The start of our off grid property

[topofmountain]

The wife & I bought 2 acres in the mountains of Arizona. We are surrounded by National Forest close to the Grand Canyon.
Thought I would share a few pictures. This was virgin ground when bought in Aug 2013. We have got a lot done in a short time. Water, septic, fences, & shed. I have physical disabilities & sometime wonder what was I thinking. I was a licensed contractor in my younger days. my wife & I are both from a long line of ranch families.
We are planing on building a small house. We will meet with an architect next weekend. We are in a code enforced County. That has its plus but also raises cost. But the County has been great to work with. The trick is to hire local people who are known by the County. Things go through with ease.
Hope you enjoy, feel free to ask questions or better yet give advice.

[TnAndy]

Using the black tank for domestic water supply ?

If so, doesn't it get kinda hot ?

[Tango]

I'm on my first on the grid home for the past decade almost and miss the off grid self-reliance. Godo for you. Best wishes.

[topofmountain]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

Using the black tank for domestic water supply ?

If so, doesn't it get kinda hot ?

It is actually dark green. The area gets to the 90s in days but summer nights cool into the 50 & 60. So a good point & I will see. I know the top will freeze. The top two inches at the hatch were froze yesterday. Also where I have it it is shaded a little more in summer sun.
Living on the Colorado River in the summer all water here is 90+ degrees out of the tap. I'm sure it won't be that hot. Also The tank is two feet in the ground so the water comes off the bottom of the tank.
So this is still a question to be answered. We have tons of juniper slash maybe a lean to will be in order covered with the slash.

[TnAndy]

Yeah, I have 2--1500gal storage tanks for my gravity fed spring system, but I built a 10x20 block building (3 sides....front is insulated wood wall I can remove in case I ever need to replace a tank ) to block sunlight (that cultures "stuff"), and to protect from temperatures (mainly low here).

[sisterpine]

You are in the "haul water" area of AZ then? Or really really deep well area? Looks similar to the land/property along the north rim or the ashford area. Very pretty.

[farmgal]

very pretty! I like the bush trees or whatever they are,very nice. Cant wait to follow your progress! koodos!

[LisaInN.Idaho]

Very nice! Are you near Valle?

[Raymond James]

If there were a water source I would love to live in this area. I know I like to visit.

[Jim-mi]

At least a big silvery looking tarp to reflect summer sun over the tank.
And be aware of alge growth in that tank.
A small solar powered recirculation pump/system could help keep water from getting too funky......

[LisaInN.Idaho]

Originally Posted by Raymond James

If there were a water source I would love to live in this area. I know I like to visit.

We lived in the area (but at almost 8000 feet) and had to haul water in. No fun at all. But I love northern AZ.

[topofmountain]

Originally Posted by sisterpine

You are in the "haul water" area of AZ then? Or really really deep well area? Looks similar to the land/property along the north rim or the ashford area. Very pretty.

We are North of Ash Fork.

Originally Posted by farmgal

very pretty! I like the bush trees or whatever they are,very nice. Cant wait to follow your progress! koodos!

They are a Juniper or Cedar. Good for starting fires burns hot & quick.

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

Very nice! Are you near Valle?

North of Ash Fork

Originally Posted by Jim-mi

At least a big silvery looking tarp to reflect summer sun over the tank.
And be aware of alge growth in that tank.
A small solar powered recirculation pump/system could help keep water from getting too funky......

I'm told that the dark tanks are not known for promoting algae growth. We get City water so it is treated. I just pay to have it delivered. I'm not sure if I will haul. It is cheaper per gallon, but then you have a tank, trailer, or tie up your pick up. then pumps to transfer. As long as we have a few water haul companies I'm not sure I will haul myself, or not regularly. I want a few more tanks. One to recycle our gray water. I have found some interesting easy to build filtering systems.

But a pump is a good idea. What I was thinking was the freezing of water. If it is moving it is much less likely to freeze.

I have a bunch of silver tarps. When Harbor Freight has a sale on tarps I seem to think I need more. My thought on the lean to was the small house 480 sq ft will be built in the space between the tank & you can see sewer pipes up (2) The back side of the tank where I took the picture is about 50' from the next parcel. That area is the only place you can see the house area from outside the property. We are building as much secluded as we can.

[jwal10]

Is there enough rain for collection? Can you garden at all? I have never been to Arizona, I have been to the eastern Oregon deserts but don't see any reason to want to homestead there, guess I like rain, mountains, green trees and grass. Pretty country though. I am looking forward to more pictures and how you do things there. We have a small off grid place but having just retired we are living at the beach this winter....James

[TRAILRIDER]

Exciting!

[badlander]

If you have a source for saw dust, you might want to try to get enough to pile around you reservoir. Our Amish neighbor did that with three of his water reservoirs and no problem with freezing other than a thin sheet on the top even in single digit temps.

[redneckharley]

Originally Posted by topofmountain

It is actually dark green. The area gets to the 90s in days but summer nights cool into the 50 & 60. So a good point & I will see. I know the top will freeze. The top two inches at the hatch were froze yesterday. Also where I have it it is shaded a little more in summer sun.
Living on the Colorado River in the summer all water here is 90+ degrees out of the tap. I'm sure it won't be that hot. Also The tank is two feet in the ground so the water comes off the bottom of the tank.
So this is still a question to be answered. We have tons of juniper slash maybe a lean to will be in order covered with the slash.

One of the reasons we use dark green water tanks and black is because of the fact that there coating protects from bacteria from the UV rays in the sun in our area topofmountain. Been through it for a few years now and all our white tanks are dirty big time. As far as it getting hot it has been 110* here and no problem with the water being hot. We just built a fence around ours and it helps keep it cool and warm in the winter and looks better. Just like I was telling you on the other forum. (by the way thanks for the recommendation here).

Originally Posted by topofmountain

We are North of Ash Fork.



They are a Juniper or Cedar. Good for starting fires burns hot & quick.



North of Ash Fork



I'm told that the dark tanks are not known for promoting algae growth. We get City water so it is treated. I just pay to have it delivered. I'm not sure if I will haul. It is cheaper per gallon, but then you have a tank, trailer, or tie up your pick up. then pumps to transfer. As long as we have a few water haul companies I'm not sure I will haul myself, or not regularly. I want a few more tanks. One to recycle our gray water. I have found some interesting easy to build filtering systems.

But a pump is a good idea. What I was thinking was the freezing of water. If it is moving it is much less likely to freeze.

I have a bunch of silver tarps. When Harbor Freight has a sale on tarps I seem to think I need more. My thought on the lean to was the small house 480 sq ft will be built in the space between the tank & you can see sewer pipes up (2) The back side of the tank where I took the picture is about 50' from the next parcel. That area is the only place you can see the house area from outside the property. We are building as much secluded as we can.

Being those trees look like the ones around here they are Juniper. They go up like gasoline and are hard to get out ask me how I know. If you want to get a tree out there they are easy to pull out with a decent powered truck (that's how we do it with our F150 4x4). We first tried burning it but got a little crazy. Sounds like it is going to look pretty nice.
Trav

[Jim-mi]

redneck . . .suggest you check your facts. . . . . . .""protect from UV" . . .

One very good way to clean/purify water is to pass it by a UV source (lamp)........

[Explorer]

I live in about the same climate zone except on the eastern side of the state. I have a dark green tank, 1300 gal, for rainwater collection. It fills every July from rain, no algae problems even out in the open and no treatment. The take is six feet tall and buried about 40 inches deep and even with temps in the teens and below it has not frozen with the ground temp in the mid fifties. Water stays cool in the summer also.

[topofmountain]

Hey Redneckharley, how is my young friend? Good to see you on here.
Our house will have a metal roof for that exact reason to collect rain & the little snow melt we get. I plan to buy a couple more tanks in the future.
I'm also wanting to recycle my grey water. I will build a filter to run it through then in a tank. Because Grey water will if not filtered will be full of bacteria that starts growing within hours & puts off an awful smell, & can be dangerous to water a garden.

[K.B.]

a reed bed/biofilter may be your best bet on recycle the gray water. Direct use on trees/bushes/etc... is usually the most efficient