There are several types of water we had to contend with at Our Country Cottage.
1- Water we want to get in
2- Water we want to get out
3- Water we just want to control
1- Water we want to get in
– Drinking water
– Cooking water
– Washing water
– Cleaning water
– Water for the toilet
At this time, all our domestic water comes from a 240 foot well. The hole is lined with a six or 8 inch steel pipe There is a 1 horse power submersible pump at the end of a long flexible pipe that is at or near the bottom of the well. Below the frost line there is a clever connector on the side of the steel pipe that joins the pump line to the cottage underground and in through the wall of the utility room.
Once in the cottage the water goes through a 5 micron filter to eliminate any sand or grit, etc, and into a pressure tank. This is a large tank that has a diaphragm in it that splits the tank into two sections, one with water and one with air. You can’t compress water but you can compress air. As water gets pumped in the air compresses and allows pressure to build up. Without a system like this, every time you would turn on a tape the pump would run. The pump draws a lot of power but it only takes about 2 mins to get the tank up to pressure. This is done automatically.
The water is then split into hot and cold runs. The hot going through the solar preheater and then the in-direct hot water heater which is heated by the electric boiler.
Note water was tested for bacterial and chemical content before consumed.
The rest of the cottage is very much like any city house plumbing. PEX pipe was used and might be a bit more forgiving to getting frozen.
I had a switch put by the back door that makes it easy to turn the well pump off when we leave for any amount of time. This reduces the amount of water damage that could happen if something broke, not to mention the power that would be wasted pumping water everywhere.
2- Water we want to get out
– Used drinking water
– Used cooking water
– Dirty washing water
– Dirty cleaning water
– Used toilet water
Like the water system for water we want in, is similar to any city house, once inside the cottage, the water system to get unwanted water out is the similar inside the cottage to city houses.
One thing, however, because we are dealing with a septic system you must only put septic system, friendly, things in it or you might kill the bacterial action required to break stuff down.That will include everything that goes down the drain one way or another.All soaps, cleaners, detergents etc. I stopped using SOS pads cause I couldn’t find anywhere that said they were septic safe.
Also, only use paper products that are septic friendly and that break down easily. No flushing of tissues or paper towels etc.
Septic safe items are not that hard to find. I found that 21 million households in the USA are on septic systems and over 12 percent of Canadian households are on private septic systems.
Once out side, though, the waste water goes into a two stage septic tank. Solids collect and breakdown through bacterial action. That is to say solids become liquids. It is then pumped from the second stage of the tank to a septic mound.We had to go with a septic mound because the ground, where a septic field would be, had too much clay and didn’t drain fast enough.
I would have rather have a gravity feed system but the septic mound was higher than the septic tank. I didn’t have too much say in the matter. I have yet determined how much power the pump uses as it runs so infrequently. After a couple of years, I am not too concerned.
There is an audio alarm in the utility room that will go off if the septic tank ever gets full. When that happens, there is easy access to the septic tank inspection hatch, so that it can be pumped out from the drive. Trying not to think about it.
3- Water we just want to control
– In the summer, rain
– In the winter, snow and ice
– In the spring, rain and melting snow and ice
Our country cottage has eaves troughs much like city homes, to get roof water away from the cottage and garage. Because we have metal roofs the eaves troughs are strapped every foot and a half, or so, so that when an amount of snow lets go on the roof it doesn’t take the gutters with it.
The country cottage garage is lower than the cottage and results in the drive entrance sloping down to it. This collects a lot of water when it rains heavily.
We have a grate that is the full width of the garage just in front of the main door that ties into the cottage weeping tile system. There is a heat cable in the grate trough and all the way to the weeping tile drop off. I turn this on manually if the trough freezes solid. Something I keep an eye on in spring.
I mentioned a weeping tile system. Weeping tile is basically a pipe with holes in it that is run at the footing of a foundation around a cottage or house to collect water ad divert it away from the building. In a city it can go into the storm system but at our country cottage it is directed down a hill, well away from the building, and is day lighted. Yes you can actually see the pipe resting in a gravel bed in the day light.
The cottage has two sump pumps, one in the battery room and one in the utility room. These are plastic tubs (sump basins) about 18 inch across and 24 inches deep, that are set into the floor with pumps in them. If water gets to a certain level, in the tub, the pumps turn on and pump the water out to the side of the cottage and dump it on the ground where it drains away.
These sumps are a safety thing that will prevent water from filling up the rooms where electric things live. The sump in the battery room has never seen water while the one in the utility room has an episode long story associated with it.
The grounds around our country cottage have been contoured to drain surface water away from the cottage and garage during heavy rains etc.
Chores or stuff that needs to be done on a regular basis.
-check charge level of batteries (SOC, State Of Charge)
-check propane level
-check gen hours run
-check gen oil level
-check house batteries acid level and top up every 45 days
-measure specific gravity of batteries
-gather data from data loggers (room temperatures mainly)
-collect data from solar electric system
-collect SD card from cottage surveillance cam
-collect trail-cam SD cards and check battery level
-change water filter
-clean filters in air exchange unit
-clean leaves and debris out of eves troughs and grate in-front of garage
-get well water tested
For pictures and more info, you can visit our website at “ourcountrycottageanarrative.com”
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With this episode we have covered the major systems of our country cottage.
In the next episode I will look in to what I might have done differently and start telling the story of how Our Country Cottage came to be.
Till next time have a good one.