Water Part 2 (storage)

Next up is the water storage system. Space being an issue, I decided that 30 gallons would be a good quantity to keep available for direct use. This will be stored inside so that there are no issues with freezing.

My requirements for a storage container are not only that it is clean and strong, but also that I can empty and clean the tank of and sediment that may make it in to the tank. For this I chose a 30 gallon removable top barrel. This unit is HDPE and has a ring lock with a gasketed lid and NEW not recycled or "cleaned out". the only thing I don't like is it is, of course, blue.

The "bungs" on this drum accept 3/4" pipe and 2" pipe fittings. As you can see, there is a fitting that I already made to both fill and draw from it. the fill/drain assembly is a "dip tube". The tube goes down about 7/8 to the bottom. A word of caution here. DO NOT run the pipe all the way to the bottom. Yes you loose a bit of capacity, but you gain a settling space for anything that makes it through the filter and is heavier than water. Another note along these lines. Unless you are putting in only 100% potable water, do not drain to the bottom of the dip tube. If you do anything lighter than water that separated during storage will be drawn in to your water supply. For now I simply go by visual for the water levels. Later I am hoping to add a controller to monitor the level.

On the threaded fitting for the dip tube some minor hand work was require with the threaded adapter. As with the PVC, there is a lip in the threaded adapter to keep the tube from going all the way through. Out came the Dremel tool and the lip was ground away until the tube slipped through it.

In this photo, you can see the two valves. The valve on the left is for filling, and the valve on the right is for the delivery. To fill simply attach the water source, close the delivery and open the fill valve. When it is full close off the fill valve and open the delivery valve.

There is one detail with this that is not obvious. The valve on the left has a drain cap and is installed backwards. The reason for this is to allow the fill line to drain after the hose is removed from the outside. As I stated earlier, my fill line will run to the ceiling, across and out and back down to a tap on the outside. When I am done filling that line needs to be drained of water or else two things can happen. First is the line may freeze. More importantly though, if the outside tap is opened, the tank will be drained by siphon effect down to the level of the outside tap (about 3/4 of my water).

To prevent this, I first open the outside faucet and then crack open the cap on the valve to allow the water to be sucked back out of the line. In this way, the line is empty and i don't have to worry about freezing.

If at some point I wish to add more storage capacity, I simply need to add barrels and connect the valves to a manifold. The same thing can be done with 55 gallon barrels. Either way, I recommend open top barrels because eventually they should be cleaned and sanitized.

The next installment will begin to cover the "real" filtration system.

Water, part 1 (Introduction and pre-filter)

WATER, the single most important necessity in life. With modern convenience however it is the most overlooked requirement for living.

For the last year, I have simply used a 5 gallon jug of water with a hand pump. It is time however that I begin installing a more permanent water supply with greater capacity. As I stater earlier, during construction I installed a pipe in to the wall to bring in water from an external source. The original plan was simply to connect a hose from the house to fill a tank.

The more I thought about this however, the more I wished to make a more versatile water system. As I have lived and worked with the box, I have developed a desire to have the unit self contained. This goes back to the "portability" advantage of working with a container. The "easy" way is simply to continue with my original plan and use the house as my water source. This will require though a constant source of potable water being brought in to the box wherever it may be located. Not a very good plan if I should decide to move it to some sort of "unimproved ground".

With this in mind, I have decided to build the system with the ability to handle water from almost any source. My "ideal" would be to pump water from the source (be it a pond or stream) in to a wheeled tank and then bring it to the box for treatment and storage. Using this method and this type of water source can be dangerous to your health!!!! I personally have had food poisoning once in my life 30 years ago. I still remember it clearly and do not ever want to go through it again! It is from this perspective that I design my system.

There are multiple issues at play here and all must be addressed in any system such as this. The issues are as follows:

• Chemical contamination
• Solids removal
• Bacterial contamination
• Removal of larger organisms

Some of these are not a big issue depending on the end use of the water. Because of this I have divided my needs between "general purpose" water (washing, cleaning, toilet usage) and potable water (drinking cooking). In both "types" of water the "general" requirements are the same as outlined above. Drinking and cooking water however are a "take no chances" affair. This water MUST be as pure as humanly possible. 

So, with all of the above we begin to design the system. Course filtering and chemical separation are first up. This is the only thing I built rather than bought off-the-shelf. What I wanted was a filter able to be "renewed" with natural available materials. I also wanted it to function so that lighter contaminants would stay on top of the incoming water and the heavier contaminants would settle to the bottom. The end goal is to have relatively "clear" water exit the prefilter. 

Prefilter construction

I built the prefilter from PVC pipe. It is designed so that water has to travel down through a filter medium before returning back up to the exit. The less flow through this filter, the more likely light chemicals and contaminants will simply float at the top of the of the filter. At the same time the heavier contaminants will settle to the bottom. I started with the following pieses of pipe and fittings

What you see here are all of the pieces prior to assembly. The assembly itself is simply a "pipe within a pipe". For this version I have a 3" outer and 2" inner pipe. There are only 2 modifications that have to be done besides gluing everything together.

The bottom of the inner pipe needs to have slits cut in it to allow the water to flow through. For this I used a saw blade on the vibrating tool seen also in the picture. Once this is complete, the end cap can be glued to this pipe. I was lucky with my cap in that there was a ring molded in to it that came pretty close to centering the pipe in the 3" cap. Note, it is imperative that the end of this pipe be cut square! If it is not, then this pipe will tilt and final assembly become very difficult.

The next and last modification is the hardest part of the whole project. The collar to support the inner and outer pipe together must be modified so that it will slip down the length of the inner pipe.

Looking inside you can see the "lip" that prevents the inner pipe from going all the way through. This lip must be removed. Care must be taken though not to cut too much out of the wall of the fitting or to damage either of the bores where the pipe will be cemented. I actually had a lthe where I could remove this ring. You could however use a Dremel tool, file, die grinder or any other method you should choose. Keep a short section of the pipe that will pass through here to test fit as you go.

Here is the end result looking from the 3" end. The 2" pipe will now pass completely through.

From here, I first glued the 3" outer pipe in to the cap that the 2" pipe was already cemented to. The next step is to cement up the "T" with its fittings for the outlet. The choice is yours if you wish to put the reducer on at this point (I did). Now it is a good idea to have a section of 3" pipe cut and ready to drive the assembly down the 2" pipe with a mallet. Drive it down to where it just begins to make contact with the 3" pipe. Now put cement around the 3" pipe and drive it the rest of the way down.

As long as there is no pressure on the outlet side, it is not really imperative to cement the 2" pipe in the adapter. In a non pressurized delivery system, the collar serves the purpose of "supporting" the inner pipe more than it does sealing it. however if you wish to have the outlet side under pressure, simply measure the offset between where the inner and outer pipe will come to rest when assembled. Apply the cement and then drive it home. This should allow you to operate the whole thing under pressure on both inlet and outlet.

Here you see the finished product. The last PVC fitting to be installed is the threaded connector on the end of the 2" pipe. I want to add that I used a 2" threaded coupling so that the whole thing can be easily filled and emptied. To put it under pressure you will need to make some sort of adapter to screw in to this 2" coupling.

I made this so that I could attach a garden hose for testing purposes. The brass fitting is screwed in to a 3/4 pipe adapter.

On my first trial, I put a layer of course gravel in until it was above the slits I had cut in the inner pipe. I then filled it the rest of the way with general purpose sand from Home Depot. In testing I found that at household pressure and a 2" column of sand, I was flowing approximately 1/2 gallon per minute. For my needs, this is far too little.I however replaced the sand with gravel all the way to the top. At that point, it flowed as fast as I could fill it and would even work under gravity. In the coming days I will experiment further with filler material.

Please keep in mind my intention with this. Its purpose is simply for pretreatment and to remove some solids, scum and oils. It is not intended to produce drinking water! Its purpose is to get more life out of the "higher end" filters down the line and keep sediment out of your holding tank.

In the next installment I will move on to the holding tank.

Misc. thoughts 3/11/2015

A couple of things are going through my head today.

First of all, I stumbled across a web site on container construction. He keeps a blog about his experiences in PROFESSIONALLY building with containers. In 4 pages he has managed to put the best most accurate advice I have seen to date! I highly recommend that anybody even remotely interested in building with containers read this FIRST.

http://www.runkleconsulting.com/category/shipping-container-buildings/

After reading this I am sure there are people who may think "....then why are you building with containers?". This is a valid question and one I shall attempt to answer today.

To begin with, I like containers because they are steel. I began my professional career as a machinist / metalworker. I am actually more comfortable with metal than I am with wood. I have a hard time working wood to within 1/4" tolerances. With metal, I can and regularly do work to tolerances  of .001". I am more comfortable with a cutting torch and welder than I am with a saw and nail gun. As a matter of fact, the only thing I did not do myself in my "box" was the wood work and drywall.

I built the current unit I use after looking at all kinds of wood buildings. What I discovered was that the prices of the "shell" were actually a bit cheaper with the container compared to a prefab or onsite assembled wooden building. However, the container will hold up much better over time than what the wood building will. I figured that even if I abandoned the project, I would still have a storage building that is not only portable but will probably outlast me.

Another reason was durability. I wanted something that could make it through a storm without being completely destroyed. Here we get strong storms in the spring that regularly knock down (big) trees. If you have looked at any information about tornado and storm damage, you will see that most of the damage in a storm or (low strength tornado) comes from debris and not necessarily the winds. All it took for me was to see a 2x4 shot through plywood (and not even slowing down on its way through!).

I hold no illusions. My box will be damaged in a major storm. Since I neglected to reuse the steel I took out for the windows as shutters, I KNOW my windows will be "toast". On the other hand, the walls and beams WILL be bent up and most likely damaged beyond economical repair. However, the contents should for the most part be intact. As I stated in another posting, I do not have anything "permanently attached" in here. If the shell is destroyed, I can still use it as a temporary shelter until I can get another container dropped. At that point I will then salvage what I can and move the contents in to a new container.

My last reason was portability. They can be pulled on to a flatbed and moved anywhere. A foundation is recommended BUT not required. The stress points are on the corners only (unless you get wild cutting out large sections of the walls!). The only thing I STRONGLY recommend is that there is an air gap between the container and the ground. Steel (yes even "Cor-ten") and wood (even treated) do not like dark moist environments forever. There needs to be the ability for it to dry out. On my current box, I use solid cement blocks under the corners.

The above is after 2 years of "settling". I understand that this is not a good "permanent" solution, but I do not yet need a permanent solution. As a matter of fact this summer, the box will be moved and integrated with a 40' container anyway. Another option is like I did for the 40' unit

It is simply a form tube filled with quickrete. The way I did this was to level out the container and then insert the form and fill it to within 1/2" or so of the container corner under each corner. When it was cured I simply set the container down on it.

Two last words of warning. First is, do NOT use standard "cinder blocks" (the ones with holes in the middle)!!! They will break at the most inconvenient of moments! This includes using them under your jacks as you are leveling the container. I have about 5 SHATTERED blocks as proof of this.

The second point is when leveling do it with TWO jacks minimum! I was amazed at the rigidity of these things. lifting on one point even 1/8" brought 3 corners off the ground! I initially tried to use a single high-lift jack. THAT was a disaster and after the craziness was over, I am happy I still have all my fingers and toes!! Use two jacks and work either the sides or the ends TOGETHER. I have since made a fixture to use in the corners along with a long stroke hydraulic jack. I will show that in another posting.

The construction of "The Box" (the Interior)

The next installment of this I shall cover the interior. I will start with the floor. This took a long time to decide what to do. I finally settled on laminate. As I said in the last post, I first sealed the floor with 2 component epoxy paint. From there I layed a layer of 1/4 inch fanfold foam. Lastly I laid the laminate over top. Of course I did not read the instructions of how to assemble it first :-). It did however turn out alright.

 

Actually I get ahead of myself with the floor. The first real NEED after heat and cooling was lighting. I wanted to start with "indirect" lighting. Before I go in to details, let me just say my ultimate goal is solar, wind or water power. Because of this EFFICIENCY is my top priority. Both energy and space efficiency. Because of this I exclusively use LED's.

 

The first light was an LED strip.

 

Here I simply nailed a "spacer in to the wall with a piece of wide molding as a shade. I wanted the light but not have to look directly at the strip. At the time I got this, WRGB (White, Red, Green, and Blue) LED strips were not widely available. If I use the strips again ALL will be WRGB units. As you can see, I only had a clip on LED lamp for work light. This had to be changed and is the point where I started getting "creative".

I needed not only a light, but also some way to get rid of the condensate from the AC unit. With that in mind, I made this. The light itself is from a clip on LED desk lamp. If you notice the "water valve", that IS the "switch" for the light. It turns the same direction as any tap to turn the light on. Below that is where the condensate drain is for the AC unit. At the bottom is a normal black pipe flange to screw it to the floor. This also was modified with a pipe to go through the floor (for a drain).

As you can see from this I was already using the space. This was the reason I said in my last posting to seal the floor as soon as possible. Although it no longer sounded like a container, it smelled like one!

It is a mess (you can plainly see why I say START with a 40 footer :-) ), but here are the "in progress" overall photos. Everything I have done here, I have done with the idea of moving in to a 40 footer with this 20' connected to it for some "width". Not only is it my workspace but also "technology incubator".

In this photo, taken from the door, you can see how my desk and bed are arranged. I do not "live" here, but the bed is nice if I need a nap :-) The ladder is from a John Deere combine. In fact my favorite place so far for "decoration" is the local tractor junk yard. Second on the list is the "Pull-a-Part". In the lower left corner is a "dorm" fridge and a propane stove from an RV. Its "installation is the next big project on the list. Not being "lazy" but trying to come up with a way for the "kitchen unit" to be portable.

Now the view from the desk. Not much to see here except the stove. Most positive thing I can say about it is that it keeps it warm here :-)

 

As I said, this one is still a work-in-progress at least from the standpoint of "organization". As far as the main structure goes, the only thing I have yet to figure out is the ceiling. I was planning on a drop ceiling, but changed my mind, as I don't really like the looks of a drop ceiling. I didn't want drywall because I wanted access to the ceiling for plumbing and electricity. Eventually I will come up with something, but for now I simply do not worry about it.

 

I am hoping in the next installment I can go in to the "furniture" and other various things I did not cover previously that I think may be of some importance.

 

 

Interior Furnature

After all was complete it was time to start thinking about the "furnishings". You do not realize how big normal household furniture is until you try to use it in a small (especially narrow) space. My first lesson in that was when I moved a couch from the house into the box. There were two immediate problems. First was that the couch (or even a normal chair) took up too much width. I was left with a "path" to go around it. The same was true when I looked at "futons". The biggest problem is the angle of the back. That is a LOT of lost space when it is use and also gets in the way when not in use. The second issue is that I wanted it to be as convenient as possible to keep clean. A standard couch or chair is not exactly the easiest thing to clean around.

 

With all this in mind, my goals for furniture were:

• Easily movable to clean around
• Durable
• Comfortable
• A possibility for "dual use"
• Above all else, INEXPENSIVE

I am cheap, I will be the first to admit. I also however wish to be comfortable. The cheapness comes from the fact that I am not certain how an idea will turn out. I don't want to go and buy a thousand dollars worth of furniture, only to find out is does not fit or there is some other issue. Remember, I am in "uncharted territory here!

 

The only solution I could come up with that met ALL of my requirements were CAR SEATS. They are light, durable, comfortable, adjustable and as I found out later the right ones can be "dual use". With this in mind, off to the scrap yard I went. For this I went to the local "Pull-a-Part". I was surprised to find that ANY seat they have is $30.00. So I wandered around and looked at what was available. What I discovered was rear minivan seats were perfect for what I was looking for. Not only were they comfortable but many could also fold flat.

 

This was my first chair. I really don't remember what it came out of other than a minivan. For a base, I got a little wild and used a Harbor Freight scissor type transmission jack. After adapting the jack to the seat (some welding required), I had a seat which met the following criteria:

• Easily be moved to clean around
• Adjustable in height (courtesy of the jack)
• An adjustable backrest
• Usable as a table (when I get around to cutting the wood for the back)
• As an added bonus, a headrest

The base could have just as easily been made from some wood. This is actually what I would recommend as the jack was expensive and "overkill" but hey, it was my first shot at being "creative" and had more money than brains :-) With this (for $30.00) I have a pair of chairs which will hold up as good if not better than the most expensive furniture (although maybe not as "stylish".

Next I needed a table. If you have not been able to tell by now, my "style" for this project is "Comfortable Industrial". I was not sure what I would do for the table however I kept playing with ideas in the back of my mind. I was at the local tractor junk yard to find just the right valve cover for a hanging lamp I wanted to do.  While explaining what I was looking for the valve cover for, one of the workers there took an interest in the concept.

It was he who suggested using a tractor axle housing for the table base. At that, all the lightbulbs went off in my head. My mother (who is just as big a "packrat" of strange things as I! :-) ) had a couple wooden spool ends.

Thus I waked out with a valve cover AND axle housing. I simply bolted the spool end (after a good sanding) to the axle housing and varnished it. Next came the casters so I could easily move the table around. When all that was finished, I did not like the big hole in the center of the table. I also wanted a bit "softer" light. From this came the lamp fastened to the table. It is made of some pipe fittings, 2 electrical boxes (in which I installed a dimmer/switch and an electric outlet with USB charging outlets), a tinted "ball jar", and last but not least, the "fancy Wok lid" (polished inside of coarse :-) ).

If you decide to also do a "lamp in a jar" light, do not use anything other than an LED bulb! An LED bulb does not create the heat of an incandescent or halogen bulb and so you can get more creative with them. I was surprised how "homey" this light made it in here. In the evening with this and the desk lamp, it gives the effect of more space.

Next came the desk. You can see in the previous pictures that I had a "normal" desk. However this was both heavy and too big for what I wanted. Again, "normal" furniture does not work well in small spaces. I also wanted my desk to be semi-portable and easy to move to clean around.

Basically this is simply 2 cheap bookshelves that are hinged together. Both the keyboard tray, and the corner piece fold down. The "desk" is then closed up and ready for transport. This then sits under my bed.

I had mentioned a "futon" earlier. However I decided to make this instead. It is simply a twin bed up on 4x4's. The "ladder" is from a John Deere combine. Yet another scrap yard find :-)

You'll also notice yet another "car seat". My computer chair was only 2 years old and falling apart, this one I think will outlast me!

This one I simply went "quick and easy" on it. My only requirement was arm rests. However, as you may notice I got an unexpected bonus. This seat has a pull out cup holder that fits my coffee cups perfectly :-D The base is a simple Harbor Freight furniture dolly. For balance purposes the chair had to be put more to the front of the dolly. On the back I screwed down a plastic bin to keep "stuff" in. On the front I set it back just far enough so that I could use the front of the dolly as a foot rest. Unfortunately, this model does not truly fold "flat". However there is the nice plastic molding on the back for a little bit of flat space if needed, plus the bonus of two more cup holders.

The next "building project will be to get my stove and fridge set up. That is however down the road.

 

The construction of "The Box" (the shell)

Well, originally I intended this to be an "in progress" about my first experiences with building useable space from shipping containers. Unfortunately, I was so busy with it and neglected the "play by play". Because of this, I will FINALLY open this blog with some pictures and descriptions of the "finished product".

 

Let me first note, THIS IS NO LONGER A "SHIPPING CONTAINER" AS I CANNOT SHIP ANYTHING WITH IT. I refer to this as "the box", "useable space", or "the container", for one simple reason. I refuse to do the job of the zoning or other government agencies for them. They can tell me what they think it is. After I refer to the local or state laws, I will tell them if they are right or wrong in their definition. Remember "anything you say can AND WILL be used against you in a court of law". I will only say there is no permanent fixed connection to anything, be it utilities or the ground.

 

 

This is it as originally finished. Externally there are not many changes since it was built. All I have added outside is a chimney for the stove in the right far corner. On the upper left of the roof, you can see that the heating and cooling system is a "mini-split" unit. Originally I had planned on using this as the sole source. Unfortunately winter proved me wrong. I don't know if I got the wrong unit or not, but even with stud walls and R-19 insulation everywhere but the floor, it did not work below 32. I have since added a chimney and wood stove for winter.

 

To give a little bit about the "build detail" I include the following pictures:

 

 

Here are the window cutouts framed in angle iron. I did not go for optimum but bought the closest I could that was cheap and available (meaning local scrap-yard). These were stitch welded in place.

 

The windows are flanged on the outside and fastened in with self taping screws. Inside there are wood shims and foam to seal them.

The walls are "overkill". It is a standard stud frame with the header and footer stringers attached to the container with self tapping screws. I went to great pains to find a way not to pierce the outer shell unless there was absolutely NO OTHER CHOICE. Doing it this way, the screws only went inside the box section of the container top and bottom frame. The same was done for the ceiling.

The end was framed in with the door and a window. I did this so that the main doors could be closed and locked to secure it. I will write more about this later.

Here it is before the drywall. Conduit on the electrical outlets was overkill, but with a purpose. I did it this way, first of all, because I could, and second because it allows me to use the boxes for anything I wish. At some point in the future I could even pull heavier wire and run 12 or 24 volt DC at chosen outlets.

Last up, the drywall and vapor barrier.

There were MANY lessons learned in the construction. the techniques themselves were very straight forward. It also resulted in a VERY quiet well insulated space. There are a few things that will DEFINATLY be done differently on the 40' I have for this summers project.

What I learned --

• Unless you have no other choice, do not do a 20' container! By the time you factor in the cost of the container, and the heating / cooling system, a 40' is the best way to go. The cost of materials to finish it are not that much more for a 40'. Even if you are as "cheap" as I am and don't want to spend the money to have such a "large space", you can always finish 1/2 of it. The last thing I will say about that is, I have lived with this for 2 years now. 20' is simply small no matter how you arrange the space. Spend just one good hard winter in it and you will realize, if you wish to retain your sanity, you WANT 40'!
• Do not "cap" the main doors! Eventually you will want to move something big in or out of it. As you are standing there with your "whatever it is" sticking half in and half out, you will look at how much room you originally had there and think what an idiot you were for throwing that away. Instead cut and install your access door in the side.
• Save the money for fiberglass insulation and spend it on foam spray. Even if you use the same method of 2x4 studs as I did, have it spray foam insulated. The reason for this is that if there is ANY exposed metal (and there will be the moment you need a hole for something), you will get condensation dripping.
• Use "box" or "rectangular" tubing for metal frames. Make sure that it is as wide as the corrugation is "peak to peak". It is MUCH easier to seal this up without "gobs" of silicone. And by the way, do not silicone over foam. It WILL eat away at least somewhat at the foam.

Other than that, I cannot really think of anything I will do differently on the next one. Putting all of the electric in conduit is not necessary but it does give flexibility. If anything, on the next one, I would have had an outlet box and conduit on EVERY stud. As it is I have Ethernet cables draped overhead.

One other "minor detail", for future expansion, I also put a stub of copper pipe in going up to the ceiling. On the outside is a standard outdoor faucet. Eventually I will have a water tank of some sort, and can simply use a "double female" hose adaptor (homemade) to use the garden hose to fill the tank.

If you are in a cold climate, make sure you have a backup to the mini-split if you go that route. below about 32 it becomes worthless. I would recommend propane, gas, or even a pellet stove.

Hopefully, soon I can get to the interior. One last thing I would recommend as soon as major construction is complete. Seal the floor with 2 component epoxy paint. I am not going to get into the discussion as to whether the wood treatment is toxic or not. At the very least, it simply smells bad. With epoxy, the smell is completely gone.

If you find this interesting, insightful, or simply with to have further information, feel free to ask. I would love to know that SOMEBODY sees this :-)