Day 119- Emergency Water Supply and Pump

There were three fires within 3 miles while we were working on our remodel. This is not the sight you want to see while returning from picking up materials! While we never lost water pressure, I decided to develop an emergency water supply that could augment our city supply in case a wet down was needed.

Some back of napkin math told me we had enough room adjacent to our water filter and inlet to setup this contraption. Calculations were made based on the weight of water, and the dimensions of plastic 55 gallon barrels. My soil and spans indicated that standard 4″x4″ lumber would be safe to use. Making sure my base is level and plumb.

The plan? Six 55 gallon barrels, in two rows of three. I wanted them to be high enough off the ground to gravity feed a 5 gallon bucket. If I dig a little more, I could fit three more on grade. This gives us about 300 gallons to work with.

There really isn’t any guidance on this type of thing, so some trial and error and experimenting was needed. I wanted to make the rack as robust as possible, since it is holding over 2500 pounds. The barrels are fully supported at the heads, and along the sides. It is incredibly stable under full weight, and if an earthquake caused them to topple we would have bigger problems that just some spilt water. Water and vent lines run. I sprung some leaks, and had to cut and add multiple unions to fix them.

I found a pump online for a song, and decided I would give it a shot. You can also see my gravity feed apparatus. The pump met expectations, but it isn’t waterproof. That means another project…

An old work neighbor bought a lot of StarBoard, and it was a take the entire pile situation. He scored his desired material, and was looking for folks who could use it for projects. So that’s just what we did.

Rain cover built and installed. I could have boxed it in more thoroughly, but it does need airflow to cool the motor.

Test run #1, Houston, we have ignition! I am able to fill the barrel array via city water, pre whole house filter. Not only can it be used as an auxiliary hose, it can feed the house though the water filter if needed.