Utilizing the Utilities…

   Before we get started today I thought I would start with a couple of announcements…

   First, I highly suggest that each one of you take the time to check out this episode of Survival Podcast… It is exactly what I believe about our current system and how we all need to be working to find our freedom in new and creative ways. Jack Spirko as usual has some fresh, if not profound, ideas about retirement that we all should at least spend a few minutes pondering.

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/episode-278-preparedness-as-a-retirement-plan

    Also, I want to remind each of you to take advantage of  the subscriber form I added to the site, this allows me to alert you when new content is posted… Thanks!

 ____________________________________________________________________

   Alright, where were we? I think I was telling you that I had made a few mistakes along the way. I suspect that I haven’t made the last of em either… Well, I know I needed to come back a step and explain what was required in getting the utilities all connected to our new home.

Where the water starts, the well head...

 

   When I refer to the utilities, I mean the power, water and septic system… That might seem somewhat self explanatory but before getting into this project I hadn’t realized all the steps required to complete that.

 

   Water and drilling the well are things we have already covered. However, how the water gets from the well or even the well house into the mobile home is a couple of additional steps. First, the water is pumped up and enters the well house through the floor. It then connects into our water system that travels to our utility water hydrants outside and then into the home. The entire system is pressurized through the use of a pressure tank inside the well house. This tank is kept pressurized by the well pump. Whenever the well pump is switched on, this happens automatically as needed when the pressure drops from use, the pumps pressure will recharge the pressure tank. This pressure tank creates the “water pressure” we all use inside our homes.

 

   The next step in getting the water from the well house into the mobile home was running the water lines. These lines are how the pressurized system inside the well house gets extended to the home proper. As you would guess the water lines are buried down in trenches dug for this reason. The depth of these trenches is important, they must be below the local frost line.  This is the depth to which the ground freezes in the winter months. As long as your lines are kept below this depth than you shouldn’t have problems with freezing up or bursting of the pipes. Just for example our trenches were 48 inches deep. We were told that 36 inches would have been alright but I felt better with that extra foot!

 

   Another place that needs your attention when making the water connection is under the home. Typically the water line is trenched to just inside the skirting around the house. At that point it angles up out of the ground allowing it to be connected at the point designated by the manufacturer. It’s in this area from the ground up to the connection point, maybe a few feet, that your pipe may be exposed to the cold air under the house. Often the heat from the home will be sufficient to keep the exposed pipe from freezing. There are also a number of products that are made to assist you with this if you feel that its necessary. These would include electric heat tape and various configurations of pipe insulation. I chose to wrap our pipe with multiple layers of pipe insulation. This worked for us last winter which was quite cold and there was more often than not, very little heat from the house to help!

 

  

 

One of four perk test holes for the septic system

So now we have running water. That was a nice improvement and we were excited to have that system connected. However, the thing about running water is that it has to keep running… Through the tap, into the sink or tub and then down the drain… Oh, but its still running even after you can no longer see it. It must have somewhere to go! Surprise, the septic system. A marvelously simple system, at least ours was, for giving this running water somewhere to end up. In many areas the septic system has undergone a radical change. Some systems now require electric pumps and fancy control centers, etc. We were fortunate that ours only needed to be the more traditional style. That meant a 1000 gallon 2 chamber concrete septic tank and roughly 150 feet of drain field lines.

 

   We hired our dirt guy to come dig what are called perk holes. Our county requires 4 holes be dug about 48 inches deep. The department of ecology will then send out their inspector to evaluate the holes to determine if a septic system can be approved for that location and of what design type they would require.

 

   After the DOE has come and given their stamp of approval for your design then you are free to install the equipment. For us this required Mr. Dirt Guy to come back out and install the tank and drain lines. Once these were installed I was free to connect the house to the tank. This septic line also had to have a trench to accommodate running the line at the specific incline/decline required for good drainage. The last thing you want is to make a mistake while doing this installation. Fixing a problem of this nature after you begin using the system, well it wouldn’t be pretty.

 

Caps to access the septic tank for maintenance

 

   The septic connection was made at a central point under the home also established by the manufacture. I didn’t have any trouble getting this all hooked up and running. 

   I had these both done and  moved onto the next priority, which was the electric connection. This was again a fairly easy job but required care be taken so as not to electrocute myself before reaping the rewards of electric power to the BOL.

 

   We had the meter base and power main already set. It is code where we are that this meter base be located not more than 30 feet from the home. It was just a matter of one last trench and a 3 inch conduit being laid to run the large gauge wire in. If proper care is taken to minimize the angles required in this conduit, the effort in pulling the wire can be greatly reduced. The manufacture had a convenient place to make the connection already in place, of course. It is a straight shot from the homes sub panel, located in the master bedroom closet, down to below the floor level. It took a little extra digging to get my trench directly below where the existing conduit came down from the house but easy enough in the grand scheme of things.

 

Meter base for feeding the house and well house

  

   With the conduit in place, it was time to pull wire. We used what’s called a bull tape, like a mini tow strap, to pull the wires through the pipe! First you have to get the tape to run the length of the conduit. I had heard a tip that you can use a household vacuum cleaner to suck a plastic grocery bag attached to a string. This worked unbelievably well! Zipped right through with the string trailing behind. Simply attach the bull tape to the string and pull it through next. Followed next by the wiring. Now this took alot of elbow grease to get it pulled in. I had the neighbor outside feeding the wires down the conduit, while I was inside pulling for all I was worth.

 

   A few hours from start to finish and we had power! It was exciting to have the last step in place and everything start feeling like a real house. Remember we had been staying in the fifth wheel up until this time. Nothing like a real shower after working in the dirt all day.

 

  

 

Power Transformer

We began using these systems as they came on line, as you would expect! With these all in place I turned my attention to the skirting we needed to enclose the exterior. You already heard about that… While framing in for the skirting I noticed a small puddle of water, at least I thought it was water under the house. Upon closer inspection it was directly below the septic line connection… NO, not leaking there? Yes, leaking there! Keep in mind we had been using the plumbing, including toilets for a couple of weekends by this time.

 

   Well, back under I go to inspect this issue. The connection I made was fine, this is good news and bad! I had to open up the belly plastic to go looking for where the “Water” was coming from? After pulling a section open around where the pipe comes through, I found the problem. There was a fitting that connected the back bathroom drain with the one from the master bedroom. This is where the leak was coming from, right at where the connection was made. Now this is all good and fine to know where it comes from but now this joint had to be cut out and refit with a new piece. This meant I was working in tight quarters and unavoidably directly under the soon to be severed septic line.

 

  We started by running a large volume of clean water through the drains. This helped assure that I wouldn’t be cutting a pipe with much black water, as its called. Whether it was true or not it helped psychologically. It turned out to not be to difficult of a fix after all. I needed to get a little creative with how everything got reconnected  but this to was a good experience.

 

   I continued checking this joint for as long after the repair as possible. Right up until i fully enclosed the area with the skirting. Problem solved, I think that the pipes must have been flexed in some way when they were disconnected for the move to our land. With stress on the joints it makes sense that they might not hold. I don’t anticipate having to go back down for round two, at least not at this joint anyway! Keep your fingers crossed, I know I am!

 

   Alright, now we have everything back in timeline order. There’s still alot to tell in how this all came together and is still being developed but thats enough for today. I’ll be back tomorrow, see ya then!

 

Prepper