Serenity McCoy

Craftylittlemonkey:

Not sure why you are bummed about the borax,  unless your soil is super alkaline, it shouldn't be any problem at all.  Even here where ours is I still use grey water  and things grow just fine in the runoff from it.  And where the soil is acid it is excellent.

My property has an old cistern system for irrigation water to come in and then goes through 4 buried concrete tanks, with gravel and or  sand then is stored in a 5th tank for use in the house.  The house has been switched to municipal water long ago but it need to be filtered to be usable from all the standard nasty's in the water supply.

I want to put the old system back into use and add 1000 gal of storage and purification.  Does anyone have solid information on, what is the optimum sand, gravel filter set up?  Any good alternatives or additions?  I was thinking about crushed glass for part of it,  I know it works well as an alternative to sand as a growing medium for hydroponics,  here it is much less expensive than gravel.  What is the optimum size and layering to actually get clean water at the end.  Was going to go with basic round concrete tanks for the addition as the fiberglass ones are so expensive and I'm not any more confident of their potability than concrete.

Also I was reading an article where the same water after going through an RO system had coliform bacteria in it that it didn't before hand, which seems impossible but??

My plan is to clean it as much as possible then still put it through an activated carbon, RO system, but hoping to have the water fairly clean before it gets to there.

I checked with local places that sell filter systems and they want to 'come out' and test the tap water, none will test multiple samples.

Can anyone recommend a kit or alternative.  Like the original poster I need to test for a variety of things in the water and have 3 different potential water sources.  A well that is probably brackish, a cistern system with multiple tanks of gravel and sand, and the tap which still has to be filtered.

I've been wanting to try growing maca since I found out about it's amazing properties and started using it.  Where were you able to find seeds, I've been unable to locate any.

I live in a sub tropical climate so not sure if it needs more cool days then we get, anyone know?

Bleach does NOT kill mold it only bleaches it so it isn't visible.
This is a recipe my daughter uses and I rinse my shower with a bit of vinegar since I use it to also rinse my hair anyway, seems to keep the mold from starting.

3 parts water
1 part 35% hydrogen peroxide
(available at many pharmacies/drug stores)
1 cup boric acid for each one-half gallon of mixture
(water and hydrogen peroxide)
but i think i used the same amount of vinegar as hydrogen peroxide and no water
http://moldmart.net/boric-acid-instructions.htm

I've used salt in wheat paste recipes to stop mold also so could be worth adding a tablespoon or 2

I went with Soy Lock Spray foam for my metal building and am very happy with the outcome.  It is a closed cell foam and thus provides a moisture and vapor barrier.  Not only is the bui8lding metal but I choose to use steel studs to frame in all of the rooms the only wood will be decorative.  I also went with a fiber cement siding a bit of a pain to cut but again, living in a sub tropical environment termites of every variety are a major problem as is moisture, rot, rodents, and a whole variety of vermin.    I've found the foam reasonably easy to remove where I needed to, scrapes of the metal and once the surface is broken a wire brush works amazing.  I have chosen to do the spray in 2 stages, so that it was easier for the foam to cover the main structure then finishing the framing and siding plumbing, wiring etc and doing the second inch.  All of the plastic caulking  tubes that can't be recycled are driving me crazy though.  I am going to split some and see if I can use them over the wires that are exposed to keep the foam from them, we shall see, but finding a way to reuse them is high on my list.

With only 1 inch of the foam and the building being mainly open it is already 3-5 deg nicer inside than out, be it warmer or cooler; Being my existing 'house' is only 10 deg different than the outside I'm amazed.  Here most folks run their AC 8 months out of the year so being able to keep the inside temp under 80 will be a huge boon, getting close to closing the place up so we shall see.

Also I am crazy allergic to everything and so is my daughter, we have both been handling and working with the foam and in the building with no adverse reactions and that is also amazing since 10 min in any store is enough to make either of us feel ill, so once sprayed the foam is fairly MCS friendly.

We are looking forward to experimenting more with cob and other materials but it is a challenge here.  There is NO rice, or pumice around the very southern Tip of Texas is an ancient alluvial plain from when the rivers actually flowed.  Cotton, sorghum, cabbage, onions, melons and sugar cane the main crops since 'cheap labor' has sent broccoli and similar food farming south of the border.  Most farmers spray heavily which sends their pests my way, at least the birds and butterflies also like my place   Sadly all my research has led me back to steel, and concrete for construction.  I was shocked to find massive termite tunnels in some insulative foam panels I had been given that were on edge on a pallet, the termites ate right into them!?! 

Muzhik,

Thanks for the excellent link to the cob site.  That is a new one for me.  Actually the galvalum looks like aluminum foil already   but the part about cell phone service is close to the truth

Why Lime plaster vs cement?  Embodied energy or something else?  It is super alkaline here so I have a bit of concerns of adding more and It does degrade I would think.  Any ideas on pumice sources?  I have found it challenging to source a lot of things way down here that were common elsewhere.  I so wish manganese/ magnesium (forget exactly)  was more affordable, the water barrier aspect is very appropriate here, and I may opt for it in any case, they do make a stucco but the height and shape will make troweling a bit of a challenge in any case.  Spray on finishes are way easier.

Yup No big windows, a couple of north facing skylights and the other windows will open into a screened porch area, one on each end of the building, to prevent any direct sunlight.  Plus in addition to maximizing prevailing winds, there are plenty of shade trees especially along the south and west.

Thanks 

The building is being oriented to maximize prevailing winds,  and there is even a pond on that side although during the hottest part of the year it is so very humid adding more moisture to the air makes things worse.  THe pond is a necessity for water storage , and drainage during rainy season.
One of the more challenging aspects of my situation is being in the tropics,  most of the country and folks in the forums are from more 'normal' areas, I'm a transplant to here myself.
THe building is going to be a house not a garage.  My DD and Hubby have the same building and because of the curve and the cost insulated it only on the straight parts leaving the top un insulated, and have a big attic fan at the top to suck the air through the building.  It gets way to hot inside (90+) and the ac dosen't cut it.  none of us are really into ac anyway so it gets set 82 or so and even an oversized unit for the space dosen't get close, so insulation is a MUST.  Like the rest of the world weather pattern changes here are causing unusual temps and we have been 10-20 degrees above normal for most of the year,  translating into heat in the 100+ deg range with high humidity too. 
Vermin, including voracious termites of several varieties, mean steel and concrete, stone IF we had any.  YEs high embodied energy but when I think of replacing the exact same wall from the siding to the sheetrock every 2 years the consumed energy picture changes. Since I am super allergic to the world, except for tropical environments, with ocean breezes this is what I need to make work.
I am concerned about toxicity of the foams, especially since the plan was to spray the foam then plaster over it. Trying to curve sheetrock would be an insane amount of work, so spray on seems the most logical.  Not much is straight forward in this process.
I had been aware of the exterior insulators, but wonder how well it would adhere to galvilume, under heavy winds,  had also been considering cobbing the exterior but again concerned about wind damage and also possibly rust (although the building is warrantied for 30 years against rust) not sure how it would respond to torrential rain, or a hurricane since it would be more in the 4-6" thick range.  I know it isn't an insulator though,  anyone ever mix it with something like perilite like the 'insulating' concrete?
I do appreciate the responses,  it does help me to keep thinking through the options.

If you have any links or sources on the soy/ eco foams and their problems I 'd be interested.  Here we are actually insulating against heat rather than cold.  The estimates I've gotten from contractors are making the foam not that much higher than batts and because the building is arched and metal it requires some sort of alternate fastening system that adds to the cost. Plus the foams have much higher R values, plus seal air gaps.  THe toxicity is a major concern, with any building product.  It is extra tough being in an area that dosen't get much alternative anything, and even insulating isn't all that common.