Water storage in attic

[rhart]

I have been working hard to be better prepared for disasters. I have a big generator that can operate my whole house. I am on a well and a septic but I started thinking about the fuel useage and its quite a bit. I have been thinking about how to get by without the generator running all the time. I got to thinking about storeage tanks in my attic. I have this huge attic and was thinking, if I had a storage tank up there, I could run the generator long enough to fill the tank overhead. Do you think I would have enough water pressure from gravity? I am aware of the weight... 8 lbs per gallon and all that. I have a good place in mind that I could brace up from below in my garage. In the summer it would be hot, in the winter cold, not sure about freezing. Even one 50 gallon drum would flush a toilet like 30 times.
Im sure this has been discussed before but I couldnt find in on a search.
Anyone else thinking along these lines?

 

[E5RANGER375]

if you were gonna possibly be without power for a long while(like a month or more) i wouldnt waste your water to flush toilets. because esentialy you are wasting fuel. i would get a campers potty and dispose of it outside. no water needed (uses bags). stock up on baby wipes, and a couple 5 gal portable solar showers. I think water AND fuel storage is a great idea. the fuel i would keep inside the garage and discuise it somehow. if neighbors find out you have fuel in a disaster you will be harassed and maybe robbed. just my 2 cents

 

[Woodsman]

Here is something you can use to estimate the maximum available pressure: 2.31 feet of water equals 1 psi. Therefore, to get just 10 psi of pressure the water would have to be at least 23.1 feet in the air. Then, even if you get this height to generate the pressure you also have to deduct the pressure loss of the hose and fittings to get the water where you need it.

This might work if you want to store the water off of the floor and drain it into buckets, but the transportation of the water via piping is questionable.

 

[shibumiseeker]

You get 1psi for every 2.3 feet of head (with no line loss).

Residential water pressure varies from 30 to 50psi. Lower than 10psi and
most appliances have problems, and water heaters start to "bump."

Rather than rigging a tank in the attic, a MUCH simpler proposition is to T a pressure tank inline with your municipal water system, just downstream of the shut off valve inside the house, and add a check valve between the tank and the shut off valve. Then add a valve inline with the system anywhere convenient and attach a fitting. Get a pump you can pump water from a nonpressurized source (110v, 12v, whatever) and you can pressurize your house system.

A 50 gallon pressure tank, small pump, and fittings, will provide you with a day's worth of normal usage water for a single person or couple, and cost less than $500. Smaller pressure tanks are cheaper. In my off-grid system, I use a 1.2gpm 12v diaphragm pump for the entire house, and we have an 80 and a 50 gallon bladder pressure tank. When the pump is running it takes about an hour or so to recharge the tanks (tanks aren't empty).

 

[Woodsman]

You get 1psi for every 2.3 feet of head (with no line loss).

Residential water pressure varies from 30 to 50psi. Lower than 10psi and
most appliances have problems, and water heaters start to "bump."

Rather than rigging a tank in the attic, a MUCH simpler proposition is to T a pressure tank inline with your municipal water system, just downstream of the shut off valve inside the house, and add a check valve between the tank and the shut off valve. Then add a valve inline with the system anywhere convenient and attach a fitting. Get a pump you can pump water from a nonpressurized source (110v, 12v, whatever) and you can pressurize your house system.

A 50 gallon pressure tank, small pump, and fittings, will provide you with a day's worth of normal usage water for a single person or couple, and cost less than $500. Smaller pressure tanks are cheaper. In my off-grid system, I use a 1.2gpm 12v diaphragm pump for the entire house, and we have an 80 and a 50 gallon bladder pressure tank. When the pump is running it takes about an hour or so to recharge the tanks (tanks aren't empty).

This is essentially the same thing my parents had for their cistern. I didn't remember that and would agree this is a much simpler solution.

 

[Mr.Hoppes]

You get 1psi for every 2.3 feet of head (with no line loss).

Residential water pressure varies from 30 to 50psi. Lower than 10psi and
most appliances have problems, and water heaters start to "bump."

Rather than rigging a tank in the attic, a MUCH simpler proposition is to T a pressure tank inline with your municipal water system, just downstream of the shut off valve inside the house, and add a check valve between the tank and the shut off valve. Then add a valve inline with the system anywhere convenient and attach a fitting. Get a pump you can pump water from a nonpressurized source (110v, 12v, whatever) and you can pressurize your house system.

A 50 gallon pressure tank, small pump, and fittings, will provide you with a day's worth of normal usage water for a single person or couple, and cost less than $500. Smaller pressure tanks are cheaper. In my off-grid system, I use a 1.2gpm 12v diaphragm pump for the entire house, and we have an 80 and a 50 gallon bladder pressure tank. When the pump is running it takes about an hour or so to recharge the tanks (tanks aren't empty).

Where did you get the 1.2gpm diaphram pump at? I am looking for off the grid resources.

Thankyou

 

[shibumiseeker]

Where did you get the 1.2gpm diaphram pump at? I am looking for off the grid resources.

Thankyou

Orschelins, $45 (or so with tax). It has a built in pressure switch and you can use a screwdriver to raise or lower the setpoints (though they don't mention this in the manuals). I used to use a Shur-Flo 3.6gpm pump (I have two) but liked the lower current draw (and price) of the smaller pump. I was afraid it wouldn't last very long as smaller things like that seem to crap out more easily, but it has been in service 6 months now with no problems.

Several manufacturers make them from 1.2 to 3.6gpm, some with pressure switches, some not. Shur-Flo is the biggest name, but other brands are cheaper and appear to have the same internals.

 

[88E30M50]

The big problem with water in the attic is weight. At about 8lbs per gallon, that adds up quickly. 100 gallons is not much water, but would put another 800lbs on a structure that might not be designed to handle that much weight in a small area. Sure, there's a lot of free space up there, but it was never engineered to support that kind of weight.

 

[rlspach]

Water in the attic to me always seemed more likely to create a disaster than mitigate one. I bought one of these and keep it in the basement.

Water Storage - High Capacity Water Storage | SureWater

 

[Astrocreep]

Um, I say storing water in your attic is 'Doing it the hard way'.
No chance that your rafters are going to be able to support any significant amount of water.

For what it would cost to reinforce the ceiling enough to drop even a 100gal tank in the attic, you could build a decent cistern.

Dig/build a cistern:
Cistern - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Easy, inexpensive, and humans have been building them for centuries.

IMO, the only thing you should store in your attic related to water is empty containers and chlorine for emergency purification.

If you're on a well, buy yourself a hand-pump wellhead and store it in the attic too.
If the power goes out, swap it for the electric one and you will have all the water you need.

 

[CountryBoy19]

The old timers used to do it. They had a water tank in the attic that supplied water to the house, the wind-mill only pumped when the wind was blowing so this was necessary. Basically the tank acted like a buffer for when the wind was/wasn't blowing. The 150 gal tank is still in my parents' attic.

 

[rhart]

Thanks for the feedback. I have a well and a generator so I can move water at will. I just want to be able to do it without running the generator every time I want a shower. I think the best suggestion was from shibumiseeker with his 12 volt water pump idea. The only thing I would need then is to keep a 12 v battery charged. No problem. I think with a 55 gal watertank and the 12 volt pump, plumbed into my water system, I can live more or less normally. I would think that guys with water storage tanks would want to do the same. I cant imagine running up and down the stairs to the basement filling water jugs to bath, cook or flush. I think with the pressurized 12 v pump, a 55 gal tank and some pvc pipe, I can make this happen for around 100 bucks without a pressure tank. The pressure tank would make it even better for an additional 150 bucks or so. And, why would I want to carry out my waste when I can flush into a perfectly good septic system?

 

[csaws]

The old timers used to do it. They had a water tank in the attic that supplied water to the house, the wind-mill only pumped when the wind was blowing so this was necessary. Basically the tank acted like a buffer for when the wind was/wasn't blowing. The 150 gal tank is still in my parents' attic.

Those same old timers had true dimension lumber, non engineered "woods" and other strong well built materials in their structures. They stopped building quality buildings when they stopped using those products.

I too vote no on the water in the attic, I however vote no for a different reason, in all likelihood you will never or very rarely use it, the chances of your house burning down are far greater and the chance of someone (a firefighter) being in their looking for you or your loved ones is far greater... they won't find you or get to you with a huge arse water tank laying on top of them.

 

[DanS26]

Thanks for the feedback. I have a well and a generator so I can move water at will. I just want to be able to do it without running the generator every time I want a shower. I think the best suggestion was from shibumiseeker with his 12 volt water pump idea. The only thing I would need then is to keep a 12 v battery charged. No problem. I think with a 55 gal watertank and the 12 volt pump, plumbed into my water system, I can live more or less normally. I would think that guys with water storage tanks would want to do the same. I cant imagine running up and down the stairs to the basement filling water jugs to bath, cook or flush. I think with the pressurized 12 v pump, a 55 gal tank and some pvc pipe, I can make this happen for around 100 bucks without a pressure tank. The pressure tank would make it even better for an additional 150 bucks or so. And, why would I want to carry out my waste when I can flush into a perfectly good septic system?

Most people don't realize this, but you can flush your toilet without water pressure. If you pour two/three gallons of water into the bowl most toilets will flush themselves without any water in the tank.

 

[jclark]

How are you going to protect it from freezing?

 

[kolob10]

Water in the attic brings to mind several issues:
1. weight
2. Possibility of leakage to rooms below
3. heat (reducing the shelf life for drinking water).
I would bury the drum before it went into the attic.
I have a pond and water filtration so I'm lucky I quess.