My rainwater capture system is close

[jhwalker]

Wow. Much larger than I envisioned in my mind. Very good!

Uh yes, in my mind too. 6 meters by 7 meters by 2 meters. I sure hope the engineer (JHW) had his poop together for the pressures 84,000+- liters generate...

[Brakelate]

Looks like the earth is very sturdy there. I see similar water retention devices scattered all around the Antelope Valley and out through the High Desert. Some are very old and still function just fine (when there is any moisture at all to work with). Seems we have been a serious drought for quite a long time. From the number of these things, at one point the High Desert must have had a much higher amount of annual rainfall .

[jhwalker]

Looks like the earth is very sturdy there. I see similar water retention devices scattered all around the Antelope Valley and out through the High Desert. Some are very old and still function just fine (when there is any moisture at all to work with). Seems we have been a serious drought for quite a long time. From the number of these things, at one point the High Desert must have had a much higher amount of annual rainfall .

I am pissed that we have missed 4 cloudbursts here already , but here's hoping for this year. We average 18+ inches lately, and that will take out 1/3 of my water usage.

[jhwalker]

Well, here we are after a month into the dry season, and I checked the cisterna yesterday and we have about 65,000 liters to carry us to the next rainy season, starting in late May, early June. The person who provides us water is implying some form of fraud because Casa Walker is using so little water. I invited him over and went thru the math of it all and at the end he, like I, couldn't figure out how we use as much as we do. It is all math. With the rainwater in the cisterna taking care of all outside watering, including things like washing the car, there is just no pressure on the "home" water system. It is all more philosophical than practical. My monthly water cost is down to approx $10 a month, and I could stand it if it were $20 a month... Or $200 a month. Bless that Social Security check

As far as the solar and the electrical costs, after approx 8 months, with bills coming every two months, my solar bill is stable at 49 pesos each two months -- call it 25 pesos a month. That is the administrative charge for measuring the usage and sending me a bill. At the current exchange rate, it is approx $2 a month. I actually feed back to the central system every day, and with my battery backup don't even know when the city power goes on and off (except that the stove shows a Power Fault when we move from regular (solar generated) power to battery and back). I have inquired whether they might consider paying me for my contributions to their grid and that generated hearty laughter.

I believe that solar power generation is THE perfect distributed power generation model, at least here. No (or minuscule) power loss from my solar panels thru the little box downstairs that keeps the backup batteries charged and makes the AC that we use. With the new generation LEDs which make a more pleasant form of light and use so little power, our only serious draws are the 3 refrigerator/freezers that are in the casa and casita and a couple of pumps to push water around on demand. I guess there is no reason to replace them since they cost nothing to run. And since we also heat the water with 2 on-demand LP water heaters which take about 6 seconds to get the hot water to the faucet, and LP is cheap here, heating is not exorbitant. But it is my big expense, maybe $20 a month. Now that I think about it, I might have to jump on this...

So expenses are lower than expected here, but what HAS become a negative here is that the lawlessness from some of the other Mexican states has crept into our formerly peaceful area. San Miguel de Allende is considered to be artsy, touristy, and doughy soft. All true. The country ranchos like ours (a pissant less than 5 acre rancho) have become targets for some of the gangs, so most of us have spent some time and money "hardening" our property. I recently installed a hefty safe, and am turning our closet which is decent-sized into a safe room. Our house is very hard to break into, but safety is more of a consideration now than it was when we built. It is good that I enjoy shooting, and I still practice on the average 3 times a month (we have various tactical courses set up on the range), because it feels good to know that I can hit what I aim at. The local police have told us that we should practice on our property now and then, in that it sends a message that we DO have guns and that we practice with them.
We are considering that. This has not radically changed my life so far, but we have trimmed the native grasses back a little further from the casa, added some more lights for when we come in at night. It is a difference. We will see where it leads. I do not plan on trying to be some Rambo-type at age 70. These are supposed to be the golden years.

[Tetge]

Too bad that bad guys have perceived that there are opportunities where you live, but, this is not expected since where I live, they have to travel to find anyone with significant value to jack. If they stay in our hood, all they can get is cast off electronics and $4.37 in change. Better to follow a new BMW home after they hit the ATM, but, the BMW will definitely not be living anywhere near my hood. And, of course, large fancy estate like properties with nice big houses on them, generally do not belong to the poor. So, true or not, one might expect to find better loot in one of them. However, all crooks know that it is best to strike when no one is home, unless you are doing a home invasion because you need the safe opened..................

And, if they know that you have guns, and they still come, you can bet that they too will have guns, and, they will be prepared for a shootout. Of course, they can have AK47's and rocket launchers and stuff like that since they are outlaws.

[jhwalker]

Too bad that bad guys have perceived that there are opportunities where you live, but, this is not expected since where I live, they have to travel to find anyone with significant value to jack. If they stay in our hood, all they can get is cast off electronics and $4.37 in change. Better to follow a new BMW home after they hit the ATM, but, the BMW will definitely not be living anywhere near my hood. And, of course, large fancy estate like properties with nice big houses on them, generally do not belong to the poor. So, true or not, one might expect to find better loot in one of them. However, all crooks know that it is best to strike when no one is home, unless you are doing a home invasion because you need the safe opened..................

And, if they know that you have guns, and they still come, you can bet that they too will have guns, and, they will be prepared for a shootout. Of course, they can have AK47's and rocket launchers and stuff like that since they are outlaws.

Most of the crooks here are small time opportunists, the police say. And relatively, in this town I am far down the economic ladder. There are more attractive places to enter, and easier to enter. And most of the folks here are wimpy liberals (meow) who faint away at the thought of not being a willing victim. I drive around in a dusty old Escape and these folks are driving the Mercedes suvs (dumb shits). It is all random.

[Tetge]

I have heard you whistle this tune before, as in, we were the poor white trash of Bell Canyon. But, of course, the bad guys don't know all that if they are not locals. But, I have to concede that if they are going to car jack someone, a Mercedes would be an apparently better choice than an old dusty Ford. In my hood, some people have accused me of being extremely wealthy because I drive a bottom end, stripper, Mustang 5.0. Interestingly, their Accords and Toyotas and SUV cost more than the Mustang, so perceptions remain important.

You could set up full sized human targets on both sides of your driveway, down by the entrance from the road, with lots of head shots done to them. That might send a message such as..........

Welcome to Casa de Walker. Those that you see along the driveway came without an invitation.

[jhwalker]

I have heard you whistle this tune before, as in, we were the poor white trash of Bell Canyon. But, of course, the bad guys don't know all that if they are not locals. But, I have to concede that if they are going to car jack someone, a Mercedes would be an apparently better choice than an old dusty Ford. In my hood, some people have accused me of being extremely wealthy because I drive a bottom end, stripper, Mustang 5.0. Interestingly, their Accords and Toyotas and SUV cost more than the Mustang, so perceptions remain important.

You could set up full sized human targets on both sides of your driveway, down by the entrance from the road, with lots of head shots done to them. That might send a message such as..........

Welcome to Casa de Walker. Those that you see along the driveway came without an invitation.

Hell, did I privately email you my plans? I will actually position some used targets over where a trail enters our property.

[jhwalker]

Last year, my attempt at creating an additional water storage area pooped all over itself. Unlike the area on the property where I created the rainwater cisterna (now holding más o menos 85,000 liters of rainwater), which was water-tight BEFORE I built a concrete box and lined it with superman's cape,
the 40' by 40' by (average) 4.5' Pequeño Lago Walker which will hold 200,000 liters of water when full (50,000 gallons) has bottom and sides with fractures and the water leaks immediately. Or it used to. It seems to be sealing itself, which is cool, but next year I am going to seal the bottom and sides which will give me 280,000 liters of captured water, that if required could be run thru my home purification systems to keep my tenacos full for a year if TSHTF. I'm not really a prepper, but with the solar / backup batteries, water capture, the reloading -- and our planned veggie gardens and some other stuff we don't talk about, we are dabbling. I don't know whether I really want to fight the fight but I don't like the alternative either.

[Chad-1stgen]

So is all of this consistent with your neighbors places or what do the locals think of your water, power, etc. backup solutions?

That rainwater recapture sure looked like serious business in the pics!