Saturday 8 August 2015

Water Supply

As previously mentioned one of the many factors involved when originally searching for our plot of land was the availability of our own spring water.The water catchment and storage system that existed on the plot consisted of a gently sloping main feed that was pushed  deep into the hillside into a catchment shaft (well) that had been created higher up the plot. This feed fed directly into the storage tank. A separate drinking water feed had similarly been created from the catchment shaft but at a deeper level. From my observation over the last few years the main feed often dried up by the end of the long dry Cretan summers  but the deeper drinking water water feed continued to run throughout, albeit at a much slower rate.

In order to keep the supply of water for the house fresh I adapted the simple small scale system that had previously been used on the plot. In this original system the drinking water feed from the well went directly to a small (50 litres)  tightly sealed storage tank.  With the overflow from this tank, at very nearly the same level as the input, feeding into the large storage tank. This simple system meant that the water supply for the house would be constantly moving and refreshed.

With the builders already working on the site I took the opportunity to have the whole water supply system overhauled whilst keeping to the simple principles outlined above.

The old storage tank was overhauled by:

 - sealing the leaks that had plagued the system for several years,

- replacing the rough and ready roof by building up the existing walls so that the roof had a distinct slope to aid rainwater run off,

- replacing the temporary roofing material that was held in place by a series of large boulders (that every year the mountain sheep managed to move and prise off a roof panel so that they could drink and all manner of debris fall into the storage tank!!) with a permanent solution.

In addition the size of the fresh water tank for the house was increased significantly.

I also took the opportunity to have the storage tank overflow and drain off connected to a couple of large bore flexible pipes that were run across and down the site in opposite directions. These would not only provide a means for the winter overflow to be directed away from any areas prone to water logging and subsidence (see earlier post) but also form the main arteries of the future irrigation system.


New fresh water tank in place and work started clearing off tthe old roof.


"Cleaned up" storage tank ready for work to start building up walls and putting on roof. Note spring water bypass.


New walling underway.


Applying the finishing touches to the new walling.


Roofing being put in place.


Update of water storage tank completed.