Water management and Strategies for water conservation

[newfoundland]

No I am not in Canada, but the east coast of England in the Lincolnshire marshes. Our water filtration system is made by Pozzani, quite a big arrangement of tanks housed in a pump house. The septic tank, and its drainfield is a couple of hundred feet away, not that far really. We are lucky that our borehole is fed by natural springs so it is naturally running water anyway. Everyone round here has a borehole and septic tank as there is no mains drainage or water supply. Many don't use a filtration system like ours just pump water up directly from the borehole. People round here think it's quite funny to filter the water as they say they have been drinking it for hundreds of years with no ill effects, and actually, that is true.

 

[perchie.girl]

No I am not in Canada, but the east coast of England in the Lincolnshire marshes. Our water filtration system is made by Pozzani, quite a big arrangement of tanks housed in a pump house. The septic tank, and its drainfield is a couple of hundred feet away, not that far really. We are lucky that our borehole is fed by natural springs so it is naturally running water anyway. Everyone round here has a borehole and septic tank as there is no mains drainage or water supply. Many don't use a filtration system like ours just pump water up directly from the borehole. People round here think it's quite funny to filter the water as they say they have been drinking it for hundreds of years with no ill effects, and actually, that is true.

My mistake you didnt have your location posted... I made an Assumption through your ID... I looked up Pozzani and found the link and am going to post it next to my link list.

I think you are wise to filter. Like you say the water comes from natural springs.... Sigh.... even springs can get contaminated. My water comes from an Aquifer that is dropping because of drought. The water table here is fed from snow in mountains that are a good thirty miles away. But it all goes through Granite or granite strata. Very little organic infusion.

HIstorically San Diego lists 12 - 15 inches of precipitation per year. In my patch of desert knock three inchs off that range... 9-12 inches.... Last year My desert had 3 and little to NO snow in the mountains.

But thats me... and my "habitat" LOL.... Hey we can even grow some pretty good beef too..... A cattleman I spoke to who raises Angus says it Just takes more than a hundred acres per cow.

 

[newfoundland]

That's very interesting. Our cattle here are Lincolnshire red, a dual purpose animal both beef and good milk yield. Only two or three acres of pasture per cow, but it is usual to bring them in for the winter when the marshes flood. A lot of hay is needed during this period. I am vegetarian myself, but many people say they have a superior flavour? Is this due to salt marsh grazing though, who can really tell?

 

[bustedchicks]

I havent used them but think the wall tanks are a great idea. they should start requiring that in california building codes.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I havent used them but think the wall tanks are a great idea. they should start requiring that in california building codes.

REQUIRING!!!? There are enough regulations that make it impossible for a person to build a home.

 

[sarahsunshine]

NewFoundLand - Would you consider your climate to be mediteranian?

I will be moving to coastal British Columbia (Canada), and the climate there is WAY WETTER than I am used to. Here we have a dry-ish winter and rain through the summer periodically (total about 450ml precip per year). Where I'm moving to in B.C. next month it has wet, wet rainy winters, and then the summer warm growing season is drier than it is here - so even though there is more water throughout the year (about a metre more!), the well can dry up in the summer months! This means that water conservation is an issue too!!!

Deb - in raeding about permaculture and water conservation, one of the biggest issues is preventing water from simply running away. Do you have a dry stream bed nearby? An arroyo or such? Maybe on your property. If you have anything that seems to drain water quickly, then what you can do is make pseudo dams. You do this by putting rocks across to slow the water down. What this does is it makes it so that the water infiltrates the soil on your property, increasing the water that will make it into ground water. Whenever you slow down th water, it allows plants to seed, and very quickly you will find that there is organic matter that accumulates. As it accumulates, more grows, there is more shade, there is more vegetation to slow down the water, and over the years a pool will begin to for. You can speed up the process if you like with buldozers and importing material, but simply gathering boulders and large rocks begins the process quite effectively.

In this page there is a time series with a video showing a flash flood. http://gabion.blogspot.ca/

Here is a permaculture video on gabions... http://www.ecofilms.com.au/reversing-desertification-with-gabions/
I'm hoping to build some of these to raise the water table around my well!

This page explains a little better why they work: http://www.santafebotanicalgarden.org/visit-us/museum-hill-garden/historic-gabion-dam/

 

[perchie.girl]

That's very interesting. Our cattle here are Lincolnshire red, a dual purpose animal both beef and good milk yield. Only two or three acres of pasture per cow, but it is usual to bring them in for the winter when the marshes flood. A lot of hay is needed during this period. I am vegetarian myself, but many people say they have a superior flavour? Is this due to salt marsh grazing though, who can really tell?

The land here is by no means able to completely sustain cattle or horses. Its good browse but for vitamins and protein we feed Alfalfa or Lucern in your part of the world. And we have to feed it year round.

It is grown in the desert at about 100 feet above sea level in a valley called Imperial Valley here.... Sipping up the last bits of the Colorado river.... It falls short of the Ocean by a couple of feet now.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

I havent used them but think the wall tanks are a great idea. they should start requiring that in california building codes.

I think providing tax breaks for people who put them in would be a more productive idea.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

NewFoundLand - Would you consider your climate to be mediteranian?

I will be moving to coastal British Columbia (Canada), and the climate there is WAY WETTER than I am used to. Here we have a dry-ish winter and rain through the summer periodically (total about 450ml precip per year). Where I'm moving to in B.C. next month it has wet, wet rainy winters, and then the summer warm growing season is drier than it is here - so even though there is more water throughout the year (about a metre more!), the well can dry up in the summer months! This means that water conservation is an issue too!!!

Deb - in raeding about permaculture and water conservation, one of the biggest issues is preventing water from simply running away. Do you have a dry stream bed nearby? An arroyo or such? Maybe on your property. If you have anything that seems to drain water quickly, then what you can do is make pseudo dams. You do this by putting rocks across to slow the water down. What this does is it makes it so that the water infiltrates the soil on your property, increasing the water that will make it into ground water. Whenever you slow down th water, it allows plants to seed, and very quickly you will find that there is organic matter that accumulates. As it accumulates, more grows, there is more shade, there is more vegetation to slow down the water, and over the years a pool will begin to for. You can speed up the process if you like with buldozers and importing material, but simply gathering boulders and large rocks begins the process quite effectively.

In this page there is a time series with a video showing a flash flood. http://gabion.blogspot.ca/

Here is a permaculture video on gabions... http://www.ecofilms.com.au/reversing-desertification-with-gabions/
I'm hoping to build some of these to raise the water table around my well!

This page explains a little better why they work: http://www.santafebotanicalgarden.org/visit-us/museum-hill-garden/historic-gabion-dam/

Here is my Land..... at its lowest point this happens to be the easement that goes through my property.... the whitest roads... my house is up toward the top. To the bottom is my neighbors house The road that spans across the picture. The actual road IS the stream-bed. Very nice in the winter when the water flows through.... makes the road completely flat. Oh and I have about three or four acres across the road adjoining my neighbors.




The only water run off I have are the roads from my house to the main easement,,, For what its worth almost level with this stream bed Is my well approximately where this photo takds a bit of a jog right where its labled Tearose. That well pumps water from there all the way upto the house in two inch diameter pipe,

And when you are standing or driving along the main road through here This is what you see....


The Road is well traveled Decomposed granite.... The road ahead to the right of the mailbox is actually the start to my driveway. the road to the left of the windmill structure is the start of my neighbors drive way.... And Believe it or not there is a road in the middle wide enough to take a semi truck down. All the large growth is Ribbon wood They grow large like this where there is water close to the surface. The stream bed here funnels down to a creek that is well below and not on my property. that creek is lined with Boulders ranging from football size to the size of a Volkswagen.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Sarasunshine.... I just followed your links on Gabions... Very interesting. While I am not subject to flash floods I do have a spot where building one will be to my advantage.

My utilities are under ground all the way from the Well house to the house.... 1000 linear feet of PVC. With one exception where the utilities cross a dip in the land which acts like a creek in the wet season. I have a vague worry that this "bridge" of PVC pipes will be broken .... I have wanted to build a bridge under it but was worried about the process. With a Gabion style dam just a little below the pipes I could build the dirt up under them to give them support.... Without making a pond.

excellent.

thanks.

deb