Water catchment in Elko County or out in the sticks

[pengyou]

For those of you living off the beaten path (not just in Elko) where water is a bit scarce and digging a well can be as expensive as the land is cheap...has anyone ever considered installing an in ground swimming pool with a liner? The pool would probably have to be put an extra 3' below ground to avoid freezing. It would require a cover of some sort to prevent evaporation, and some system for it to not become a swamp...but a 20,000 gallon whole pool set up is about $5K, not that you would need 20,000 gallons.

[bilmac]

Google wildlife guzzlers. Building them in dry areas for wildlife used to be popular sportsmen's club projects. Might give you some ideas. I didn't realize swimming pools were that inexpensive.

[Jerry D Young]

I think it is a great idea. However, I would go ahead and build a greenhouse over it, with a three sided room built on the end (preferably the north end) as the poolside area, lounge, and place to put the pump & filter and other associated gear.

Could even add enough solar water heater panels to keep it above freezing. I do not think I would try to heat it enough to use in the winter, but keeping it from freezing would be a big help in terms of preventing some major problems.

Something like that has always been part of my plans if I can ever get a place.

That way you could use the pool water for everything except drinking. Well, unless you install a reverse osmosis filter for it. Not sure it would be worth that expense, though.

Just my opinion.

[pengyou]

Originally Posted by bilmac

Google wildlife guzzlers. Building them in dry areas for wildlife used to be popular sportsmen's club projects. Might give you some ideas. I didn't realize swimming pools were that inexpensive.

The pools I am talking about have steel siding and a rubber lining, not concrete or fiberglass.

I just did some research and found out that using swimming pool liners is not recommended because there are chemicals that can leach into the water. They do, however, make liners that can be used for water storage.