can even hook it up to a 20 pound propane tank if you want to. It works very well and very portable!
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Josh8880
Member
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2013 06:51am
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Toyota,
Great info, thanks...so there is no issue with venting the propane inside?
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2013 02:49pm - Edited by: toyota_mdt_tech
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Quoting: Josh8880 Toyota, Great info, thanks...so there is no issue with venting the propane inside?
It comsumes so little propane (works just like a tankless on demand how water heater). so its not burning all the time, its on and off, on and off, depending on how warm you like your showers. In fact, I have the same propane bottle (small 14.3 oz units) for several years. I doubt it could ever produce enough CO to even set off the most sensitive CO detector. If you are showering inside, I suspoect you would have a window cracked, so non issue IMHO anyway.
The shower head is optional. So if you want the shower head, order it also. I also bought the storage carrying bag for it too. Lots of room for all your accessories. I have had mine for about 10 yrs now. Its made by Oster for Coleman. It uses a 6V 4.5AH battery.
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poulin
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# Posted: 6 May 2013 10:48pm
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Hello all,
This is the very first time I write on this forum but I spend quite a long time reading it and it is vey helpful.
I see that you some are using a thru the wall RV water heater. I have had one installed recently. Its works very well but when it runs for a while I realized it becomes very hot around so I am a little bit concerned about fire. Any thoughts about that?
TKS
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rayyy
Member
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# Posted: 7 May 2013 06:06am - Edited by: rayyy
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Here is a sketch of my lay out for hot water.20 pound gas grill propane tank feeds my Eccotemp L-5 hot water heater.Pump is a 12 volt rv pump with a built in pressure switch.The water is nice and warm in 3 seconds.The size of the water tank can be anything from a 5 gallon bucket to a 1000 gallon tank.
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Josh8880
Member
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# Posted: 7 May 2013 07:22am
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Rayyy,
Very helpful drawing. If used inside, do you just open a window for ventilation? Thanks!
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rayyy
Member
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# Posted: 7 May 2013 12:43pm - Edited by: rayyy
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Yes,assure your self of plenty of fresh air coming into your place near the heater while your using it.I have a carbinemonoxide detector in there just to play it safe.I use mine every morning.I take a quick shower due to the fact of limited water supply.Keep in mind,this is the basic design for hot water supply.The gas tank is actually out side the cabin.Those 12 volt pumps can pull water up some 10 feet in elevation,so having your tank of water a little lower than than the pump is ok.I also must admit,in the dead of winter when that water is in the 30's,F it's hard to get it up to comfortable temp for showering.I have to throttle down the flow almost to the lowest flow for the heater to function but it does work. Iv'e been very pleased with this set up.I also recomend you put a filter on your down spout going into your water storage tank.It's much easier filtering out the crud befor it get's in your tank.Also clorinate the water befor using it.I'm blessed to have a creek that runs year around on my property so I don't have to mess with rain water collection.But if that's your only supply,you got no choice.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 7 May 2013 01:22pm
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For camping~~~~I have LLBEAN solar shower...I take~~~ fill it about half full with water..then I warm a pot of water on my camp stove...finish filling it up ....nice warm shower...about 3 gallons worth...
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