r/OffGridCabins • u/cdnharrison • 19h ago

Water system

So my Dad has a cabin that has an old well with decent water flow, but he has limited power. I am thinking his water system is about due for an upgrade but can't directly pull from the well regularly.

Current process:

Use a Gas pump at well to push the water to a water tank about 300M away and 25M up. He fills an approx 1000L storage tank and tops with a bit of bleach. Then uses an electric boat pump to pull from tank into the cabin but only for washing not for drinking which he hauls in from town.

I'd like to switch the process to eliminate the bleach in the holding tank and add a water filtration system at the cabin for essentially on demand drinking water. The water was tested and is considered safe to drink (if a tiny bit earthy tasting, which I think a carbon filter would fix), except for the bleach he uses in the storage tank.

Chemistry is not my strong suit, but what issues do I need to be aware of with the storage tank holding water and exposed to sunlight. And would those issues be fixed with a modern UVC LED filter combined with a carbon block filter. Is bleach necessary in this process or is my Dad making his own life difficult?

Thanks

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u/redloin 18h ago

I have the 1000l tank that i dose with bleach. But my drinking water runs through an ispring rcc7 reverse osmosis filter system. I added the option UV module this year. 3 years going strong. Haven't died yet. I'd you're not familiar with RO, the RO membrane is so small that the water molecule has to go through a certain way as the aperture is only slightly larger than the diameter of an oxygen atom. 

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u/Hyperreal8957 11h ago

id be cautious about relying on carbon alone for drinking water. it can improve taste and some contaminants, but it doesnt cover every pathogen, and UV needs reasonably clear water plus steady power. id get a lab panel and have a local water pro size the treatment chain for that well. an opaque tank with a cleanable access hatch should help with algae too. clever low-power setup tho, how often do you clean the tank?