Unusual plumbing and water supply question

[rural living]

Hi All,

I have an unusual situation, and am not sure where to look for advice. Hopefully someone can direct me to the most appropriate forum or an answer.

My father has a small fresh water lake-side house. There is no mains water supply. We do have mains electricity.

The present water supply is from a small stream running off the hill behind the house, down to next to the house and into the lake. There is a dam about 30 foot (height) up stream which supplies a holding tank some 10 feet lower down.

The holding tank then runs to the house, giving a drop from the holding tank to the house of about 20 feet.

This is adequate pressure to wash, run a bath etc.

However - the supply coming off the stream has very poor (dangerous) access, making maintenance hazardous. My father is getting older, and I worry about him damaging himself when cleaning blocked pipes, or clearing a vapour lock. This happens frequently.

Is there some way to get fresh, potable water from the lake (which is a matter of feet from the house), that is going to be easy to maintain, won't freeze during the winter, and is pumped into the house under pressure?

Thanks in advance!

 

[rpm]

You answered your own Q in the last 8 words.

 

[rural living]

I thought so.

Do you know anyone who could advise on the best way to do this? Clearly I'm concerned about ensuring that the water is potable, and that the supply does not freeze over the winter

 

[Best]

This is an unusual post.
If this is a genuine post, then I would advise that the local authorities need to be contacted to see what they allow and if they need to test water samples, both as it is now and if source is changed to pumped direct from the lake.
I know of a very similar situation where a stream has a dam and then a pipe into a stainless steel tank to feed a house and this water is regularily tested.

 

[rpm]

Been many a year since I worked on this sort of set up, contact these people in the link below when you have fairly accurate measurements of from where to where, how much water required and so on.
If they don`t help I`m sure they can point you to somebody who can providing it is in the UK, is it in the UK? Only ask as not many hills and lakes in London 🙂
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj5iruf3aPaAhWEyaYKHQcODPwQFggqMAA&url=https://www.pumptechnology.co.uk/&usg=AOvVaw324U83lZIHGXgnRLYg8459

 

[SimonG]

Try these. I used them for a job out in the sticks. Pumped from stream to 2500 litre holding tank through 3 stage filter, then through biological filter.
Water tested as not suitable for human consumption due to contaminants, dead sharp, excrement and chemicals.

https://www.eastmidlandswater.com/m/default.asp

 

[rpm]

Try these. I used them for a job out in the sticks. Pumped from stream to 2500 litre holding tank through 3 stage filter, then through biological filter.
Water tested as not suitable for human consumption due to contaminants, dead sharp, excrement and chemicals.

https://www.eastmidlandswater.com/m/default.asp

Thanks Simon that`s another one I`ve not heard of but looks good.

 

[rural living]

Thank you for the suggestions above.

My father is based in rural Scotland. The existing water supply dates back about 40 years, and is served by a dam in a stream up the hill (or burn if you prefer).

As far as testing is concerned - sheep graze on the hillside, and one year I found a sheep's carcass in further upstream, badly decomposed. We don't drink the water as a result. Again, ensuring potable water would save the costs and hassle of boiling or buying water as we do at present. However, I am led to believe that if the water supplies one domestic residence, and not a commercial premises, the Scottish councils are not interested in testing.

My thought was to hire a mini-digger, dig a trench from the lake to the house. Lay in some 32mm pipe and pump it into the house.
The main concerns are then:

1. Ensuring adequate biological, mechanical and UV filtration so that the water is potable.
2. Ensuring that the pipework and pump do not freeze over the winter.

I will review the above. Thank you.

 

[rural living]

I've emailed the above two companies. Thanks.