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getting water in winter from the hose from the springhouse

Luckily, the spring is still running. Unluckily, the last couple hundred feet of the water hose froze. So far this has been only a minor inconvenience for getting water in winter months — much better than the alternative of a completely frozen water source. (Knocking on so much wood right now…)

Running water from the springhouse

The spring house is about 700 feet away from the front step of the yurt. In the fall we salvaged enough 3/4″ maple sugaring lines from the woods to run a water hose from the spring into the yurt “yard” — not right up to the front step, but just about 50 feet away — which made gathering water so much easier than hauling from the creek, another 50 feet away.

Frozen water hose

The first night the temperatures dipped into the teens, the last length of the hose froze. Our theory is that 700 feet is simply too far for the spring water in the hose to be exposed aboveground to the frigid air — it can’t travel that far without dropping enough in temperature to freeze up solid. (We weren’t about to dig a trench 700 feet long to bury the hose below the frost line, which is around four feet where we are!)

The good news

So the good news is the hose is still running more than half the distance from the springhouse and we don’t have to walk all the way to the spring itself.

The other news

But we do have a walk into the woods when we need to restock water, which is about every other day, for filtering and drinking and for doing dishes.

Walk with us!

The video here illustrates the walk, with a cameo from Henry our golden retriever.

Off-grid homestead exercise

While we do have to walk farther than before, at least the water is still running. And carrying 12 gallons of water several hundred feet — around 96 lbs — means there’s no need for a gym membership.

Maybe we’ll start our own fitness regimen. Lots of hauling and lots of coffee and pie…

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