Thursday, February 19, 2015

frugal living 18


FRUGAL LIVING 18

UTILITIES

WATER, CONTINUED

Another thing you are not going to need water for is a flush toilet.  This might be a deal breaker for the spouse, but if that is so more than likely the move wasn’t going to happen anyway and that is just an excuse.  Composting your waste is not all that much more nasty than the actual act of making the waste and cleaning the residue off, and is far better than changing a baby.  If you place a plastic bag in the bucket ( I use a cut down bucket so I can use free shopping bags ), there is far less in the way of cleaning ( dump the sawdust/waste from the bag then throw the bag away in your regular trash.  The dump people are getting disposable diapers, Depends, and dog crap giving to them every day so one of your bags which may not even have one fecal smear-because the sawdust might have kept it from hitting the bag-on it is no big deal ).  For more details than you could possibly want, The Humanure Book is online for free, just search it. 

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When it is time to wash your hands after soiling the sawdust, you need to work around having no running water.  I trash picked a beer brewing barrel, but you can make your own if you don’t want to buy one.  It is just a five gallon bucket with a plastic spout on the side near the bottom.  You push the handle down to run the water, rather than it being a twist.  I prefer dish soap to wash my hands, using my non-wipe hand to pop open the top and squirt a bit on the other, lathering first without water then adding just a few drops to really get the suds going.  Then wash off under the spout ( I have the water perched atop another overturned bucket and a catch bucket under the spout ).  Sanitary and using almost no water. 

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To wash your body, you need very little water.  Now, I’m only a trim 190 pounds and I have a crew cut, so fat boys and gals with long hair are going to use a smidge more.  I use a quart to wash three times a week and a half gallon on the forth.  On alternate days I don’t wash I use baby wet wipes for my head, another the pits then crotch ( plenty of drinking water and whole wheat means I use a few wipes on my ass every day ).  On my Saturday wash I go head to toe with soap, using a half gallon, but on the other wash days I use soap just on my head ( greasy head, another reason I dislike longer hair ), pits, crotch and butt and use the soapy water last to swish my feet, using a mere quart.  The rest of the body is just a hot water on a washcloth vigorous scrub. 

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I use Mason quart jars in my hot water heater so it is easy, each one being filled 16 ounces because they lay at an angle and will leak with any more, figuring out how much water to allocate to bathing ( in the winter, I either forego the heater entirely if too cold or use the heater to pre-heat and finish up on the propane stove.  But you’d be surprised how often solar alone is hot enough-but more on that in its own section ).  I started out using a pressure spray jug like you’d use in the garden, but stopped using them both because the quality went down and they broke too soon and because using a large thick washcloth in a container of water allowed me to scrub my skin which seemed to clean better than just spraying off soap.  You could call it a sponge bath or a whores bath, but it works for me and it worked for the whores I’ve visited who were nice and clean ( this was Korea, not some nasty crack whore here ).  Even once you get to the last of the bath when the water is pretty soapy, it is still a refreshing feeling bath.  And start out at the top and work your way down as it allows a bit of water to be double duty.  I bend over the tub to first clean my head, then get in and have the container at my feet where I go from neck down cleaning ( torso, skip middle to do legs and feet, crotch and ass last ).  This also allows you to towel off each part for when it is cold and you are trying not to freeze.   For gals, I’d alternate days between hair and body.  I’m not sure how much you’d need but it shouldn’t be more than a couple of gallons a week extra.  And remember, this is for a desert dweller on a bike.  Your location might have plentiful rain and even a small shed roof would have enough catchment square footage to generously supplement your hauled water.

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24 comments:

  1. i take a dump in my backyard sometimes when i feel like it
    i don't leave tp out there, i have a collection of flat smooth rocks that i wipe with the rain washes the poop off and they are good as new.

    i took a dump at the mall and noticed (too late) that the tp holder was empty . so i wiped my butt with my socks. i threw the socks in the toilet and flushed them. it either that or skid mark city.

    nice hair
    have a nice day

    ReplyDelete
  2. me again

    almost forgot. use the clothes of your victims for a butt wipe

    remove a shirt, if its not too bloody and keep it for later, makes a good butt wipe

    i'm not taking tp with me when i bug out so i have to improvise

    still nice hair

    have a nice day

    ReplyDelete
  3. So you haul in ALL Water and do so by bike alone?
    How much per week?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. About 8 gallons. Qt a day drinking weekdays, 1 1/2 gal weekends. There is 3. 6 qts bathing, plus shave, another 3 gal max. So 2 washing hands/dishes and other cleaning. I'd say another 4 a week if unemployed.

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  4. Too bad there isn't a Planet Fitness in Elko. They are only $10 to join and $10 a month, includes shower facility unlimited use of the gym.
    How many miles to work ? Isn't the river accessible for water to bathe with or is it too far ta pack ? Or likely lined with McMansions lol.

    PS...Got your letter. Words cannot describe your generosity Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm. We have Golds, and they just opened a new one a half block away from my commute route. I've missed playing racketball ( I used to play when I was smoking a lot. Needed a half game to get my wind. Should be easier now ). That might be an idea, thanks.

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  5. You said you couldn't grow crops. Why not use the humanure and tp/wipes? Let them break down in a hole for compost?

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  6. You really need to be collecting rain water. Here in Australia practically every body in rural areas live on rain water, all untreated straight out of the tank. Much of Australia is equally dry, if not more so than your area and most people get enough water to take showers etc, fare more than you are using. Most aussies just cant believe the nonsence American preppers go on about water, it falls free from the sky and is safe to drink.

    Another sudgestion, why not dump all your excrement and waist water in the one area and grow a few fruit or nut trees suitable to your area? high soil fertility, makes up to a certain degree, for a lack of rainfall, Just a thought, might not be a lot more effort for some good results.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not having rain catchment is a bit beyond silly. It would be like not having an underground dwelling. I even have a hole mostly dug, and money isn't a problem. I just really hate renting a truck to buy the wood and tin. Like I said, silly. Need to make it a priority.

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    2. I made a 2500 gallon tank for $400 2 years back, by plastering cement over chickenwire tied against a rebar frame, faced with that floppy plastic lath used by plasterers, the rebar spaced about 2 feet apart. The structure had a couple of winds of 18 ga to keep it from sagging too much. The main input was the gravel needed for the concrete base. The whole thing took a few weeks working in the evenings. The only leak was around the sump drain which some bathroom sealant fixed.

      But, what I wanted to say was that there's an even easier way of doing it. Burlap painted with a cement slip draped or tied to whatever your form is. Then two or three more coats of slip. I've used that as a roof on the tank over a 1x2 wood frame and apart from sagging its perfect.

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    3. Is the burlap better than chicken wire/cement, ferrocement?

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    4. If you have enough of a structure to act as the frame for draping it over, yes, though it's less structural. The tank is kickproof, but the burlap would lose waterproofness to a good punch. As you don't have to make up a mortar mix and spray/trowel it on bit by bit, you just brush the slip on, so it saves time.

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  7. If you have a low spot on your property James, you can burm it and create the simplest of storage ponds. I see cattle Ponds being created this way on a regular basis where I live in the dry west. But I also think that an underground cistern would be nice to have as well, and would hold up better during the hot dry months.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just don't envision enough buildup in one, although for minimal digging and $100 liner I might try it anyway.

      Delete
  8. Home Despot in Portland has by-the-hour pick-up rental. I've used it to move what would have been multiple 4x8 trailer loads behind a car. The trick is to rent it during light traffic to minimize time. U-Haul also has light PU's in some locations (Day-rate + miles + gas).

    Roof catchment should be designed to do several jobs. Shelter underneath, aimedSouth/pitched for solar (water heating, air heating, PV, whatever), bike parking, etc.

    Is tin cheaper-better than the polycarbonate corregated panels for the desert? In Portland, the light transmission is useful for getting the most light from our dismal grey skies to dry firewood. They aren't quite so loud as tin when it hails.

    pdxr13

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    Replies
    1. I was thinking a screened porch for summer, but I already have a hole dug elsewhere. I might just go aboveground barrel, transfering the water to smaller jugs to both save on barrel cost and saving a hole being dug.

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    2. The advantages to a hole (buried water supply) are concealment and thermal inertia (less like to freeze/evaporate away). The problem is it is a HOLE something for someone/thing to trip in, needs to be dug, cant be moved, and once found cant be removed.
      The advantage to a simple barrel, is that it can be moved, is easily done, etc. Disadvantage is lack of thermal inertial, obviousness, and can tip over.
      Personally I plan on a partially buried partially insulated barrel to off set both sets of disadvantages and gets some of both sets of advantages.

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    3. That was my thinking, just bury a foot or two and berm the sides up, perhaps with a insulated pipe going to the drain spiget.

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    4. The idear that it could ever get cold enough to freeze a water tank is uncomprehendable to us Australians but if you guys say its so well I believe you. The best thing about a tank/barrel/cistern above ground is that there is no pumping involved in getting the water out, all you got to do is turn a tap.

      It is fairly common that vandals shoot holes in water tanks(yep evan here in gun free Australia). For that reason the most common caular water tank sold are beige as these are the hardest to see from a distance

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    5. Now, to be fair, the idea of folks living in a gun free habitat with venemous snakes and spiders and crap with as much water as Las Vegas is verging on uncomprehensable, but everyone tells me it is a great place to be. I think I'm envious of the lack of people more than anything else, but the cold Great Basin mimics that to a degree- which is where I get my acceptance of cold. Cheers.

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    6. Despite what the NRA will tell you, rural Australia is positively bristleing with guns, just not the plastic K-Tell poodle shooters you speak so fondly of Mr Dakin. The good old SMLE 303 are common. The area I live in get 28inchs of rain a year and by Australians standards get cold, occasionally snows. There are plenty of spiders and snakes, but hardly any one gets bitten. There are more cattle than people and sheep out number the humans by a factor of 6 to 1. You would love it here, real survivalist nivarna.

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    7. OK, I gotta admit, a whole country that loves the Lee-Enfield is alright in my book. Times like these, I wish I had a viable publishing business so I'd have an "in" to immigrate if I chose to.

      Delete

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