Waterworks
A system for getting fresh water is something that we usually take for granted, but not at the Island. In the early years we went down to the harbor with buckets and carried them up to the kitchen. This was a lot of work, so the search began for a better way to get water. A hand pump on the kitchen counter was the first thought, but even with a perfect vacuum you can only draw water up about 32 feet. The kitchen counter is a little higher than that above the lake level. A hand pump just out in front of the cabin was tried but was still too much work pumping and carrying the water.
The final solution described here was to install a gasoline pump down near the water (so you would not have to draw much of a vacuum) pumping the water up to an overhead tank in the corner of the kitchen.
The gas powered pump is usually run once a day.
People are always curious about how we treat the water. We do not treat the water and have never had any problems with it.
Once
the pump was in, Dave's thoughts turned to a shower as pictured to the
left. Note the excellent ventilation -- no need for a fan here. A
shower curtain can be used but it seemed more of a nuisance than it was worth. Besides what more
privacy do you want (unless someone is taking the outhouse path which is
just the other side of the small cherry trees in the picture.)
In the other direction the view (if not the privacy) is great.
A shower begs for a hot water system and this is it. On a sunny day it works great and on a cloudy day it helps.
(Of course on a sunny day you can bathe in the cold harbor or lake, but older folks often prefer a hot shower.)
Rev 6/2/04