3 ms·

A battery that can drive a decent water pump for any length of time is going to be big, not so much cheap. And you also need metal pipes and sprinklers unless t

by beachy 3y ago

A battery that can drive a decent water pump for any length of time is going to be big, not so much cheap. And you also need metal pipes and sprinklers unless they're buried, or they'll melt in the heat. And those "few 50 gallon drums" won't last for long - 200 gallons will be gone in less than one hour, and that's with just one sprinkler. You'll likely want multiple. Source: live in the bush and speccing out exactly this.

sliken 3y ago
I'm shopping houses in areas surrounded by trees. Sharing any notes/conclusions you have would be appreciated. My current investigation is along the lines of 8-12 50 gallon drums, a couple sprinklers, and shared use of a power wall or similar battery, and some solar panels to keep the batteries topped off. Was hoping that either physical presence or sensors would help use the water when it's most helpful by watching temps, wind speed, and humidity. Certainly I'm planning on other steps like removing any leaves/pine needles from roof and gutters, metal roof, screens over all intakes, and keeping anything flammable from near the house (and especially within 1-2 meters).
- beachy 3y ago
  Good luck, I am just starting on the research, though we live on rainwater already so have quite a bit of infrastructure to support that. In our case we have 3 x 25kl tanks (so about 20k gallons), with the tanks all concrete and buried which is good for this application. We also already have our own water pump which is inside a building being protected. In our case the 3 tanks all come in to the pump more or less separately, so one required action is to install check valves in each line so if one of the lines is compromised, the others won't leak out through it. As you say, maybe physical presence or maybe sensors. We need to assume we might be forced to evacuate and still want the system to operate, but also consider we might not be able to and might be trapped on site. In our case the water supply should last for at least 24 hours, so I am hoping it will be feasible to just turn it on as we are fleeing, hard to say though. If you have a lot less water you will need to be much more judicious about when to activate it - as late as possible but not too late. We have a Honda EU20i generator which with an extended fuel tank should run for at least a day. Our biggest problem is that one of the buildings is built from cedar. I am not sure how practical it is to prevent such material from catching fire under extreme conditions,m even if it is well hosted down. At least the roof is metal!

by beachy 3y ago

sliken 3y ago

I'm shopping houses in areas surrounded by trees. Sharing any notes/conclusions you have would be appreciated. My current investigation is along the lines of 8-12 50 gallon drums, a couple sprinklers, and shared use of a power wall or similar battery, and some solar panels to keep the batteries topped off. Was hoping that either physical presence or sensors would help use the water when it's most helpful by watching temps, wind speed, and humidity. Certainly I'm planning on other steps like removing any leaves/pine needles from roof and gutters, metal roof, screens over all intakes, and keeping anything flammable from near the house (and especially within 1-2 meters).

beachy 3y ago
Good luck, I am just starting on the research, though we live on rainwater already so have quite a bit of infrastructure to support that. In our case we have 3 x 25kl tanks (so about 20k gallons), with the tanks all concrete and buried which is good for this application. We also already have our own water pump which is inside a building being protected. In our case the 3 tanks all come in to the pump more or less separately, so one required action is to install check valves in each line so if one of the lines is compromised, the others won't leak out through it. As you say, maybe physical presence or maybe sensors. We need to assume we might be forced to evacuate and still want the system to operate, but also consider we might not be able to and might be trapped on site. In our case the water supply should last for at least 24 hours, so I am hoping it will be feasible to just turn it on as we are fleeing, hard to say though. If you have a lot less water you will need to be much more judicious about when to activate it - as late as possible but not too late. We have a Honda EU20i generator which with an extended fuel tank should run for at least a day. Our biggest problem is that one of the buildings is built from cedar. I am not sure how practical it is to prevent such material from catching fire under extreme conditions,m even if it is well hosted down. At least the roof is metal!