Rescue Journal

water conservation at saints

Carol  ·  Jul. 10, 2010

ok..i thought i would give this a shot while i drink my tea.

the two most important rules are...

the second we run out off water...TURN OFF THE WELL WATER PUMP IMMEDIATELY and leave it off til i come home to deal with it....the pump breaker switch is on the breakbox in the closet in the computer room..it is marked..WATER PUMP....just flick that breaker switch off.

if we keep trying to get water or if the pump runs continuously trying to fill itself up from an empty well...we will burn out the motor on the pump again and saints has NO money right now to buy a new pump.

the second rule is...DO NOT WASTE EVEN A DROP OF WATER....RECYCLE AND REUSE WATER WHERE EVER POSSIBLE.

so....when changing water bowls and buckets...both house and barn...any not soiled or not contaminated water from bowls...pour into a single bucket and use it for one drinking bucket somewhere...rotate that bucket each day so an area gets a day of recycled water followed by several days of fresh water.

soiled or contaminated water gets poured onto garden plants or dry grass (not down the sink or out on the dirt or cement where it doesn't do anything or anyone any good.)...(bleach cleaning water does get poured down the sink tho cuz it will kill plants but if it is not too dirty..it can be used to clean the outside cement,)

when running hoses and taps...DO NOT LEAVE THEM UNATTENDED EVER...overflowing water running into the dirt or down a drain is a terrible gawd awful waste.

DO NOT USE BIG BLANKETS OR THICK BEDDING FOR DOG BEDS...only use thin fleece..also shake out and reuse if not dirty or wet...we need to cut the laundry back to a bare bones minimum every single way that we can.

please collect, take home, refill and return filled 1 gallon milk water jugs from your home if you can....we need a large supply of fresh emergency water on hand.

there are large 5 gallon jugs outside next to the feed shed..if folks can fill those up for us from home too and bring them back one or two at a time..we will have a decent emergency water stash.

city folks on city water don't think about how much wasted goes down the drain..but here at saints all of that water that is wasted could keep us going with water here for an extra couple of days.

the cost of water delivery has doubled since last year..it now costs $350/a week...that is $1400 per month that we cannot afford...PLUS running out of water with 140 thirsty and hot animals and a very busy water provider who has a 48-72 hour turn around for delivery can spell total disaster around here.

we all need to pretend we are now in a desert with a very small canteen and make sure we use it well and very, very carefully.

we are on strict water restrictions until 4 weeks after the fall rains start...this is usually mid to the end of october...that is a very long way away.

Comments

vadie

or can you drill your well deeper?

just a thought...which i'm sure you have thought about..

see you in sept.I can't wait to see the upgrades this year.

vadie

Lory

A question for SAINTS to consider: Should we try to raise funds for a new well?

If we are spending close to $5,000 a year on water delivery, maybe we should look at this.

We would need to get an idea what a new deep well would cost but perhaps we could find a well digger with a fondness for our guys who would give us a bit of a break on the cost.