Sunday 6 July 2008

Mains Water

Last Sunday I had a visit from the mayor, finally after months of waiting the water board had sent the estimate to connect my property to the mains water supply.

The good news about it was that I would only have to pay 50% of the bill, the bad news was that my 50% still amounted to €15 000.00. The mayor was in shock too; "Bring the signed devis back to the Marie if you want to go ahead" he said and left me to mull it over.

Well after a few days thought I decided that it is just too expensive so rainwater harvesting is the route to go. When I first thought about it last year I realised that my roof is ideal as a collecting area as it large. We have just had a little over two weeks without rain though so I need to go back through the rainfall data I've collected over the last 15 months and see whether that is the longest gap between rainfall and how often it's likely to occur. Then the next few weeks will be spent finding out how much water I actually use so I can go through the calculations on size of holding tank.

Other news is that my daughter, C, and one of my son's, G, and his girlfriend, M, have arrived for their summer breaks so posting will be even more erratic - but then that's summer here in France, as the weather gets hotter time in front of the computer diminishes.

11 comments:

VP said...

Crumbs that is a big bill - hope the calculations work out. Don't forget to add a some extra just in case - you may not have had the worst drough period the region experiences since you've been there.

As for not blogging - family, friends and indeed life are so much more important, so enjoy your summer. We'll still be here when you return :)

Living the Dream said...

Gosh what a water bill???? Certainly needs a lot of thought, good luck with that. As for the family, enjoy every moment and we will be here whenever you want to pop back

Alan said...

You should check out Jack-of-all-thumbs at http://selfsufficientsteward.com/ His blog details his switch to rainwater from a well. Lots of info, and I'm sure he could give you some pointers on getting it set up.

Lots of luck.

aims said...

Holy crap! Are they going to give you gold or diamonds through the mains?

I never think about these things here in Alberta, Canada. Perhaps if I didn't live in town then I would have to. My parents had a well and it never ran dry - so there just wasn't any worry.

But! I hear washing your hair in rainwater is to dye for!

aims said...

(I couldn't resist - the word verification was dyrfo...)

Alan said...

Jack just posted a video walk through of his rain catchment system. You should check it out. http://selfsufficientsteward.com

Breezy said...

Well a bill like that would certainly make you think twice!

Georgina said...

I think that devi is way too expensive. You have you well as a back up, I think you should definitely hold off and look at the rainwater route. Debs x
P.S. Did you say hi to the Maire for me? ;-)

Anonymous said...

We manage on well-water, as did the old Frenchman before us. Unlike him we have loos, showers, baths, washing machine and dishwasher, and in the winter we have to water the cows and sheep that are inside. We do have disasters - recently we have renewed the water tank, are on our 2nd new pump and have had the well-pump-tank piping renewed - the water being unavailable whilst work is being done - generally in the winter!!!

We had a counter installed by SIGEP our local water authority for about 550 euros, and were going to have a friend with a digger dig a trench up the 1km. drive for us. Research the possibilities as your devis sounds rather expensive.

I still catch rainwater for the plants though. Good luck.

dND said...

Hi all,

The 'problem' with the mains water here is that the nearest point the mains is to my house is over a kilometre away on commune roads - actually it's probably nearer a kilometre and a half. so most of the bill is for the pipework, and roadwork that will be the communes responsibility so it's not something I can do myself.

I've had a quick look at the link Alan's given me and that is very close to what I was thinking about. It's now a question of sourcing and pricing it. I would prefer above ground tanks as you can see if they are leaking and would be easier to replace but so far only found reasonable priced underground kits (Leroy Merlin), but not really doing that much at the moment as fencing is the main priority

dND said...

Hi FFS,

My concern about the well is that I was over half way down it last year with a low water usage but reasonable rainfall last summer. Added to that my neighbours grow maize which they need to irrigate, last year none of them had much maize in but will have this year and I do fear it will deplete my water supply, plus the possibility of run off from their spraying.

I think I'm fine for a while but it's 'future proofing' the house and it would be wonderful to have soft water and not have to scrape the calcium off the taps and sinks too.