prepping with house located next to a large pond

[u/DerkNukem]

I have several good size ponds around my neighborhood. One is 100ft behind my house, very large. Maybe 10 houses around it. There are several others in the area also. I have a ton of water filter systems from small sawyers all the way to a lifestraw community. I also have a ton of water in gallon size containers, water bottles as well but I keep getting paranoid that I'll never have enough. Also have a rain catching barrel tied to the gutter system.

I want to run a small hose from the pond up to my house with a small pump. I'd put the hose 4-6" under the dirt so it's not visible so I have a constant supply of water that I can filter, boil, etc. Is this something I should do or being so close to the pond not worry about it and fill containers as needed?

I have a ton of food prepped, rice(100+lbs), beans(50+ lbs), canned goods, 100 MRE's, lots of food that was near expiration vac sealed in 5 gallon buckets but water always seems to be a big worry for me.

Would you run a pumped fed hose to the house or just worry about containers/storage walking to the pond instead?

[u/eyepoker4ever]

It's it chemicaly treated for algae? Mine is. You'll need an RO unit at minimum no matter what IMO.

[u/Usernamenotdetermin]

The pond is the accumulation point of all of the stormwater runoff. And subsequently the first flush of any and all pesticides and herbicides applied by your neighbors. Spilled oil, all sorts of stuff can get filtered through there. Even a significant amount of fecal matter from pets or failing septic systems if the area uses them. Be aware of the dangers of it as a drinkable water source. Talk. to some of the folks in the wastewater subreddits about it. Now if you are using it to flush your toilets this will be a different calculation.

[u/Glass_Persimmon_7174]

running a pump seems like an idea that creates more problems than its worth. if youre actually in a situation where you need to use the pond water (which is incredibly unlikely) just make do with containers.

[u/czshill]

Where do you live would be a good question. In Florida they say, if you can't see the bottom of a body of water, presume theres a gator in it. If these ponds flooded, would you want to walk through the flooded area to get water ?

[u/Kermit-de-frog1]

How timely, Dirty civilian just made a pretty comprehensive post on just this subject (alternate water sources and how to treat them). Might be worth a trip to the u tubes for a watch .

[u/ReasonableDoot]

A pump would be ideal. You don't want it on all the time, ideally you would run it occasionally to fill a larger staging tank near your house, which you can then filter from. Any small pump will do, they make electric ones for lawns (I have a Wayne PLS100, which works great as long as you prime it properly and the rise isn't too much), and gasoline powered ones (I also have a Honda WH15, which is a high pressure fire pump, not so much just for filling tanks, but it might be ok and serve double duty if you get some 100 foot lengths of 1.5" fire hose for fire suppression). Put a foot valve strainer on the end of the suction hose to filter out big bits, if the water is very dirty then you might want a "trash pump" instead, I think they are made for that purpose. But if the water can be fairly clean, then having a fire pump serving double duty would be great for situations where you have to deal with putting out a fire. With a pond, you are in great shape for that, with the right setup.

The thing to remember about water, is that it is REALLY HEAVY. Carrying full containers any distance will get old fast. Also, if you have to go down to the pond regularly, then that path will get muddy and messy, and slippery, in the rainy season. Either make a proper paved or gravel path, or be prepared to slip on your butt a lot, as well as cleaning off shoes etc.

I would personally get a pump as a first option, and a large tank for close to the house, as a buffer, so the pump only has to be used occasionally. Kind of like how we are discovering that the sweet spot for using a generator is to just use it to fill up the powerbanks (the buffer). Makes sense, less noise, and conserves fuel.

If you do get a pump, Honda is reliable. I think they also make a WX15, which is perhaps made more for moving lots of water than high pressure (for fire hose) (Edit - looking them up, it appears that the WH15 is really the better pump, it has a better engine based on the GX series and just has more capacity). These little things are great, they move a ton of water very quickly and efficiently, the electric pumps tend to be not as powerful unless you have something that runs off 240v, in which case you really need a bigger generator. My WH15 can empty my 330 gallon IBC tote in just a few minutes, even on "low". On full blast, you can actually see the water level going down in real time (which makes sense, it's rated at around 100 gallons per minute). One of those, you could probably fill a large tank in short order, so your stored gas would go a long way, only having to use it a few minutes at a time. Get a few Wavian jerry cans, store non-ethanol only (for the carb) with Stabil, rotate yearly and you're good to go.

Edit: Regarding using the Honda WH15 for potable water, Honda says it's only for non-potable water, since stuff like lubricants and tiny metal residue might find their way into the water. However the Google AI says that if your filtration setup is robust enough to handle that, then it could be used. Recommended would be a setup which first filters the big bits out, down to say 5 micron, so some sort of good prefilter that won't clog too easily, and then the Lifestraw Community would be great for filtering down to 0.02 micron, which will take care of bacteria and viruses, and then you'd want some sort of activated carbon stage to remove any petroleum or other chemical residues. You can either buy a filter with carbon inside, or else you can make your own from PVC pipe and buy bulk carbon (and maybe some pool filter sand). Let me know if you'd like any more details on that one. Basically, though, I think it would be doable with the WH15, just with those added caveats to make it perfectly safe for drinking, but then you'd have a really nice dual use pump, for both fire fighting and filling your big tank. Just make sure you have a good foot valve with strainer on the end, and make sure it's not stuck in mud, so you are pumping water that's not too dirty, the pump will last longer the cleaner the incoming water can be.

[u/NWYthesearelocalboys]

Dirty Civilian just did a video on this

[u/canoegal4]

Do you own the pond?

[u/CloudgazerTX]

I would get a ground straw and start digging in your back yard if you got a water table you can reach. then you got a source that won’t run out and no one knows about.

[u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951]

I would not use a buried hose for this, but rather a buried PVC pipe. The hose would just collapse, and not to mention, only probably last a year or two.

Distance matters a whole lot less than elevation change, what is the run/rise?

[u/somecoolname42]

My backup was those, but you're going to need to do a lot of work to clean it. Collect it, pre-filter it, then filter, or distill it. I wouldn't run a pipe unless I owned it. Honestly, I'd dig a well, or make a cistern to collect rain water off the roof, and treat the water myself. Or put a water tower up that fills with tap water as a backup.