Off-Grid Water for Beginners

How big a tank? How much roof? What pump?

Most off-grid water books are survival books. They tell you water matters, list a dozen ways to find it, and stop exactly where the useful part begins. They never tell you whether your roof can supply your household, how big your tank must be, or what pump and pipe to buy.

This one is a design manual, written by a licensed engineer, with the real numbers worked all the way through.

YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:

• Build a water budget from your actual fixtures, not inflated averages
• Calculate what your roof collects, month by month, and check the year adds up before you spend a dollar
• Size your tank with a monthly water balance - the core method most books skip
• Work out tank weight, siting, overflow, and first-flush diversion
• Calculate gravity pressure, pump head, and pipe friction - and see why one pipe size can cost a third of your pump's work
• Size a pressure tank, chain your treatment stages, and calculate solar pumping energy
• Plan for wells as backup, cold climates, drought years, and the real cost per gallon