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Game Over! RUNNING OUT OF WATER Off Grid

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Game Over! RUNNING OUT OF WATER Off Grid

OUR WORST NIGHTMARE; We’re running out of water living off the grid in Central Portugal, the well is nearly empty is it GAME OVER? We fit an anti vortex attachment to try get some water up our land. We go down our well with a long ladder for the first time as It’s a race against time to save our plants in our homestead garden.

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50 COMMENTS

  1. Is it game over? Our well is nearly empty, with a lack of pressure the pump won't pump 🙄
    We do days and days of trouble shooting… We go down into the well with 1 day of water left….

    On top of that the heatwave continues! Nearly always smiling though! Hope any challenges this week has thrown at you, you've overcome?

    As, always thanks so much for your support. We've been asked by so so many lovely peeps to do Patreon so you can support us and get early access to videos, behind the scenes etc…
    http://Www.patreon.com/thewildlandersoffgrid

    Thanks for watching 💚

  8. dom speak to your neighbours to see who has a bowser, someone is bound to have, we had a similar issue in Spain a few years ago, also build into the well z sump to put the pump. but for fuck sake take care going into the well for poor atmosphere and dying its that real.
    Take care good luck

  10. Wow so pleased that all your hard work and determination paid off!! You’ve done such an amazing job in your land! Love watching your vlogs and following your journey 💗💕💕

  16. I cried when I saw that IBC filling up! I found this so emotional. Just love your attitude to life……we can and should all learn from you. “Keep calm and carry on” approach and I always try to remember what my old mum used to tell me when things didn’t go to plan…”Don’t worry be happy” …..seems like you have mastered these so well! ~ Lin xx

  19. To be off grid is not that easy as many think. We are since 2 years and we run in many problems we had to fix. This year is really hard here in Portugal. Until now our well is filling back every day but we're really nervous and are praying that September will bring back the groundwater in the river and into the well. My garden has recovered from the pests which I had to fight and the very hot days when the wind came from the south. Hopefully autumn brings the much needed rain!
    Best wishes for you!

  24. No easy in off grid mode…but resilience and goals setted mind give their fruits! In the future I will consider a bore hole with a solar pump, a water pillow (citerneo citerne souple) ou a fish pond liner with a wire around mesh (buwatec netherlands) , I've these 3 systems in my 17 ha off grid plot…alternatives is to build a deep pond or to make a ferrocement water tank for rain water harvesting. Keep safe!

  26. Good work👍 hope u will have water until the rain comes, are u moving the veggies and others gowings to the bottom of valley to the next year, it looks to be green and good soil down there

  27. glad you got the pump sorted Dom you put a lot in to the land to loose it all. its hot nuff BACK IN WALES I Cant inmagine how dry it iss down there looking pukka fair play you got it sorted so lucky with the water well. thats a winner on its own hope it holds out for all your cropping 🙂 all the best the GYP

  32. Ah the vortex thing is interesting! I had a much smaller pump with the same green pipe setup trying to get water out of a very shallow cistern. Ever-flowing but it leaks so in summer the water doesn't accumulate to much of a depth. Eventually I gave up and got a submersible pump instead and it's been flawless ever since (knocking on wood), even at fairly shallow depths. Do you know if your well fills from ground water also? Or is it just a matter of waiting for the rain? Or hard to say? Great video! Pumps and plumbing sucks when it's not working but when you crack it, it feels great!

  33. Over fifty years ago when I dealt with well water level problems, the country “wisdom” was to view the situation as an opportunity not a disaster.
    Basically, well problems tend to recur. Happily, your current strategy has solved the problem for this week but possibly not for next year. So, what can you do to avoid having to revisit the issue?

    With low well water, the first thing is to keep in mind that this is a good time to clean out your well. You may very well have a foot or two of debris in there which in turn displaces water and decreases your access to a low water table.

    So clean the well while you can.
    Then the next step is to get two or three pieces of 8-10 inch diameter cylindrical clay tile.
    Then dig this into the center of the well.

    Doing this in the center of the well preserves the stability of the existing walls.
    It is important not to undercut the existing well walls.
    In a sense you are creating a well within a well.
    Keep in mind that the secondary well should be large enough to accommodate your step valve housing and accumulate water.
    It doesn't have to be large however because, while small, it effectively increases the depth of your step valve and you then access all water table supply above the level of the step valve.

    Remember to allow a short lip of clay pipe to extend above the bottom of the primary well.
    Otherwise the secondary well will become a debris sink.

    This secondary well will permit you to access a diminishing water table in the event of a prolonged drought.

    One drawback of this system is that the secondary well will tend to collect debris so it will probably need to be cleaned out every few years if you have recurrent drought conditions.

    As a young man, I assisted in three projects in which the wells were pumped out, cleaned, and augmented by up to a meter of additional ceramic clay pipe. The bore holes were actually dug with an auger style post hole digger (hand held). Two of the projects were a success, one was stopped cold by bed rock. These were variably two or three man projects and we are talking 25-35 foot wells. The projects sound laborious but actually, the two successful jobs were completed in variously two or three days. Since your well appears to be relatively shallow, the debris removal should be relatively easy using a tripod and pulley system.

    Of course all these ideas are speculative, I don’t know your geology so I don’t truly know what is possible in your situation.

    All the best

    JK

  34. If you ever decide to sell up in Portugal, head to Co Clare in Ireland, buy bit of land, I can guarantee you won't be short of water!
    And everything will grow, lots of blessings you will get it sorted, 🙏👍

  36. I am so impressed with how you have grown… I wonder if two years ago say you would have known where to start with solving that problem.
    Anyway well done and best wishes . It's 45 degrees here in Turkey most days but my garden is a lot smaller than yours. Take care.. love to I you all x

  37. Dom can't you buy water from you're local Camra ? I know Portugal is in drought but normally the bombeiros deliver water to you at a cost 🤔. I don't mean to tell you how to suck eggs I'm just curious to know if they're still doing it with the drought.

  39. The next job is to get in the Well & dig out the sediment. Every inch gained of depth will lower your problems. Also I didn't realise that you were reducing the size of the pump pipe so dramatically. An inline valve is useful to slightly close as needed to increase the head pressure but you should never heavily restrict the flow of pumped water.

  40. Well done for sorting the water problem out what a relief, heatwave in Spain too the last couple of days, we have the luxury of a tap so can imagine how hard this has been to solve in the heat can pickle the brain a bit. The plants will be happy look forward to next video

  42. Hi, great to see you came up with the best solution in the end and that the plants won’t die. Still love seeing the progress you all are making on your land and in your wilderness life. Cheers Sue

  47. Where is your non return valve on your supply line any plumber will tell you to install a non returnvalve on your system i also think with the low supply of water your head is to high this may cause problems

  49. Very cool how a nightmare turned out to be a blessing in disguise and produce a much faster water fill up system.Bravo. I remember running out of water in spain and if no water to feed the plants by the morning sun coming up then it was dead plants. Me and my mate got our citreon van and put six 100 litre water tanks in the back and emptied my neighbours swimming pool whilst he was away.haha. It took a few 600 litre trips to empty his swimming pool but done it just as the sun was rising. Oh, we did replace my neighbours swimming pool water before he got back.ha.

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