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["Sage Austin | Eureka! Design" <eureka AT hctc.net>]

Thanks, Gene, I'll check it out.

We are still dry. Even after 12 inches of rain. Lots of folks ask how 
this can be. I have several theories, and it's possibly a combination.

We live on top of rock, and our soil is 3"-12" deep. When it rains the 
soil and plants absorb what they can and the rest runs into the river. 
Our pioneer hand dug well penetrates this rock and goes either into a 
pocket of the aquifer or into alluvial gravel. Either it hasn't rained 
within the aquifers recharge zone so that the rains can make it down the 
fault lines into the aquifer, or the river is still too low for the 
alluvial gravel to have flow. And lastly a subdivision has been built 
uphill/upstream from us and I'm wondering if those wells have taken up 
what used to flow to us.

After two months of outdoor showering in the neighbor's hydrous sulfate 
water my skin is feeling about 100 years old! I don't know what else is 
in the water, but my skin feels like it is sunburned. The only benefit I 
can see to smelling like a rotten egg is the bugs don't want to bite me 
anymore LOL! People have told me if I let it sit and outgas the smell 
will go away, but I've tried that and it only gets much worse as it 
sits. I see no point in scraping up $15K like the neighbor did to drill 
a well to such putrid water. We would much rather spend the money to 
install a rainwater harvesting system.

Yesterday I contracted a bottled water company to start delivering 5 
gallon bottles because I'm tired of multiple runs to the stores and 
lifting so many smaller ones. I'm just going to start warming this stuff 
and taking 'spit baths' as the weather cools.

Gene, my biggest concern--should we not build a ferrocement tank--is 
using a tank made of plastic. I know they are considered food safe, but 
so are the majority of plastic drink bottles that are now proving to be 
carcinogenic. How many of you out there on the list use large plastic 
water tanks and do you have any fear of them leaching or causing health 
issues?

We are considering buying one soon and starting to catch rainfall for 
bathing. They are predicting a moist fall, and it seems to be happening.

--Sage
Way Out in Texas & dry as a bone

Gene GeRue wrote:
> On Oct 2, 2009, at 4:44 PM, Sage Austin | Eureka! Design wrote:
>
>   
> > Has anyone on the list built their own ferrocement tank? I see several
> > books available about it and wondered if it was too hard or worth it  
> > in
> > comparison to buying a plastic tank. I'm just not too keen on  
> > plastic in
> > my life.
> >     
>
> Sage, I have built several ferrocement growing beds but not a tank,  
> yet. Expect such a task to be time consuming. Here is a source for  
> information on all things ferrocement:
>
> http://ferrocement.com/Page_1/english.html
>
> Gene GeRue
> www.RURALIZE.com
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