People in rural communities live without public water all the time. Some people have wells, and others just collect water in large 'pigs' for later use.

From my research - at least here in Arid Arizona - going off the public system offers significant savings.

Anyone go off the water grid? How did it work for you? What new systems did you have to establish to live otherwise normally?

Are you thinking of giving it a try? People lived for thousands of years without city water!

We live in the midst of our small town and going off the water "grid" is not practical for us due to well restrictions. However, we do have a spring project to reduce our dependence. There were 2 50 gallon plastic drums left on the property when we purchased it. We'll be installing gutters on the rear portion of the house with downspouts to the drums.

We already have the plans for stands and installing faucets. Living in the southeast, we have to select an overflow option for the drums to keep the excess rain water away from the foundation and then we're ready to build.

We won't be able to use this for drinking water, except in an emergency, but it should fulfill our garden water needs for the summer.

That is really great that you are going to be storing rainwater! I was able to go from a $100/month water bill to only $30 after using saved rainwater.

And yes, this is also excellent to have around as emergency water.

For me, I have so much stored water right now that I am thinking I will turn off the city water connection this upcoming month and use my stored water, to see how long it works to use that. I don't drink the tap water here anyway, so the only thing that will change is that I will have to work with my new system each day, instead of just turning on the tap to do things like wash dishes, wash the clothes and flush the toilet.

There are a lot of people who don't have running water where I live. City utilities service a small area, and in a lot of areas it takes about twenty years or so for a well to become cost effective, and the well water is loaded with iron and other hard minerals.
There are special water stations here that resemble gas stations that charge 3-5 cents a gallon so you can haul your own water, and there is a delivery service that is costly.
In college, i took showers at the U and then got water from a local spring (free) or in jugs from the U (also free). It was an alright lifestyle before children.
Special small holding systems and small on demand water heaters make it possible to hook up showers and kitchen faucets. They run a few thousand dollars, but can be a good option if you are staying in your home a while. I didn't have any of that stuff. I used my jugs to boil water for dishes, drinking, cooking, etc..
I wonder how many of the ways to manage and the technology pieces from the far north would work out in AZ? Might be worth putting heads together.

I have a well since I live beyond the reach of the nearest city water system, and it suits me fine. It isn't free of cost, though. The well water is very hard and full of iron, so I have to use a water softener or see all of my clothes turn orange.
I do catch the water from the washing machine in the summer and haul it out to water the flower beds, and the plants appreciate it. I also keep many gallon jugs of water stored in the basement for the inevitable power outages, so I can wash and flush the toilet until the power comes on again. Last summer I was without power once for 4 1/2 days!

When we lived out in the country, it was amaizing how much water we collected. Much of it ran off the roof of the house and on one corner of the garage.

Even in the winter (when we had power outages) but if we ran out of water, we worked together as a group and hauled in snow to the bathtub or melted it (thinking ahead to a gas stove)in giant pots on the top burner.

You're right we did plenty on our own 100's and 1000's of years ago. Somewhere along the line we started letting people, groups and companies do it for us and the skills we once had in providing for ourselves are slowly becoming a necessity.

Well, heheh, things got decided for me. My pipes froze and burst. So I turned off the main and am now just using rainwater and bottled water.

I just did my first set of dishes with stored rainwater. I have a pot with water to scrub things in and then a clean pot for rinsing. It worked surprisingly well and used very little water.

I also cleaned the bathroom and the RV floors with rainwater, am giving the pets rainwater, and am considering how to heat some water up for a sponge bath.

Growing up, all of our vacations were camping trips. We started with a tent and then got a pop-up camper. We heated up the wash water pot on a little camp stove and rinsed the dishes with cold water.

We do the dishes like this at home whenever the stock pot needs washing. If you can't heat the wash water, add a little white vinegar (about 1/4 cup) and it will help cut grease in cold water. If you are using an "Earth Friendly" dish soap, your plants can benefit from the soapy wash/rinse water, or you can use it to keep your compost pile moist, so that not a drop goes to waste.

Our hot water heater is in an awful spot. It takes forever for the hot water to reach the tap in the bathroom. If I want a hot/wet washcloth, I wet it and pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds. It's hot/steamy and ready for a sponge bath, using much less electricity than the water heater and wasting no water.

If you have a smaller microwave, it might take a few seconds longer. But still a cost effective way to get the comfort of a nice hot sponge bath. Hope this helps.

lcp012586, I love the idea about using vinegar. Thank you!

I too have fond memories of camping trips and washing up that way.

I absolutely re-use my waste water from everything in my garden and compost - from old coffee, dirty dish water, from making pasta, etc. I try to never pour good water down the drains.