Can you draw water from a shallow creek? How do you filter out the leaves, little sticks, and sand?
With a simple filtration and treatment system, a shallow creek should provide more than enough safe water for a toilet and other household needs, even showering or drinking. A jet pump can be used to draw the water—as long as there isn’t a rise from the creek to the house of more than 5.5 metres, which would strain the pump.The best way to filter leaves and small sticks is to place a filter sock over the intake valve; the mesh covering has a loose weave that eliminates larger objects without impeding water flow. And once water arrives at your cottage, you’ll need a sediment filter to remove inorganic solids. That combination will provide the basics for plumbing a toilet, but if you plan to use the creek water for washing or drinking you’ll also need to filter out harmful bacteria and parasites such as giardia and cryptosporidium which can be done with a disinfection treatment system that uses UV light to kill dangerous micro-organisms.