Offgrid living

Found this on instagram from an account I follow (not religiously, so no guarantees on reliability). It's an app for designing your off grid homestead, and from the demos I saw on instagram it looks neat. Not too expensive to back at the lower tiers, all of which give you access to the app.

Obviously Kickstarter apps are 0% Guaranteed no matter what they say, but I thought this was worth sharing here.

I'm purchasing a property which will not perc for a conventional septic system. There are alternative septic systems that are possible, but also I'm wondering, what about an alternative system altogether? Does anyone have experience with handling greywater and waste separately (say composting for waste) in a home with several members?

I was looking back at reddit posts (while deleting them), and I realized I'd written a book worth of stuff about this topic. I would write it all again, if it is helpful. But for a brief synopsis of "how it works", here is what one does:

Assess power needs - look at your living standard and catalog all the devices you power, and estimate the time they operate - power is measured in watts, and time in hours. Multiply to get watt-hours; then divide by 1000 to get kilowatt hours. Compare with your utility bill.

Have you heard of a system for RV campers that lets the user take long showers using the same filtered water over & over? Has anyone heard of or used such a set up? Any recommendations?

Here's some of what I've found so far. Loopz: https://hamwells.com/en/loopz/

Overview of Our Recirculating Shower | RV Renovation Ryan & Su: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhpBTra9bXs

I've been using rainwater for a long time. Back in 2001 we rigged a rain catchment when we were living on a sailboat, and we were hooked. Great tasting water and plenty of it, at least here in the tropics.

We built a house in 2013 with roof runoff collection and a pair of cisterns under the house. A pump at the lower level sent water up to a tank located about 12 meters above the house - so there was always water pressure from that 350 liter reserve. We added a 200L first-flush drum to catch the first debris-laden water draining off the roof.

When we moved in 2021, of course we bought a house with a cistern - but it had no roof drain collection, so we had to retrofit that. The first flush tank is a bit larger now at over 400 liters.

Rainwater from a roof can have bacteria and parasites in it, but during storage, almost everything settles to the bottom of the cistern. One thing that does not is Giardia cysts, so it is wise to filter the water with a one-micron cartridge before drinking. Other household uses are adequately pure after a coarse 50 micron filter at the pump, but the one micron filter is on the cold side at the kitchen sink. The first flush capture and the 50 micron prefiltering are so effective the one micron filter is good for a year or more. Even the 50 micron filter shows no sign of clogging in a year, but when we change it, it LOOKS like it needs changing (very dark brown).

I bought the electrical equipment from AltEStore and the panels (not shown!) from a local solar store. 4kW Schneider split-phase inverter (replaced once under warranty), and 60A MPPT. The array is a bit over 2kW. The battery bank is KiloVault lithium wired for 48V; 9.6kWh capacity (about $4800 for all eight units).

I actually have two large 220Ah batteries that I got cheaply that I am trying to repair. Not sure if they are totally broken, but the seal poped open when trying to charge them again after a while and I am a bit hesitant what to do about them. Would be a shame to just bring them to a recycle center though if they can be repaired somehow.