Thursday, November 3, 2011

water, water everywhere - and that's a good thing!

here at Framboise Manor we are fortunate to live on a beautiful, clean river/estuary (empties into the ocean) that is fed by 6 mountain streams. being that we are 5 minutes from the ocean - we have water everywhere!

most of the members of our two communities (Framboise/Fourchu) have spent the money to have springs and wells dug. thankfully the Manor came with an already dug 4-crock concrete well. although it is safe to drink - it is full of minerals and a lovely shade of brown - not too enticing-looking in a glass! although all of our plants appreciate the mineral-laden water! and although all of our community members have offered us the use of their springs - we have no need. we have our own special, little set-up that we have been using for years now. we used this set-up back in the city and although a lot of people tell us that it seems complicated and would take a lot of time - we say back - heck - we wash our own clothes by hand for the love of cheeze whiz! and boiled snow to flush our toilet all winter! we love a little work!

we use our rainbarrels to collect delicious, salt-filled, mostly un-polluted cape breton rainwater and then run that water through our two Berkeys. if you have never heard of a Berkey Water Filtration System - go look it up and then get yourself one. or two. they are the absolute best water filtration system out there as far as i am concerned! and i have left probably 2,000 comments all over the net about the Berkey's and ya know what - it's probably high-time that they started paying me for all of this free advertising! naw ', 'jes teasin' witchya'!

we LOVE our Berkeys. we have used them for over 4 years now and they have never failed us! we also stocked up on a life-time supply of filters. not a purchase that we made all at once, mind you, but that is what prepping is about - planning and budgeting for your preps.

anway - we collect rainwater, something we are never short of here, and run it through the Berkeys. then we pour the filtered water into 5 gallon standard water jugs and place a jug in our water cooler dispenser. easy as pie. and delicious!

here's a pic of our high-tech set-up (jambaloney was an IT specialist, remember!). we put in a brand new gutter-system all around our roof, collect the water in this rainbarrel and fill the top of the Berkeys with it. in about 2 hours, the water is filtered, and then we put it in the 5-gallon jug hidden underneath the green towel. the green towel is our high-tech way of preventing algae from ever growing.



it takes 2 days to fill a 5-gallon jug as we only do this once in the morning. if we did it twice a day - we could fill a 5-gallon jug in a day. anyway, once the jug is full, we move it to the dark area of the basement until it is ready to be used. we have three 5-gallon jugs always at the ready, at any moment. when we run out of water in our cooler - we just haul up a jug from the basement. here's the water cooler - it works pretty good too!



it is just a standard, ordinary water cooler - no fancy gadgets, no ice-making machine, it doesn't make hot water. we don't need hot water from our water cooler. one nice feature though is that one button provides freezing cold water, whereas the other button provides room temperature water. so we don't have to use a lot of electricity to keep the whole jug kept at a freezing temperature - just the water in the reservoir is kept freezing.

and here is a pic of our little well. that little well pumps water 150ft away from the house at a 30ft elevation - that little thing works wonders! we always have water as soon as you turn on a tap - well except for last winter when all of our un-insulated pipes froze. but we have rectified that situation!!!! and that was not the well's fault!



this spring, we plan to begin installing a solar/wind system. but, being that we have those 2 beautiful Berkeys - we can run river water, ocean water, melt snow, marsh water, pond water and even puddle water through it - so at this point - we don't need to store water which makes more room for food storage and seeds.

we understand how fortunate we are to be surrounded by a variety of water sources - and that is a very good thing!

14 comments:

  1. It would be a hard decision between your fresh spring water (filtered of course) and your rainwater method! Both sound like great sources of H2O!

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  2. Right now we have one rain barrel. And the water is used for our garden. I would love to get a Berkeley water filter system. Right now I have two water bottles that we use for hiking. Fill the bottle, filter is at one end. And squeeze, and drink. They are good for 20 gallons, then you have to replace the filter.
    I fill my canteen, then fill the bottle. And carry both when in the hill's. I have gotten water from some pretty yucky place's, and the water from the bottle taste's just like it came from the tap.

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  3. Tanya - thanks for stopping by - i will go over and check out your blog as well! i must admit though - that we love the rainwater best!

    Flier - get a Berkey! you already know how good they are. and like you say - you can put any water in there and it comes out delicious! the Berkey website gives all kinds of tests to try - like putting wet mud through it and out comes delicious water. or put food-colouring in water and put it through the Berkey - out comes clean, delicious water. of course i tried both of those things - teehee. and it worked.

    i swear - Berkey should be paying me for all of my advertising!!!!

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  4. I've wanted a Berkey for years and just haven't pulled to plug to purchase. (say that five times fast)

    Nice setup you guys have.

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  5. Stephen - i know that our set-up is pretty high-tech - bahahahahah! but ya - get yourself a Berkey. the two that we have are called "Travel Berkeys". they come apart in two seconds and go back together in two seconds. so if we ever needed to get out of here for real, those Berkeys would be loaded in the canoe. the Berkeys filter any kind of water. and that's a good thing!

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  6. Good story, something to look into next year after we move.

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  7. Rob - for sure buddy. and just to let you know - there are no ads on this blog and there never will be. if i say that i looove a product - it means that i really do. and i love those Berkeys. they have been a godsend to us.

    so please - think about it, start saving and get yourself one or two.

    your friend,
    kymber

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  8. I have a Travel Berkey in my room and a Berkey Light (without the light) in the kitchen. We have county water and I swear I can smell the chlorine when I pass by the sink. I have both the black filters and the flouride filters installed. I adore them and I'm not a water drinking fan. Makes the best coffee and tea :)

    Nice set up you've got there. I'm going to have to find me some rain barrels.

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  9. Howdy Ms. Bunny Ears and Jamb,

    I avoided the Berkey and bought the Aqua Rain. The claims were about equal, but Aqua Rain made here (US), not England. Got he big four filter model with lots of filters. Run a lot of water through mine too.

    Only serious comment is we DO need some mineral in our diet, usually in the water. Just plain rain water often leaches minerals out of our bodies so do pay attention to mineral needs too.

    I finally got home after all the trials in my life lately. Found I no longer own the house. The mice took over and kicked me out. Of course, you know this means WAR!

    Winston

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  10. Tango - i am glad to hear that you have both! and both types of filters - as do we. i wasn't ever a big water drinking person until i got the Berkeys. it's just the idea that i am drinking rainwater i think - bahahahah!

    Winston - i am glad that you are back - don't you owe me an email??? when i was doing my research years ago - Berkey seemed to be the best system and i am not sure if i heard of Aqua Rain. i wish i had have as jambaloney and i always prefer to buy Canadian and if not Canadian, then American.

    you have had some pretty tough trials lately. but to come home to mice - oh man that sucks. yep - bring out the soldiers and the big guns!

    thanks to everyone for stopping by!

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  11. mmasse - i sure do hope you get one - it would make an awesome Christmas present!

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  12. I am thinking about getting a water filtration bottle for my daughter and two children, one is man-sized, 17. The girl is 10. I was looking at Katadyn because of a recommendation. Can you give me the differences or why you chose the Berkey? Oh, I am using swagbuck dollars, so this should cost me under $100 or I cannot buy it. I am not looking for an everyday use. In NYC if they should ever face a water crisis, I want them to at least have something for a short span. I read the Katadyn filters were easily broken. Can you give me a clue as to merits of either?

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  13. Oh, I am only getting one hiking-type bottle for the three to share so they will not drink polluted water. I know that is not much water for three, but for now, it will have to do.

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  14. PracticalP - i have heard that Katadyn filters work very similarly to the Berkeys...but i have no practical experience with them.

    can you use your swagbuck dollars on a travel-sized Berkey? if not, get whatever you can. i think that for the most part, all water filtration systems will work, at least for the short term.

    i am sorry that this answer might not be as helpful as you might like. are there any readers out there who can fill in for PracticalP?

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