Water quality and/or content in udon villages

[BillaRickaDickay]

Another source which I have been looking into this year and that is rain water.
I've been experimenting for a year or two now, living out in the sticks we have no mains supply. The Well we had bored was a no go because of the salt and the filtration required to get it up to a useable level. Fortunately our other plot of land 400mtrs distant has a well with good water so we truck our water from there.
This year I've been using rain water collected from our house roofs. We use about 1000 litres a week, right now I have enough to last until the end of November. As I see it storage is the problem with this method as the rainy season only lasts about 3 months, 40,000 litres storage required to maintain a supply during the dry months.
I know a fellow Udon Mapper, "Ajarnudon" constructed a large tank for the same purpose it would be interesting to see how he got on, my only reservation, and i can't find an answer to this, is how long can water be stored for before it becomes unusable.
Point of reference, John's Budget Build, Author Ajarnudon.
Any help on the shelf life of rainwater much appreciated.

[Khun Paul]

I know a few who have built water retention stora, one of them under a house , one would have to pu in not onlopy the pipework`to collect it but also a filtration system etc to ensure safe for usage in the home. I would stop at making it drinkable . Water kept out of the sunlight will last longer i expect.

As for drinking water, I maintain that it is cheaper in the long run to buy drinking water the quality and drinkability is mandated by the Government and in reality its cost just for drinking and cooking is offset by the fact that for the family it is SAFE to drink.

[parrot]

We are fortunate to have excellent well water. The same water flows out of the ground into a 10'x10' x 4'deep holding tank. We syphon off that water for irrigation and a temple, easily 400meters away syphons off water for drinking (it's the same water as our well, which has been tested on multiple occasions. If your second plot is connected to your existing plot, it might be something to consider.
Our house is raised up about 1 meter on the east end. We built a 2000L storage tank (brick/cement).....well water is pumped in and the water is pumped from there into our house. When we were marooned in the US for 13 months for Covid, our tank was full when we left, full when we returned, and no indications that the water turned bad. Somewhere I read that cement tanks are preferable for keeping drinking water. Our tank is never exposed to sunlight, so the water stays cool throughout the summer (idea taken from the Bamboo Garden Resort in Nonsung.......the owner (then) kept large cement tanks under the seats of his gazebo to feed into his swimming pool. It's an idea we incorporated when we built and one of the best moves we made in building our home).

Last thought.....if 400m away is good and your home well is bad......I'd investigate the depth of each. If the bad well is shallow and the other deep, you might strike gold if you drilled deeper. If you bad well was drilled many years ago, the driller may not have had a powerful enough drill to poke through rock.

[BillaRickaDickay]

Thanks parrot, Potamoi came up with the answer, although the two plots are only 400mtrs apart the Wells are located in different quality zones.
We had the same local driller for both Wells, I suspect he knew that the second Well would not be viable but carried on regardless.
Good news on the rainwater though, I've got 9months to sort out the 40,000litres storage.

[Potamoi]

As for drinking water, I maintain that it is cheaper in the long run to buy drinking water the quality and drinkability is mandated by the Government and in reality its cost just for drinking and cooking is offset by the fact that for the family it is SAFE to drink.

I agree KP. The government does have specs enforced by the Health Department (I copied them in an earlier post). The only thing to watch out for are the unscrupulous bastards that have every colour and type of refill bottles on their old pickup. Those guys like to steal our nice newer jugs in some locations if the customer leaves them out for refill delivery. They may or may not be associated with a registered water supplier. I dare say some of those guys might even fill the jugs with a garden hose then cap and seal them with a heat gun at home without a thought about cleaning them first as the generic seals can be easily purchased.

Your refill bottled water should come from the same trusted company name as the silk screen label on the jug. It is against the law to fill another company's water jug (the license number should also be on the label) but unfortunately it happens a lot. Basically know your delivery person and ask the right questions about the source.

[jackspratt]

Definitely a problem, Pota.

Over the past few months our regular delivery guy has landed us with the odd "musty" bottle. Upon instruction, Mrs spratt (she who can eat no lean) has advised him that another one will result in us no longer requiring his services.