Banking Snow

[TWP]

Yes, where I live, we don't get a lot of snow... Some, but mere inches.

So, why save it?  Because you might need the water in the future...  Who would have thought it?

Many of us wind up shoveling that snow off our walkways anyway, so why not just shovel it into barrels and let it melt?

Read this short article on the "why" and "how" and also note the possible ways around some community/PTB regulations on water harvesting.  Personally, I think those regulations are the epitome of stupidity, but they do exist.

http://readynutrition.com/resources/how-harvesting-snow-creates-a-long-term-water-supply_28032017/

I mean, you have to put all that snow someplace when you shovel it, right?  So why not pile it on the barrels and some might just accidentally find it's way into the barrels too...

[230gr]

We generally get about 43 inches of snow and usually just hope it will melt away in the spring without flooding. Never really thought of stockpiling it except to protect overwintering plants or give the beds a little extra snow melt water moisture. 

[TWP]

For each square foot of area, an inch of rain will give 144 cubic inches of water.

The amount of water in snow varies depending on how "wet" or "fluffy" it is.  Snow water density varies from 10% to 50% or 1.2 inches of water per foot of snow depth up to 6 inches of water per foot of snow depth.

If we take the smaller density (least amount of water per foot of snow depth) we get a little more than 1 inch of water for each foot of snow.  Let's use 1 inch for ease of calculation.

One English gallon is 231 cubic inches, so an inch of rain is 144/128.1 gallons = 0.62 gallons per square foot of collector.

Shoveling a 10ft  x 10ft x 1ft patch of snow could give you a more than sixty gallons of water.  If the snow is denser, it could go over 360 gallons of water from that 10x10x1 patch of snow.

So your 43 inches of snow is 3.58 ft and that could yield anywhere from 221 gallons to over 1100 gallons.

That's a lot of water for a garden.  Of course you will have a sore back from shoveling...

So next year, you lay out a 10ft x 10ft tarp and funnel the melting snow into a cistern, or use a smaller catch basin with a sump pump to move it into your garden water tanks.

You might put the cistern underground and out of sight...    Those pesky water cops are watching...

[edit] my conversion of gallons (US) to cubic inches was wrong (thanks to Jerry for pointing this out) and I've adjusted the calculated amounts, above.

Use a bigger tarp to get more collection volume.  You also will find that the area covered by the tarp will both heat the ground beneath and kill most grass or weeds growing there, which means you Don't need to cultivate the soil.

[Jerry D Young]

FYI: A US gallon is 231 cubic inches.

Many of my dream prepper estate plans have long included snow capture systems. Basically, besides all surface areas being contoured to drain into collection points, parking lots and such have an area (or more depending on size) that has a large grate over a collection pit that either stores the water there, or drains to a cistern. The snow is plowed and piled in this area and piled up. As it melts, the water is collected and stored. Since it could have some nasty stuff in it, It would go through a sand filter system before use.

I think this should be done for all commercial parking lots that are paved, or a RainStore3 system installed to collect rain and snow melt.

Just my opinion.

[TWP]

FYI: A US gallon is 231 cubic inches.
...

Oops, then cut my collection estimates in half. or use a bigger collection surface... Or shovel more snow.

I'm going back to my math resources and see why it gave me the smaller conversion for Gal. -> Cu. In.

[edit]  I found my error, I was mis-reading a conversion chart.  I'll edit my original post too.

[TWP]

I want to add another reason and method to "bank" your local snow.

Make a cold house/ice house.  This will keep your foods much colder (probably not quite to freezing but very near).

In the past, ice houses were filled with cut blocks of ice from nearby ponds and lakes or from glaciers if near enough.  This block ice was sold for use in "ice boxes" in home kitchens.  It is not as efficient as making a central cold room, but everybody wanted their own "ice box" for home storage.

The blocks of ice were packing in straw (not hay as that is reserved for animal food).  This is an option if you can harvest grasses and/or you save the straw from your grain harvest.

Since thihttp://track.pointclub.com/y.z?l=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pointclub.com%2fsurvey%3fpid%3d57a39adef1dd2a3724b40ed4%26surveynumber%3doYK9M8Pg%26email%3dpay_me.gold%40yahoo.com%26auth_key%3dn8_nt5TXfgVYHdy67TW73NAX_VrqAWAk%26emailCmpId%3doYK3aBYg%26groupid%3d28354&j=321712474&e=582&p=1&t=h&g=788996240&m=70CAB650FBC14A57AF4543EB66B74EB4s ice/snow will slowly melt over the warmer months, it should be possible to make a drain which directs the melt water to a pond or cistern for use as irrigation water.  If you have a suitable filter or solar water still, this water could also be used for consumption (cooking, washing, etc.)

You might be able to cover the snow pile with tarps (assuming you have them) and then with loose or baled hay (food quality hay).  One problem with this is that you will be using your hay to feed animals through the winter months and you may not have much left at the start of growing season.  Hay goes on the outside of pile, they a layer of straw then the tarps (if you've got them) and then the snow/ice layer. 

[Jerry D Young]

My thoughts on an Ice House and similar items.

From an old post on another site:

If I was going to make a modern ice house I would build it with a "quad" wall and roof.
An outer layer of filled blocks or concrete. 6" to 12" of high R-factor foam board, three feet of earth fill, and another layer of filled blocks or concrete. Make the roof the same with poured concrete or timbers. Inside have slatted wood shelves for the ice blocks to rest on, with curtains of some type to isolate a section of storage. Add collection trays underneath to catch any melt.

A set of small, heavily insulated doors with an airlock the thickness of the wall between them for the entrance.

I'd also use some type of slightly tapered rubber or heavy plastic container, (or even silicone sealed wood) to make blocks of ice of a size easy to handle. Fill the containers whenever it is below freezing, set them on racks outside the ice house, and then unmold the ice blocks and stack them in the ice house, ready for use.

It would take a bit of time, at least several days of subfreezing weather, to generate enough ice that could be collected from a frozen river or pond in just one day of collection. But using fresh water from the tap, the ice would be suitable for food use where the river or pond ice likely would be contaminated.

It would also take some time initially to cool the earth and block inner walls to near freezing, but once it was done, the large mass would help hold the cold.

And the ice house could have cooling coils added to the ceiling and even the walls with a compressor unit piped outside to use during normal times when power was available to keep the ice hard frozen for use when there was no power.

And from my dream Prepper Estate list:

Ice house w/
 Concrete block/insulation/earth/block quad wall construction
 Concrete slab /insulation/earth/slab quad ceiling construction
 Wood slat/drained concrete slab/earth/insulation quad floor construction
 Dual door air lock entry w/
  each door w/hanging strip air barriers
  racks w/cold suits, gloves & over boots
 Interior storage area w/ice block racks & shelves
 Interior ice handling/work area w/
  bench
  ice tongs
  ice picks
  ice buckets & pans
  ice block moving hand-trucks/dollies for internal use
  ice block moving insulated dolly for external use
 Exterior concrete slab w/
  awning/roof
  freeze proof water source faucet
  ice block freezing molds
  ice block mold holding racks
  un-molding bench
  storage locker w/
   ice tongs
   insulated rubber gloves
   ice picks
   rubber un-molding mallets
   ice block moving hand-trucks/dolly


Food chilling/cold storage shed w/same construction as ice house
 ceiling ice rack system
 ceiling chilled air system air inlets
 low wall chilled air system air return vents
 ceiling & wall brine system chiller tubing
 ceiling & wall conventional cooling coils
 hanging meat hook racks
 storage shelves & racks
 exterior shed w/
  cold weather chilled air system fan assembly w/air filter
  cold weather chilled air system wind turbine w/air filter
  brine system pump & storage tank
  brine system cooling tower
  conventional refrigeration pump & condenser

Food freezing/food storage/ice making shed w/same construction as ice house
 ceiling & wall brine system chiller tubing
 ceiling & wall conventional freezing coils
 hanging meat hook racks
 storage shelves & racks
 ice block making area w/
  freeze proof water source faucet
  ice block freezing molds
  ice block mold holding racks
  un-molding bench
  storage locker w/
   ice tongs
   insulated rubber gloves
   ice picks
   rubber un-molding mallets
   ice block moving hand-trucks/dolly
 exterior shed w/
  brine system pump & storage tank
  brine system cooling tower
  conventional refrigeration pump & condenser

[Jerry D Young]

Forgot to add another idea that I used in one of my stories. (Percy's Mission I think.)

If a period of extended freezing weather is expected, and water is available, especially if it is from a pressurized system, a person can use a hose with a spray nozzle and build up a mound of ice over a period of time. Have a pad prepared, with a gravel base containing a perforated drain pipe to capture any excess water and the water that will eventually melt off the ice. As long as the freezing weather persists, just keep adding ice to the mound. Once it looks like the temperatures will go above freezing, cover over the ice mound with insulation of some type. Having lots of straw, or even hay bales, will work great for this. Just stack them up and over the mound. Lots of other things can be used, as well.

Ice can be chipped off the mound from an exposed area. Or, as in the story, if a structure is made, with a tunnel entrance, the ice mound can be formed up and over the structure, creating an 'ice house' that does not store ice, but is a cold room to store foods or whatever. If at all possible, if the items can be pre-chilled before going into the cold room, so much the better.

An idea based on these two posts, to create a cooling system, is to build a 'cistern' with a large hatch, into which molded blocks of ice can be stacked on a slatted floor below which is a series of pipes through which water is circulated into heat exchangers to provide cooled air for space air conditioning, a chilling box, etc.

As the ice melts, the cold water collected can also be used, either one off, or circulated in the same or other cooling circuits. If run through a purifier, you can even have a source of cold drinking water.

If anyone has any questions about these systems, feel free to ask.


Just my opinion.

[230gr]

I have sketches but have not figured out how to post them.

Ice Room
   There is a special Ice Room in the basement with 3 concrete walls insulated with 10 inches of loose Styrofoam “peanuts” retained by 2 more inches of Styrofoam. The wooden wall with door filled with 3 inches of fiberglass insulation and covered with 2 inches of Styrofoam. The ceiling is filled with fiberglass insulation batt and 2 inches of Styrofoam. The room is lined with heavy duty hardwood shelving spaced to hold 5 gallon plastic buckets. The cement floor has a 2 foot deep drainage pit for water spills. The outside wall has a small screened window that can be opened or removed and opens up under the back deck out of direct sun light.
   The clean place plastic buckers are placed on the shelves and filled with potable water then, on a subzero night, the outside window is opened until all the buckets freeze solid. They will store as ice blocks and can be used as ice chips and for the ice box. Besides using the ice, fresh meat can hang or otherwise stored at near freezing temperatures. 

       

Ice Box Conversion
   Our present refrigerator can be converted to an ice box is a long term grid down situation quite simple. These modifications and added Styrofoam insulation would be at the time of need. The freezer compartment at the top of the refrigerator will need holes drilled through the button to allow for the ice cooled air to flow down into the food section. The refrigerator freezer compartment should hold a cylinder of ice removed from a 5 gal bucket, though this could be shaped as needed. The ice itself is placed into a basin with an improvised drain which is run through the freezer compartment wall to drain the meld water from the ice down and into a bucket. If everything is kelp clean, this should be potable, cold water.

[Jerry D Young]

Since I could not attach them here, but could in the General Section, here is a link to the pictures 230gr has with his Ice Box post:

http://nnpg.net/NNPG_Forum/index.php?topic=1567.0

Just my opinion.

[230gr]

Thanks Jerry!