*Update Water Back On* Urgent need water advice

[kaya842]

Hi all,

We lost all water on Friday evening due to our main water pipe (not to be confused with the water main) on our property (meaning only our property is affected, but the WHOLE property is affected) bursting. We tried to investigate/ fix it ourselves yesterday unsuccessfully and the contractor we reached out to doesn’t offer emergency services (meaning we would be looking at a several weeks/ month wait), though he gave us a lead on someone else. We can buy water for the humans and inside animals but it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare to buy water by the gallon for horses (2 horses). We have a 100 gal trough that I am using for the outside horse and the one on stall rest but it is quickly getting low. We likely have 1 day of water left. I was hoping someone here could offer advice on the best way to get them water while we wait for a contractor to come fix the pipe. I thought about reaching out to the local fire dept but wasn’t sure if they could assist.

[Maythehorsebewithme]

The local fire department helped out the barn where I was boarding a few years ago. Major power outage. They brought a tanker truck and filled up every tub we could round up. After the emergency, we made a substantial donation and wrote a letter to the local newspaper, got them good press. YMMV.

[starsandsun]

I got help from the local fire department, but I took large containers (think 35 gallon). Maybe a neighbor has something like that you could borrow?

[Amy3996]

I boarded at a barn on a well during a bad drought year. Our local highway department charged a small fee for the barn owner to come in and fill a large water storage tank in the back of her pickup.

That might be another resource to look into?

[lenapesadie]

Hmm. If you have a pickup truck, any clean container with a lid can be used to transport water from a neighbor etc.

I’d be dialing every plumber I could find a number for. In my area, most every plumber can do this repair. FL though so our lines aren’t buried very deep.

Your water utility company may have options or advice as well.

[a1eventing]

Not sure where you’re located but there are water delivery companies that typically work to service for filling swimming pools and large water tanks at construction sites.
A local pool builder might be able to give you names of local companies? And the water service may be able to tell you where you can rent a water storage tank (can get them in 500 gal+).

[wsmoak]

Where are you, and how many horses? Around here the fire department does not use clean water, it’s pulled from ponds or whatever is close to where they need it, so that wouldn’t be an option.

Horses need, what, 10 gallons of water a day? (says the internet) (Unless you have one that splashes it all out like mine!)

Trash cans work great to transport water – put in a trash bag, fill, and tie it closed to prevent splashing. Do take care to secure the load, that is a lot of weight that will want to remain in motion should you need to stop suddenly.

Get on your local Facebook community group and see if anyone has one of the High Country Plastics tanks you can borrow.

[3PonyFarm]

I like the poly water storage tanks that are sold at Rural King and TSC that fit in the back of a pickup. If you have a neighbor or someone that would let you fill it up until you can get your water issue solved I think they would work well. I also used mine to water trees that were planted beyond the reach of the hose.

[Marla_100]

If none of the above works for you, go to your nearest grocery or hardware store and get drinking water in gallon containers. Might get you through a couple days in a pinch.

[kaya842]

Thank you all!!

I should have added we do NOT have access to a truck, but do have SUVs so we are a little limited in the size of containers we can fill up though I could always put it in the horse trailer.

We have 2 horses in IL (near St. Louis) @wsmoak

@lenapesadie We have a few calls out, part of the issue is that most offices in the area don’t open until Monday (and we found the leak “after hours” on Friday). It’s not that they can’t fix it, it’s that they won’t fit us in for a long time which won’t do. If part of the property had water we could make do, but that’s not the case unfortunately.

I will definitely be contacting the fire dept and see what we can do!

[Xanthoria]

@kaya842

I should have added we do NOT have access to a truck, but do have SUVs so we are a little limited in the size of containers we can fill up though I could always put it in the horse trailer.

Try using a big tupperware bin with a trash bag full of water inside. Stops it slopping everywhere (the lids on those bins are not watertight) inside an SUV.

Fill bag (inside bin, in car) with a hose. Empty bag by siphoning out (bin will be very heavy to lift in and out)

[StormyDay]

While probably not ok for drinking water, if you collect the water from your roof during rainstorms it will get you A LOT of water. Good for toilet flushing, horse baths, even maybe human baths depending on your roof.
You can drink it if you filter it too. Some places in the desert use roof water exclusively. There are RV water filers that attach to hoses you can use to filter it for troughs.

[3PonyFarm]

Amazon as well as camping and rv places sell the collapsable water bladders that you might be able to fit into your suv and fill as much as your vehicle is capable of. I would imagine army surplus stores might sell them too. Good luck!

[Scribbler]

If it’s going to be a month honestly I would look for a company that can deliver a big plastic water tank with a spigot. Or try to move your horses to another property. You are not going to be able to water horses for a month with running Gerry cans to the local gas station.

[furlong47]

Rental places (the kind that also have construction type equipment) will usually have a “water buffalo” trailer/tank on wheels that you can rent, which holds like 500 gallons. If you are looking at maybe a month without water, I would go for something like that. You would still need to figure out where to fill it.

[SuzieQNutter]

Yes you cn fit one of those big white square containers in your float if you take the dividers out. Msybe 2.

Here there are water stations. You need the correct fitting hose and a credit card. It doesn’t take long to fill.

Your float can take more weight than I am guessing your SUV can.

[PonyPenny]

You can rent a water truck or tank and get a special valve and meter for the nearest fire hydrant in most cities. Do you have a hydrant nearby? Whatever entity you get your water from will be able to assist.

[kaya842]

Sorry I was unclear - we are NOT waiting a month, that was just the response the only contractor that’s gotten back to us had. We reached out to others but haven’t heard back because they are closed on weekends.

[candyappy]

@kaya842

Sorry I was unclear - we are NOT waiting a month, that was just the response the only contractor that’s gotten back to us had. We reached out to others but haven’t heard back because they are closed on weekends.

Try a plumber or someone who does excavation services as they should both have the equipment/ supplies to install water lines and I would think they can fix your problem as well.

Orschelns ( if you have one) or similar farm stores do have plastic water storage containers in varying sizes. I am sure you could fill it about anywhere free ( friend/ neighbor).

When we lost power for 4 days my neighbor used 5 gallon buckets with tight fitting lids and drove to town to fill them( she didn’t ask us). We have a generator so we can thankfully run the well when we need to.

[trubandloki]

Lots of good simple ideas to hold you over for a bit. Might take lots of time but grabbing a few water containers from Walmart and filling it at a neighbors or such can get the job done.

@StormyDay

While probably not ok for drinking water, if you collect the water from your roof during rainstorms it will get you A LOT of water.

Rain water is fine for the horses to drink.