Underground POTABLE WATER STORAGE TANKS - Our Off Grid Water System

[@mp330600]

When I was a little kid, my Grandparents had a small farm. The water for domestic use came from a cistern. Great memories of going out to get Grandma a bucket of water for the kitchen. She had a big wood fired stove in the kitchen with a tank on the side for hot water. Man that woman could cook anything on that stove. Great memories, thanks.

[@pkav8tor]

A bit of construction advice for you, take it or leave it. When stacking ecology blocks ALWAYS overlap the seams when stacking. The shape of the tops and bottoms were designed that way for interlocking. Failure to overlap will allow a single stack to be pushed out of plumb without any resistance from the block next to it, and in the extreme, pushed over crushing everything in it's path. Interlocking ties the blocks together and makes one strong unit, much like a brick or masonry block wall. A heavy rain could reek havoc on that wall as you have laid it. And if being used a a retaining wall the first layer should always be buried into the ground a minimum of a foot to prevent push out from the soil behind it.

[@twosencefromcleveland6084]

Deeper there as the frost line is lower. A buried reinforced concrete wall behind that one would be good. vented of course.

[@wiggymccrackin8240]

I like how you warned us about what kind of video you've made. very thoughtful. I really like how you make your vids.

[@annettesmith6241]

Wow, water security is a hugely important step. Well done guys.

[@wslandry]

Wow I'm really impressed with you and your wife with all the info provide! Good Job! I'm 60 and retiring in three years. I hope and pray we can do the same thing!

[@normal_media]

I'll be watching this progress. My wife and I are off grid in WV. I already make my own electricity with solar power and am in the market for a well BUT I own on a small water source thats active about 9 months out of the year which is drinkable. Man at least you have a useful partner there.

[@terryrobinson9503]

We used a company called Free Water Systems their 4,000 gal tanks direct burial and it was a very good fit for us. I would recommend them as an alternative

[@purelivingforlife]

Those tanks look nice! www.freewatersystems.com Seems like they have an entire system which is SUPER ideal. Not just tanks. Did you have them design the system also? Saved their accessory PDF for some ideas on vents and such. Thanks!

[@ottawadigs]

everyone should have a cute cistern walker

[@purelivingforlife]

YES! Should be included with the tanks. ;)

[@lLykaLyksl]

Am not gona lie.... But I find my self coming here for the pure comedy between these two couples 😂😂😂😂

[@Graeme408]

GENIUS, screening some of the soil. You get really attractive building stone and wonderful soil. Win, win. You guys are pretty sharp.

[@theoldwizard998]

Building stone ! A source of income !!

[@RebelSun14]

John Lowe, Photographist I noticed that myself and was very curious as to the reason for it. Now I know! 😎

[@jachin7545]

Me too, Rebel. saved me from asking. that is pretty ingenious, I'm going to have to try that.

[@Outland9000]

Grew up on a farm, to me this is just normal.

[@DEVUNK88]

I hate to ask, but where on earth did you find such a pretty and strong woman, and how in the hell did you convince her to do go off grid LOL or was it her idea? just curious

[@Growveguk]

What I love about you both is you keep the throughput of videos constant throughout the year, many slack off in winter and then following their journey becomes less of an interest. Keep up the great content for us armchair supporters!

[@purelivingforlife]

I'd say it's certainly challenging making videos in winter when not much is going on around the homestead due to weather... but winter hasn't REALLY hit us yet so we're truckin' along :-)

[@elliottmanning]

Back in the 1960's helped maintain a cistern up in the mountians. Dissgusting having to removeing dead squirrrels from the drinking water tank. Had a 1500 gallon concrete above ground cistern in the 1980's that had a lot of leaking problems. You are doing such a good job with your water system!!!

[@martyhandley4456]

I see a lot of cool possibilities for all those rocks, walls, fir pit and benches, gardens and so on........cool progress!

[@curtismarkham2011]

You guys are fun to watch. And quite informative.

[@daveh777]

You guys are very well spoken, and I appreciate that about your videos. Keep up the great work.

[@cynthiapitts3795]

I am just in Awe! You have tackled a big job! But it is for yourselves and will give you so much satisfaction when you are through. Thank you for showing us the details! Awesome work!

[@MattsShop]

PAN SOME OF THAT DIRT THERE IS GOLD IN IT

[@rulke4752]

FINALLY a voice of reason

[@AveryExcavating]

haha I love your screen at the end that you were using to screen the larger rocks from the sand/dirt for backfill!

[@theineffablehomestead3378]

Great to hear you got an underground cistern system set up. A good step into a permanent water system . Considering water is such a critical part of a homestead and really necessary for so much else, I think you did a good job getting a good sized water storage set up. I look forward to seeing the rest of the water system as you develop it.

[@purelivingforlife]

Thanks a bunch mate! Hows the homestead coming? Still surviving in your tent? Thriving?

[@theineffablehomestead3378]

Pure Living for Life I picked up a 25 ft travel trailer in the fall. So a bit more comfortable living. I am however over just North of Seattle house sitting for my brother for 2 weeks while he takes a photographers cruse. Due to house sitting for two weeks in winter when the snows or piling up on my property I am not sure if I will be able to winter over on my land this year. I might be staying at my brothers until the spring thaw, and just visiting my property over winter.

[@stephenseman8863]

Our property has more rocks than dirt. I am intrigued by your home made rock sifter. Could you do a video on that and how well it worked?

[@purelivingforlife]

+Stephen Seman Rock grizzly video in the works! It'll be a while though. Have some mods to do and more rock to clean before the video can be finished. Check our Facebook for more clips and videos.

[@jemckee]

You've got a lot of rocks. Are you thinking of using them in your house? Living Homes by Thomas J. Elpel explains slip forming and is quite helpful if you're interested.

[@purelivingforlife]

Not out of the question!!

[@frankcessna7345]

How do you pay for all this stuff ?

[@1963impala2drWaylonWire]

as a fellow youtuber with my own channel, I want to say I appreciate the time and effort you put into your videos. I know how much time is involved with editing and posting. thank you!

[@purelivingforlife]

Thanks a bunch! It takes someone who is doing it to really relate. Video is challenging enough. Then running equipment and being safe while doing it. YIKES! :) haha

[@stormytrails]

I am just now seeing you are living on an ancient river bed. The only reason for rounded stones is running water. Get down there and look closely for black sand and gold? I'm kind of a nut but I've found lots of gold in rocks...in my driveway gravel! This is an up lifted river bed so it must be ancient ancient. Great to have as one more factor saying you must have great water down below.

[@renter007]

Nice, you will get some nice pressure for the showers, sure you are glad you have a big hill on your property. Do you use water check kits to check your quality ? It helps to add a bit of chlorine to your supply. There are tablets available. You can also add a small UV light at your future house to kill off germs and bacteria so it will be safe for consumption. Think ship potable water systems and simplify. One other question, are you considering building part of your new home into the hill and use a earth cover as roof of part of your house ? I have been playing with this idea using big lego block design concrete blocks that are used for retainung walls over here in europe. Easy to waterproof on the outside with bitumen and they are very large so building is fast and 2nd heand you can buy them over here quite cheap. Not sure if they are used in USA too.

[@tomwebber9377]

It snowed here in Portland today, so this was a great video to watch from the comfort of a warm bed. You two are amazing. I say it every time, but it's true. I'm learning a great deal from you both, so thank you. I like the sifter you are using to sort the boulders....very clever!

[@purelivingforlife]

Enjoy that snow! We must have our snow shields up. It's somehow missed us so far! More to come on the rock sifter. It's a fun toy and actually is saving us considerable cost and effort!

[@DEVUNK88]

love the rock screen idea, very clever...

[@scooter041031]

You should save those rocks and boulders for use later in creating retaining walls, terracing, raised garden beds, etc. I would love to have a bunch of those. I have found rocks invaluable for what I have listed. As well I've used them for erosion control.

[@nelsonledoux4257]

Alyssa is comedy gold! You're both amazing in your research and development process of your homestead. I can't wait to see more.

[@weerares]

Eventually, you will have to treat that water with some special chemicals in order for it to be potable. Even if the source of water is extremely clean and the water is fresh, if you keep it in a tank, even fully closed, it will start developing some nasty stuff inside and the first sign is that it will smell bad...Homeowners all around the world know that even the water from inside a new boiler, needs be heated up once every 2 months at above 70 degrees Celsius (I'm from Europe), in order to kill most of the germs, especially Legionella.Keep on the good work guys!

[@LivingTheGoodLife]

Ive been following since 20k subscribers, so happy to see you two reaching above 70K!

[@ericwal5986]

With trying to get my better half into the idea of OTG living. You guys really do help. And make the videos entertaining and not a Faris Beulers day off school teacher lecture. Thank you to the both of you.

[@pahuntnut]

opague tanks above the ground have a potential to grow alge due to sun light penatration. Go with black instead. I would bed those in sand. rocks against the tank will have a potential to eventually poke through believe it or not. We do a lot of water line leak dectection and you would be surprised how improper bedding causes a lot of line breaks. But i like this video. I have an off grid cabin and after Nov 15 i have to drain and winterize my lines because of freezing. looking at something i could do to prevent that.

[@_mrv_]

The rock sifter is a really cool idea.

[@catherinepostmus]

You two are so entertaining! Ahem, and informative...

[@helmutprost9714]

This was a very thought provoking video.

[@Ksransonia]

looking good.

[@deancarder377]

Jesse, you are a lucky, lucky man!

FYI - Do NOT use the round stone for retaining or building as it will forever shift , (unless in a wire cage). If you are drowning in the river rock I believe you can rent or hire a rock crusher and turn much of that stone into very useable gravel for paths, driveways, basecourse, landscaping, concrete, etc. You may even be able to trade the stone for gravel (2:1, 4:1), or other materials.

[@johnwarfield7742]

A piece of chainlink fence will work better for your screening plant ... : )

[@347chas]

Hi Guys, Really want to say thanks for a great video's, only just found you two day ago, wow, so easy to watch & listen to, you are both naturals to filming & giving great & bad points on what to do, i am from the UK & just love what you have done to your life, your thinking is pritty much what i would do, but did'nt know about the air line you used to extervate the trench for the water line, thats orsum, keep the tree's happy as you live on a hill side, so in orr with you, stay happy as i know you will out there, all the best. Chas.

[@elhigh]

That was an excellent, very informative video. It doesn't dig into particulars, which is good as you say because particulars are, well, particular to each instance. But it does outline the logic behind the decisions made, and should prove pretty helpful to others who find themselves at the leading edge of the kinds of choices you have been facing.

[@1timby]

Interesting..... My in-laws lived in a remote home site where they had a cement cistern. However, due to the age & the ways they use to pipe the water to the house, it was replaced with a well. Earth ships use a similar system for their water storage. But capture rainwater to cut out the need of depending on others for water. They include a great water purification system as well as a 12 VDC pump to maintain water pressure. Since they use solar for their power, power isn't a problem. I'm interested in seeing how you folks utilize this new system as well as what you have to do to maintain it. Thanks

[@FFLFFS]

Btw I've done a lot of hydro vac digging with just a shop vac and a small pressure washer work pretty slick. Cheap .

[@wendelljohnson8397]

WOW LOOK AT ALL THEM RIVER ROCKS. I SEE GOLD EVERYWHERE. THE BLACK DIRT AND RIVER ROCKS = GOLD.

[@codycrane6610]

Do love your videos ! Sit back relax and enjoy

[@49richard]

Very informative! Love your humoristic approach... keep up the good work!

[@timcombes9054]

Good job, guys! Y'all have become real experts handling that equipment! Merry Christmas!

[@nutmegsjourney4242]

Way to go guys! Do you know that you both are looking more and more relaxed and happy as time goes on? It's great to see... :)

[@davesilvia9711]

awesome guys I love your rocks! not a single one where I live.keepup the good work!

[@purelivingforlife]

300 yards away is nothing but sand for miles. Isn't that funny? Bought ourselves a rock island. :)

[@juliescott9020]

Hey, when you build your home you should use stone for ...something....chimney, maybe? It is beautiful and apparently plentiful on your property. Thanks for the video update.

[@caljarvis]

well done

[@fac3th3wolf]

If you install a well, you can use a solar-powered or wind-powered (directly or electric turbine) low power pump to slowly trickle the water into the tank. Install a sensor in the cistern that shuts off the pump when it's full. A trickle of water all day can build up enough water for the 20 minute (Heavenly) daily showers, plus cooking and dishwashing.

[@elfsgarden8043]

Did you look into rain water collection?, if not for the rv/house, it would be great in the garden! and with that hill probably great soaker hoses!!

[@GatorLife57]

Great job yall ! Thumbs up..... ENJOY.... THE SIMPLE LIFE

[@mats852]

I'm really late in, but I've been binge watching the series so I can catch up with the latest additions ! If I may, I would suggest you to use the mud bucket for your light excavation needs like backfilling, moving yards and especially at the end of the video when you sifted earth. For your driveway, you could've spread the rock with the bucket and then use the blade to smooth it out! The rock bucket leaves a lot behind, carry less and makes a mess. It's mandatory to use for deep digging and trenches tho !

[@oldtimeengineer26]

looks good and yes no matter what you do the start is always the cheapest like solar panels they are now cheap but every other item blows the budget.

[@onecrazywheel]

Mike Brink Where'd you see them at that price? What brand were they?

[@dorsk84]

If I where to move "off-grid" or at least a hunting camp. This is some thing I would need to consider. And with all those rocks...I would either sell them or use they for a foundation for a house, or a wall. You have a "gold mine" for materials.

[@rafaeltorres4728]

I live in a house in northeast Brazil. In my city we don’t have water coming daily in our houses.. There is a rotating system in which each part of the city receive water for some days. So, in my house I have a cistern and two tanks. I storage 4300 gallons.. we are 6 people here and this is enough to pass 15 to 20 days comfortably. In other cities where people have water daily they usually don’t care about storage, so in case the city water is shut off they are in trouble.

[@acet7]

can't wait to see the rest of this project, thanks for sharing.

[@cathyanderson8197]

Earthships are set up with two cisterns usually or around 1700 gallons of water I think? I cannot remember the details. They are filled by rainwater. In New Mexico they said if you have 12" of rain or more you can live like a king and queen with water. However consider their water is recycled 4 times within the home. Mike Reynolds has all the info on youtube on that, its quite fascinating. Have fun you two!!

[@elviomachado601]

Congratulations on your project.

[@davelamb3303]

Love all your videos. You both are very good at explaining details so the average person can understand. If needed could you install a filter system at point of use or in the house once built? God bless your family from up here in Canada.

[@purelivingforlife]

There really isn't much to filter as the tank and gravity provides this function through settling of the still water in the tanks. However a cleanable filter will be a must later when we get to a well as we'll likely get some sediment coming through the system. :)

[@roach1405]

do have any creeks or streams nearby you can use a ram pump to fill the cisturns

[@roach1405]

they don't need power to pump but limited to how much water you can pump

[@rayreyes2490]

Awesome!

[@sarobinson9720]

You guys are so cool. One day ill live the same way . working on my plans now .thanks for the great info !

[@stevemiller6766]

I hope you put a sand base or something to keep rocks from poking thru after everything settles. Good luck!

[@teknichols]

Greetings from Australia! Love the videos - Bless you heaps!

[@larrywalker3137]

have you ever check that ground for gold looks like it could contain some

[@PetiteSauvage]

Wonderful video! Thanks for sharing! :)

[@TimFlebbe]

Those round rocks look interesting.

[@ImASurvivorNThriver]

Good stuff! Have you guys considered doing a video about what you're planning on doing with the rocks? I LOVED the sifter! There are numerous projects that could be done with them. I think others would be interested in seeing a video like this as well. Thanks for sharing.

[@purelivingforlife]

Rock sifter video in the works! As for the rocks we still have some decisions to make so no video on that YET. They may all end up back in the trench of they may end up part of the great wall of off grid! Hah!

[@chrispcarrot]

Used Infiltrator for low profile septic tank and chambers that you can drive over. FL is sandy and much more forgiving than your terrain but the specs on their tanks are amazing. If you want to do a basic soil separator like you did, use free chainlink fence, often found on Craigslist for free for removal. Very strong, keeps a finer material, and can be recycled for other uses such as a drag for driveway maintenance or sod preparation. Enjoying your videos. You are one lucky man to have found a woman who is your 'mini-me'.

[@christianafaria1209]

I had that same pink carhartt jacket 😊

[@pyr8at40]

excellent video.....i'm loving watching your approach...i AM taking notes....lol

[@shortbus7097]

Good stuff...

[@StIsidoresFarm]

Thanks for bringing us along on this adventure!

[@danielliedtke6756]

Greetings from Germany!

[@peterburroughs1589]

Love the videos Alleyssa and Jessie. Big fan of y'alls. How many video's do you have to date? Where and how could I watch everyone?

[@mrcow7166]

Love ur videos keep up the good work!

[@nada-nada-1234]

you guys should look into making a rocket mass heater/gasifier

[@gilestramp8880]

Super size water tanks , super nice , I bet you can't wait for the first hot long shower ???

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

Nice video. I am unfamiliar with in-ground cisterns, so this was very educational. Thanks for sharing. Do you live in a state that allows rainwater collection? That could be a way to augment your stored water, especially for irrigating a garden, and possibly as a potable water source. I know people in TX that exist solely off of rainwater collection systems. I collected rainwater off my chicken coop's roof at my previous home in TX, and now off of my house's roof here in Western WA. I only get about 16"-18" of rain per year here, but quickly collected 5K gallons off my roof already this year.

[@tamitng]

Great video! I love your rocks. I actually covet your rocks. 😍 I realize they probably have been a huge pain for you to deal with while burying your pipes, but I can envision a beautiful home built with those big rocks and boulders!

[@lelandeggleston1041]

Loving your videos.

[@maineiacacres]

You guys have a great channel going here! I'm slowly plodding along on my own homestead build in Maine on a 6.75 ac fallow hayfield. Looking forward to following your progress. Blessings!

[@micaKTM1290]

Another quality video.

[@kanel123boller]

I think a lot of people would love it if you guys did a video about your self, how old you are, where you come from, what makes you want to live off the grid etc. :-)

[@jachin7545]

I love your videos! very informative and you guys are just a cool couple! :) congrats on all you've done so far.

[@duro845]

thumbs up to you guys. very intuitive

[@ro32901]

Great Video's, thanks of sharing!!

[@MidEastAmerican]

I love these guys!

[@simplelifediy1772]

Looking forward to this video series

[@SettingBrushfires]

Good job. Appreciate the information.

[@wiggymccrackin8240]

hey guys, look up "Ram Pump" the old fashioned ones. way better than your modern pumps.

[@RJM1011]

Thank you for the video.

[@jahempress26]

Your wife is strong 💪🏿 I love that bless u both

[@dannytheplumber7394]

ok great video , thank you. here is my question . How long does it take that small pump to transfer that full amount from one tank to another ?

[@Maxschellenberg]

Cool channel!

[@johncox9660]

Fun Video thanks for posting.