I will be building a home in Duluth Minnesota.  I have been planning out all the details late at night as I dream.  I am new to building, but I am hoping to build a natural materials home (no or low pvc, treated wood, concrete, etc.).  I am also hoping to make the home as energy efficient as possible.

I had an inspiration for an alternative to a pressure tank for our well.  I wanted to run it by you all and see what thoughts or feedback you might have!  

I am thinking of using a 50 gallon glass aquarium installed near the top of my roof.  This will be about 14' feet at the maximum height, so I am hoping the gravity will create enough water pressure to run my fixtures.  It seemed like a gravity fed system would be more simple than a pressure tank with fancy valves and shut-offs, etc.  I want to use glass so that the sun can shine on the water.  This will help to vitalize the water and purify it to some extent, and will also help to raise the temperature of the water before attempting to use it for drinking, heating, or cooking.  I am planning to install a set of glass-block eaves in the area right outside of this tank so that the sun will still hit this small area, high on the inside of the roof.  There will be loose wool insulation around and below the tank, which will block this high Summer sun from coming into the house.  I plan to use some type of draw-string pulley system to have an option of pulling back this insulation for times when we might want that water tank temperature to be exposed to the interior of the house.  

I suddenly feel like I'm putting a lot of ideas smashed into a small space here!  And on just one little project in the house  

I would love to hear any thoughts/questions/feedback/ideas/suggestions!  And perhaps I'll post more of my brain-tinkering dream thoughts soon~

~Meni Menindorf