Guests!
With the large number of guests about to arrive, I frantically worked to establish this on-demand water heater for our shower. It would certainly add a level of luxury for the campers and save a great deal of labor for me :-)
I installed the water heater inside the shower and ran water and gas lines. The water line is temporarily fed from a garden hose supplied by plastic barrels up on the hill.
Also, I rented the trencher and jack hammer again and dug the trench for the supply line from the well head to tie into the trench from the cabin (which in turn ties in to the trench from the shop) and runs up the hill to the storage tank.
It was while preparing a temporary store of well water in our former rain barrels that I made an amazing discovery - iron rusts!
I know, I know - everybody knows that! Even I. However, it had really never occurred to me that by simply introducing air into my well water that within a couple of days, the iron would have oxidized and settled to the bottom of the container.
There were a few clues along the way that should have been more obvious at the time. For instance, I had noticed that within a few hours of filling a 5-gallon water bottle, the crystal clear water had become the color of orange Kool Aid. Or while talking to a water treatment specialist on the phone (who was trying to sell me a $4000 water treatment system) he said "Don't let air touch your water!"
Still oblivious, I used a high-pressure nozzle on the line from the well to rinse the rain barrels before filling them with the same nozzle. As you might be able to visualize, a great deal of air was entrained in the water as the barrel was filled.
A couple days later I was checking the level of water in the barrel (which had heretofore been used only for showering) when I was surprised to see the layer of orange on the bottom of the barrel. The water was perfectly clear and had not the faintest odor. When I sampled it, there was not the slightest metallic taste. Eureka! I had discovered the solution to my water treatment dilemma. No costly equipment to purchase, no caustic chemicals to dispose of.
Also, I rented the trencher and jack hammer again and dug the trench for the supply line from the well head to tie into the trench from the cabin (which in turn ties in to the trench from the shop) and runs up the hill to the storage tank.
It was while preparing a temporary store of well water in our former rain barrels that I made an amazing discovery - iron rusts!
I know, I know - everybody knows that! Even I. However, it had really never occurred to me that by simply introducing air into my well water that within a couple of days, the iron would have oxidized and settled to the bottom of the container.
There were a few clues along the way that should have been more obvious at the time. For instance, I had noticed that within a few hours of filling a 5-gallon water bottle, the crystal clear water had become the color of orange Kool Aid. Or while talking to a water treatment specialist on the phone (who was trying to sell me a $4000 water treatment system) he said "Don't let air touch your water!"
Still oblivious, I used a high-pressure nozzle on the line from the well to rinse the rain barrels before filling them with the same nozzle. As you might be able to visualize, a great deal of air was entrained in the water as the barrel was filled.
A couple days later I was checking the level of water in the barrel (which had heretofore been used only for showering) when I was surprised to see the layer of orange on the bottom of the barrel. The water was perfectly clear and had not the faintest odor. When I sampled it, there was not the slightest metallic taste. Eureka! I had discovered the solution to my water treatment dilemma. No costly equipment to purchase, no caustic chemicals to dispose of.
