Not every place that you might buy or move to has running water, a well or for that matter, any water at all. Deron and I do not have running water, to put in a well out where we are would cost us approx. $25,000.00 and no guarantees of good drinking water if they find any water. So we haul water.

Out here they have "water stations" in each town. The have a hook up (think really large, not garden hose) and you take a 3" wide 10' long PVC pipe (you see people all over carrying them) with a notch cut into it to hook to the piece the water comes out of and we pay .25 per 100 gallons. In Newell, SD they have like a fire hose hanging down that you use to fill with (we hate it cause it never lines up and 100 gallons takes about 2 - 3 minutes to come flying out.....yes, it would knock you down and it is COLD very COLD). LOL In Belle Fourche, where we usually get our water, they also have a spigot, we carry a 12' cut off garden hose and fill barrels in the back of the truck with it.

If you do not have water stations in your area look for RV Dumping Stations, they usually have water. Be sure to take your garden hose with you for filling your containers. Also look at Parks, Fairgrounds, Rodeo Grounds and the like. Many times you will find water spigots next or attached to the restrooms. Some Gas Stations have outdoor spigots and are happy to let you get water there....if you are a gas costumer.

When we moved to N WI we did not have water for a lllllllooooooooooooong time. Wells there were deep and expensive, but after a while we did have a nice one put in. Before then we had a 200 gallon tank on the back of our truck and would fill it at neighbors, but if this is your plan, I will warn you now, after filling your tank at someone's home about three times, people act funny about it, as if it was/is some kind of HUGE favor or you are stealing or tesspassing (even when asking them for it) or something.

We had friends we met in WI who had the same problem.......they hated when we moved to SD because when I found out they were hauling water we told them to come to our place, they had found the same thing about getting water at people's homes.

You have to have water. I you have animals you need much water. The more animals you have the more water you will need.

The first question is, how much water do you need? The second question is, how long before you are back getting more water? And remember, water is heavy, do not overload your vehicles when hauling water.

What can you use for hauling the water home? For two people with no animals or just a dog or cat. Simple milk jugs will do. If you have a few animals, but those 5 gallon water jugs, blue in color and buy as many as you might need for a weeks worth of water. If you have more animals then a few, or if you do not go to town once a week, you might stop by your local Car Wash and ask what they do with their empty plastic barrels.

Deron and I use a 450 gallon water tank carried on a heavy duty trailer pulled by a pick up truck. We also have at least one 30 gallon plastic barrel on the back of the pick up truck, or in the bed I should say. The 450 gallons is for animals and the plastic barrel is for human use. We go to town once a week to every 10 days or so....normally, weather can change that. If the barrel on the truck still has water in it when we are getting ready to go back to town, we empty it into an animal tank and refill it as often as we go to town.

It just depends on the amount of water you need, how long between haulings and or trips to town, and how much your vehicle can safely haul.

Sometimes you need to catch water for use. It might be rain or snow or even sleet, but catch it in a bucket and or barrel and it is yours to use. If you have gutters on your home and or barn, place barrels under them.

I must tell you that I was stunned to find out that this practice is outlawed in some areas. Seriously,outlawed. No kidding, in some areas a person can not collect rain or snow from their roofs. You can not do anything that restricts the natural flow of water on your own property. Talk about micro managing and too much government! So you might want to check the laws in your area before placing a bucket under you gutter (I am sorry, this just makes me mad and then makes me laugh!)

When it snows we fill out horse water trofts and barrels with it. We use the snow shovel and heep it up. If you have a heater in your troft, the snow will melt. We have done this for years. Deron goes out each morning and mounds the snow into the trofts. During the day it will melt and the horses and other animals will drink it. The next morning, he fills it again (if of course snow if available, remember we lived in N WI for 9 years) and usually in the spring we still have a full troft of water.

In a pinch, if you have a pond or creek or river or water near you, you can use it. Just be careful getting it from point A to point B. If it will be drinking water, even for some animals, it will need to be tested. Many times a pond will have water in it that is tooooooo acidity or alkaline for consumption. There are several things you can do about this. First of all buy a water tester....look in the swimming pool dept or local pet store for the cheaper ones and they work just fine. Test the water.

Many times the easiest way to treat the water from a pond that is off in one direction or the other is to pull out the amount of water you will be using and treat it. If you want to treat the whole pond you can, just look up the many ways to do this on an Internet Search. But be warned, it may not be cheap to treat an entire pond.

If you are using the pond water for drinking you will also want to test if for parasites and or gaurdia as well as other things you can not see that will hurt you. Sometimes a simple splash of bleach will make the water suitable to drink other times boiling it will, but test the water and know what you are dealing with.

You will need to keep your containers, both the ones you haul water in and the ones you store water in, clean. We use bleach.

I lived in St. Louis, MO for the first 41 years of my life. I shaved my legs everyday at least every other day by just running a razor over them while I was in the shower. Things changed. We have not had a shower now for over 10 years. Recently I discovered that with a lot of lotion, and a sharp/new razor, a gal can shave without water. Just shave your legs dry with the new razor, then after drench with lotion. Lots and lots of lotions. And yes, it is a very close even shave.

Long before moving out to the country without running water I discovered that wet wipes, at the time, Baby Wipes were wonderful for adults too. We use them not only in the bathroom but for our hands before eating, after working with the animals and anytime we have a small mess. They are also good for wiping down dishes before "camp" washing, wiping down tables, cleaning fruit before eating it. They will save your much water for small jobs. We also use that hands cleanser, the gel.....but I have to wash after using it, I just don't like the feel.