We Built a Gravity-Powered Off-Grid Water System

[@WilsonForestLands]

One of the most common questions I am getting is how we keep the pipes from freezing. Our main technique for that is to be in a mild coastal climate that doesn’t get that cold very often. The pipe has enough flex in it to expand enough for our level of freezing. Usually nobody is using the place that time of year but if they are, keeping a little water running usually does the trick. The few leaks keeps some water moving too.

[@JohnDoe-qg6hm]

The bears are not stupid ! They know your growing apples for them at the homestead so.. they allow you to have water there ! For the apples ! :)

[@WilsonForestLands]

That makes sense. I should have known it was for their own selfish interest. 😁

[@michaelogden5093]

Grandpa's a heck of a homesteader.

[@dl-dh3oz]

Thanks for reminding me of when bears chewed my similar setup. Woke up in a morning to no pressure at the house and a sprinkler system in the woods. My guess is the bear heard an air bubble, bit the pipe, creating more bubbles to ‘chase’. After chomping in multiple spots, none consecutive, I had to replace almost 100 ft of pipe. I decided to run the waterline through scrap lengths of pvc pipe, down the entire length of the line (almost 600 ft), just daring the bear to bite it. It’s been over 10 years and thus far, no more bear bites. Love your videos. Living in North Ga mountains too has its bear issues. Must be cousins😂.

[@WilsonForestLands]

I would say I am glad we are not alone with this problem but that’s probably not a very nice thing to say. 😁

[@exitar1]

And bears thats why you can't have nice things....🤣

[@bigharrybushcraft8364]

If you're doing maintenance on pipe with a flathead and not a nut driver, it means you've been through some shtuff and are willing to trade the best tool for a job for the one that is able to handle the most unexpected issues that arise with that job. Cheers.

[@scottperine8027]

That was actually pretty refreshing and cathartic,thank you Michael.

[@raymondmcdonald7085]

Well, that was interesting! Our creek is lower than the house, and there is no topography to use to our advantage. It's amazing you don't have more issues with your system considering all of the debris that could squish it!

[@sldulin]

I was thinking the whole video until the end why the bears don't chew up your line. I guess they do, a bit. They used to chew up ours every year even though, just like with you, there was ample flowing water nearby. Bears doing bear things. And you're lucky you can get away without frost damage, that was an annual fix before we finally buried the whole line.

[@thekiltedsawyer]

Great video sir, your editing is superb, pot head video was epic. Miss you on Rick & Tim's round table !

[@WilsonForestLands]

Thank you Craig. It’s been a busy past few months, I like to think one day I will get back to the round table. It was good to hear you join a while back.

[@thekiltedsawyer]

@WilsonForestLands copy that buddy Keep them coming!

[@blakegeissbuhler]

Must be nice having a blue line creek named after your family!

[@HangtownDave]

Cattle, bears, pressure, gravity, and water. Got it. Thanks for sharing! Really enjoy your content! 🤠

[@4ager505]

Wow! The methods and practices shown here reminded me of my childhood in rural Oklahoma. Okies have unique means of solving problems and most of this looked familiar. We didn't have a bear population where I was raised, so I guess we were lucky in that respect. I enjoyed this...sort of a trip down memory lane for me. Thanks!

[@PaulHodgson-gm6lg]

@@4ager505 Gravity is free, my water has a hundred feet of head over a 700 foot pipe.

[@Gordon_L]

I see Michael has the ability to work under pressure 😉

[@WilsonForestLands]

😂

[@WhatDadIsUpTo]

A back-up system I'd investigate installing would be a trompe and let the water flow fill a cistern at the highest point.

[@edisoncarteresq9111]

Need a small tank, with a bleed valve, and things work great. I have the same system at my ranch. Also, pulling the end out of the creek and it all goes out for freezing weather (no cows in that pasture in the winter.

[@brian8410]

We have an identical water system. If you want a quick permament fix for a leak in the poly, install 1 or 3 hose clamps over the split and it will seal perfectly. If you don't fix it the leak it encourages the cattle to mess around even more as they try to drink from it. I installed valves to remove the air in the line. If the line gurgles with air, bears tend to chew on it.

[@nikku13]

The end. Short, but sweet.

[@jsminch]

Is that spigot near the orchard? Maybe the bears wanted to make sure that the fruit trees got watered so they wouldn't run out of fruit.

[@WilsonForestLands]

Yes it is. Someone else mentioned the same idea. You may be on to something.

[@wavekube4343]

The Wilson Forest Lands trans continental pipeline

[@danp7507]

I was wondering the length of pipe between the source and the house? Thanks for sharing 👍

[@pleinairbarnettoutdoors]

Ditto 😅

[@secondgrowthhomes]

Great Video Buddy

[@wootenbasset8631]

I appreciate your humor.

[@sswwooppee]

You’re in a nice part of Oregon. It looks just beautiful. Most of Oregon is pretty nice in truth.

[@kenbrown2808]

I got the original community water system, when I bought my house. I use it for irrigation, and there's a basin in the bedrock, so it doesn't move - but I have to dig it out every spring. I also need to make myself a better inlet screen, because I installed a fire hydrant last spring, but it only runs about 90 GPM, and I think the screen isn't letting enough water in. I lso have a bit of trouble with trees falling on the lines and busting them, because it's PVC. and they're making the fittings and pipe heavier and heavier, every year.

[@ericarachel55]

put a wye in the pipe and have two inlets so you wont have to swap positions

[@davebloggs]

I was thinking that and also that would make it so no air can enter the system.

[@ericarachel55]

@@davebloggs exactly, and put valves in too if you need to shut one side down

[@davebloggs]

@@ericarachel55 Its a good system but would not work here as we often go down to minus 20 or 30 over winter .

[@ericarachel55]

@@davebloggs I doubt they use the place in the winters as it gets cold there too, even here on long island we go below freezing quite often

[@genes883]

Would a rife ram pump not work?

[@littlerayofsunshine69]

Man, I love laying pipe.

[@davecalvo6418]

The property I just purchased in Idaho has a similar water source but we tap a spring, and the pipe is 3 inch in diameter and 3000 feet in length. The pressure 250 feet or so below where our home is located is so high that a pressure regulator is required to keep the seals from blowing out on the faucets.

[@Isaacmantx]

Two cabins next door to my parents cabin in the south San Juan’s in Co ran off this same type of setup until this August. A group of cabins finally pooled together and convinced a well driller to buy a high mohs rated hammer bit for the job. A couple cabins had been trying for a decade to get a driller to come up.

[@victorldunn9638]

The various Catch Phrases (with Cow and Bears) always bring a smile when they arrive - Almost becoming classics like Laurel and Hardy "There's another fine mess you've gotten me into!" 😂 Thank You.

[@alpine5551]

We have a big creek and a bigger creek on our property. The name little creek wasn’t available in our area until 1930.

[@WilsonForestLands]

We only have one big creek. Now I am wishing we had a big creek and a bigger creek so we can name them that.

[@N4HHE]

Water can’t suck/siphon uphill more than 30’ or so. Vacuum forms, 30’ of water weighs about same as the atmospheric pressure pushing water uphill.

[@WilsonForestLands]

It doesn’t need to siphon over the big hill, just the small 1 foot hump below the inlet. It pushes the rest of the way.

[@Sputnik2020]

Nice

[@buddyagillespie]

ram pump is cheap to make and might have save work and cost

[@BillHale-p9d]

Now the bears know about it! Darn bears!😊

[@OutbackCottageOz]

🐻⛑️🛠️ They are on the Way..

[@dennyofthepines1457]

Clearly the homestead pipe is made of a less delicious plastic

[@vanderfleet-martin]

This is brilliant

[@kevinrogan9871]

Why not put a two way water valve at the junction of big and little creek?

[@WilsonForestLands]

Mostly because things move around often in the creek. After winter flow, the hole we were using last year can wash away and we will have to use a new one that developed, sometimes upstream sometimes downstream. If we could keep the inlet in the same spot, your idea would be a good one.

[@brotherkith]

Another good interesting video. We do very similar things to our systems in Ireland.🇮🇪

[@bradduncan1778]

Does this gravity fed system need any type of filter for the house?

[@HubertofLiege]

Kidneys

[@mcblaggart8565]

@@HubertofLiege Kinda rough when one of those filters develops a clog.

[@Dominic-d5k]

stopped someone from saying first your welcome

[@WilsonForestLands]

Thank you!

[@chir0pter]

Do you drink it straight from the creek or do you treat it at all?

[@sythshowedu]

Figured it was going to be some kind of ram pump setup

[@WilsonForestLands]

Not here but there was one for a while at the cabin up the mountain. That may be a future project there.

[@N4HHE]

No issue with pipe freezing? Or is it that you live elsewhere when it is that cold?

[@gtarick1225]

It's this the guy from O' brother where art thou? These are excellent videos!

[@johnwaldrop1766]

Does it freeze in the winter?

[@WilsonForestLands]

It rarely gets that cold there. There is usually nobody there most of the winter and when it does, the pipe flexes enough to handle the mild freezing.

[@Delgwah]

Thank you

[@Peter-od7op]

What about putting shut off valve at filter.

[@georgebenz7415]

.433 psi pressure for each foot of head. 100 feet of elevation should give 43.3 psi at the house.

[@jamesmacdonald5556]

I noticed how some of your land is staircase from the cattle pushing the topsoil down the mountain. Oh well, who needs topsoil?

[@tomtwoshoes651]

wy no hydro electric looks like plenty of fall

[@WilsonForestLands]

Mostly because nobody spends enough time out there to be motivated to do it. If I knew the family was going to keep the place and I was going to spend more time there, I probably would.

[@N4HHE]

How long is your water line?

[@wonkyburn4278]

/ever thought about a well and pump??

[@charlespryor7837]

That's awesome! Does the water have to always be flowing out somewhere?

[@WilsonForestLands]

No if we shut the water off the water just stays in the pipe ready to flow when the water is turned on. Last summer there was a time when air bubbles were accumulating on the upper end and slowing the flow. But after fiddling around with the pipes that problem mysteriously disappeared.

[@TheOldManAndTheSaw]

Good video Michael. How long is that tubing?

[@WilsonForestLands]

I would say it runs up the hill at least a quarter of a mile, maybe more. Thanks Dave. maybe now that I am being slowed down by rain, I can make it over to your channel.

[@smaggies]

Ever thought of using a Ram Pump? thanks :)

[@WilsonForestLands]

There is no need for it there since it’s down hill. My uncle had one at the cabin up the mountain for a while. If I start staying up there more that may be a future project.

[@alan72688]

Are the pipes at the other place made of new eco-friendly vegetable oil plastic instead of old school petroleum oil?

[@TomTammyOffGridHomestead]

Can you put "Ts" at critical junctions with ball valves to bleed the system so you do not have to pull the pipes apart? Does your water have a Sulphur smell?

[@frankwice4864]

Do you have problems with freezing that’s my problem in central Ontario

[@moonmunster]

It looks like you don't have a reservoir or tank to store the water in. I have gravity spring water but my spring goes into a concrete tank. It has an overflow. But that gives me lots of water for dry times or doing things like washing machine.

[@WilsonForestLands]

We have never had a need for a tank. There is always plenty of water in the creek no matter how dry it gets.

[@billj503]

I love your property, Is it in southern oregon? I have been looking for a perfect place to retire with that perfect climate. would you please tell about where it is ? Like town blank is 30miles ne of the property. thx

[@dee2ski]

5gpm?

[@adrianm8852]

Do you have to boil the water for drinking?

[@WilsonForestLands]

We get our drinking water out of the spring up the mountain. Bring it down in glass jugs. In the winter when it’s too wet or snowy to get up the mountain I have boiled it. These days it’s rare that anyone’s even there in the winter.

[@rickhamm3962]

What keeps the lines from freezing in the winter?

[@WilsonForestLands]

Mild winter temperatures. It rarely gets cold enough for a real hard freeze that close to the coast. I am rarely there in the winter. I don’t remember hearing about any of the family having problems with pipes breaking from freezing.

[@robertshank8412]

Bears are somewhat related to dogs. Perhaps they just want to chew on something.

[@craigvanhousen559]

Do you have a holding tank before the house?

[@WilsonForestLands]

No holding tank. We never had a need for one since there is plenty of water flow at all times to supply everything. If we did put in a tank, it would most likely be to collect sediment, which we have talked about. But the way it is works so well we haven’t been motivated to do anything else.

[@delprice3007]

No worries about water freezing?

[@WilsonForestLands]

It rarely gets that cold that close to the coast. I am rarely there in the winter, I haven’t heard of anyone having problems with the pipes breaking from freezing.

[@woodsontr]

Does the water ever freeze?

[@WilsonForestLands]

It doesn’t get that cold there very often they are on the coast. Usually nobody’s there in the winter when it does get cold. I am usually not. I will have to remember to ask my dad if he remembers it ever freezing.

[@mcblaggart8565]

How are you filtering for domestic use? I assume you're not just trusting that creek to be e. coli free.

[@WilsonForestLands]

We don’t drink that water. We bring bottled drinking water straight out of the spring up the mountain.

[@danlynch6194]

That's begging for a small hydro electrical generation system.

[@carolewarner101]

What kind of pipe is that? What's it made of and what diameter is it? Do you have a water right or is that just grandfathered in...or? We've got a nice spring uphill but can't "legally" tap it. They'd rather force us to spend $30k + to drilling a well so we can deplete the aquifer instead of using the water up the hill. Kinda stupid if you ask me...

[@WilsonForestLands]

One inch black poly pipe. Same kind all the pot growers use. We have grandfathered water rights all documented and legit. We are very fortunate for that. I have the same situation you do at my property where the sawmill is. Will have to drill a well because the creek is off limits.

[@carolewarner101]

@@WilsonForestLands I'm one of those "liberals" who's all about conservation and no trace in the back country. But for the life of me the water laws and building restrictions in Oregon seem waaaay too restrictive to me. VERY nice to have those gravity feed lines. A couple days each year of maintenance is a small price to pay!

[@tims6232]

Did you say creek or crick?

[@WilsonForestLands]

I think I do a hybrid of the two. 😁

[@briton1509]

The bears allowing a nice thing... Sounds like insanity

[@chowtimewithruss1411]

How long is that pipe rn?

[@WilsonForestLands]

I am guessing 1/4 mile ish? Extremely wild rough guess.

[@PaulHodgson-gm6lg]

Lucky, we have to bury ours 4 feet to defeat Jack Frost.

[@beeders2]

You think cows are bad….try bison they break anything even if it’s buried

[@relentlessmadman]

what about those darn pipe eating bears???? I'd be leery of having a syphon effect on that leak in the cow Pyle puddle???

[@HubertofLiege]

Giardia

[@WilsonForestLands]

We don’t drink that water.

[@HubertofLiege]

@ we did…mom got sick

[@pleinairbarnettoutdoors]

Is this an R rated video? 😂 Up n down, up n down again, succion, little n big sizes

[@kenbrown2808]

fix the pipe the bears messed with?

[@WilsonForestLands]

Last I was there the pipe that replaced the other ones is still working.

[@davidsylvester2543]

Who's going to do all that when you can't do it anymore?

[@WilsonForestLands]

That’s a good question. As the older generation is aging it’s getting closer to the time when I am the only one willing and able. The family will likely sell before it gets passed down to me and I get that old.

[@MayorOfGoodells]

I guess we are just going to act like there aren’t any jokes about “laying pipe” in here. Seems like this might be a good situation for a ram pump. I guess if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

[@WilsonForestLands]

This place has plenty of fall so we don’t need it. The cabin up the mountain is a better situation for a ram pump. Putting one in up there may be a future project.

[@colinswainson9882]

Can I recommend a KZbin video for you to watch ? You have most of the set up already with your pipes . Please check out Marty T , he has a video teaching you how to get free power from the creek you can just add it to your water pipes

[@michaelmckeag960]

After all that exercise you are probably pretty thirsty.

[@WilsonForestLands]

Both hungry and thirsty.

[@efo1358]

Yeah I like the way of Cow! I’m not saying that they just Sh$$ honey but it’s a Good thing? Backpacking? California has a good amount of wildlife and I’ll take the Distance and boil the water! 🍦🦦🦍🌱! Your comment doesn’t make my gas tax so don’t worry! I’m getting my Diesel Truck Up and Back! 👊💪❤️🇺🇸🤧🫡🦦🌱! Redwoods are Gavin? 🦍🙃