STRUGGLING WITH WATER STORAGE on our off-grid homestead in Portugal 😬

Small tip from a Waterguy, Add as much dirt against the tanks as you can to keep the water cool and...warm in the winter. It would be the best to place them under the eart completely. It will make sure the quality of the water remains better. Oh and start using dustmasks when drilling!!

If the tanks are the first thing you see when entering the property, I would have a local artist paint a mural that represents the history of the watermill.

PLEASE Brittany, look up what happens to people when their lungs get clogged up with silica dust. That's what is being thrown into the air when stone, concrete and other masonry products are cut with drills and saws. Drew hasn't had respiratory PPE on for this project and I think we all want you both to be healthy and with us for a long long time.

Rather than a mural on the tanks that may not age well, I'd suggest making the tanks mimic what the tower/turret on the house looks like. This will age better and will look like part of the house compound.

We hope you all are having a lovely Adventure Sunday! 😘😘 Mr and Mrs A

Some suggestions from someone who has done this many times over the last 50 or so years: 1: Put the outlet a least 50 mm above the tank floor level so the sediment in the bottom of the tank doesn't go into the outlet. If you then get sediment in your water you know it's time to clean the tank. 2: Drill the hole about 10-15 mm bigger than the OD of the pipe and use a 2 to 1 mortar mix to fill around it (make sure you pack it all the way through). I'd also suggest to use brass fittings as they will last a lot longer, I usually use brass all thread to go into the tank (the external threads also give you a good mechanical bond with the mortar). 3: Put the inlet so you can reach it from the manhole in the top of the tank, and use a ballcock (float valve) with a pressure switch on the pump (ie. when the tank is full it shuts off and the pressure increase in the pipe shuts off the pump). 4: Put an overflow hole in at the top of the tank and screen it (ie. some flywire) to keep the wildlife out for any pumping mishaps. This should keep you trouble free for decades.

Watching gorgeous people living a thrilling life is such a treat. The kitties are a bonus.

Sorry, this has been “one of those” projects. I’m in the process of downsizing 50+ years of accumulated junk along with family heirlooms that my Dad gave to me to sort out. He had been to overwhelmed by the task and now I understand why. In addition, I’m preparing my house for sale. I started off each day thinking, this project/task today is doable in X amount of time. I am then surprised how long it actually takes and/or some unknown challenge occurs. Thank you for the reminder that this is a part of life and what it takes sometimes to get to the good stuff. This past week was I was tossed a big unexpected challenge and this video was a good reminder that this happens to us all. So, thank you! This week, I am going to channel “Drew energy” and carry on with a smile. It might take time to get the task at hand completed, but we both have a new solutions to explore. We’ve got this!

stay 6 inches up to prevent sludge in years to come. Also on line there will be a reinforcement drawing from the manufacturer, that will help avoid the steel reinforcement. Link the tanks. Drill from the outside. Water on the drill bit to prevent damage and set the speed to the core bit. That should be a 10-minute hole.

You forgot to drill 2 holes in the top of each tank to have as fill holes and overflow. As mentioned, stay away from the bottom to prevent dirt and sand to enter your lines. Might be able to solve it with installing a filter on the outside so you won't get any in your lines.

The Plummer tape has to go the same clockwise direction as the connection. If you do it the opposite direction it won’t be tightened but turned loose when you screw the connection on😮

Watching your initial sped-up footage with the trees swaying in the background really demonstrated the fire risk in your area - that canyon is a tinderbox! Those water tanks may not even be enough! But at least now, you can wet the mill's roof when the fires come. Lots of hard work pays off.

You could dress the tanks with broken stone pieces and make it look like they are build with it. And it would match your terrace and the the retailning walls

** Drew Don't use Teflon tape on pvc pipes. It makes the threads strip out easy and can cause other problems. Teflon is made for metal pipes only.

Put the plumbers tape on Clockwise, that way when you thread the fitting on it tightens the tape rather than unravel it.

In regards to your water tanks, I would put a wide wooden walkway between the 2 tanks at the top. Perhaps with a railing at the opposite side from the hill. Then you can have have a semi-permanent ladder on the hill side to get up on top of the tanks. Having the semi-permanent ladder on the hill side will hide it a some what from the road. Then you can paint the wooden walkway and railing a shade of brownish green to help make it blend in. (Of course, without serious effort, it won't blend in. But, a little effort makes the tanks less industrial and more residential. Perhaps you can look at a tripod setup with a rope & board ladder for getting in and out of the tanks. Naturally never go into a tank with out one of you outside to act as "safety officer" :-). Even if it is something as silly as, "please hand me another of something"... Good luck, have fun, and play with the cats!

By all that's holy, I cannot understand why TWO holes are needed at the bottom of the tanks. My stupid head just cannot comprehend such difficult computation. One hole and you can make 20 different connections, input-output-cross tank, all with valves. Also, I would use a flared pipe (easy DIY with some heat) put from inside, so it's impossible to pull outwards, silicon or not, one day it's gonna fail, maybe a decade or two later, but always at the worse possible time, guaranteed.

We had concrete tanks on our farm and we had the holes drilled from the outside, no one climbed down inside them to do it. I don’t understand why you didn’t do it the same way. It is certainly much safer to do it from the outside. We were able to put a hose down inside to wash out the tank afterwards. We connected the roof gutters to our tanks to catch all the rain water. 😊😊😊

Those water tanks were truly hard work. Hard work pays off eventually. Glad putting together the e-bike and a trip to the beach sidelined your water tank work and rejuvenated you. Now…..take some time to RELAX! Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Everything you two do on this project makes me smile/shudder.😂 So many questions I have, but will not ask them because I know squat about what you are doing. Blessings.