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Water Source In The Studio


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I am building a small studio on our property and have found that access to water will significantly increase the cost of construction due to tapping into the sewer system. I'm wondering if it's worth the expense or if I can possibly have a functional studio using a bucket system. Does anyone have a working studio without running water?

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Plenty of users here do indeed operate successful studios, sans running water.

 

There are plenty of solutions, for fresh water, and how to dispose of the dirty.

 

For clean, you can use a water cooler.  For the dirty water, several buckets of varying dirtiness can be used.  Once the water becomes slip, it can be reclaimed.

 

Having running water can make things easier, but it's not a necessity.

 

Best of luck.

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I suggest at least if its an option get water to studio-

 sewer cost may be high but a water line is not.

Depending on your scale of use (hobby-full time or somewhere in between) water will make life in studio better.

Mark

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I was thinking of this subject yesterday working in the studio.

 

Our property is on a septic and personal well system. My studio is below grade, so tapping into the septic was not an option when I built it. I have been working without running water for 15 years. There are plenty of resources on the web that explains grey water systems. Mine is a homemade clay "cink" with an elevated 7 gallon clean water reserve above the "cink". I used a reclaimed kitchen sink above two connected 5 gallon buckets with a small fountain pump in the second bucket. A foot pedal activates the pump. Grey water is pumped from the second bucket to the faucet for cleaning hands, tools and wiping down wheels and tables. When fresh water is needed, the clean water reserve is tapped. Occassionally, the grey water bucket needs to be emptied (once a year). Other buckets are used for clay slop.

 

Clay does not play well with sewer lines and septic systems. Marguerite Wildenhain would walk down the mountain to collect her water supply from the river at Pond Farm. Think about how judicious one would be if you did that each morning.

 

The earth's water supply is a finite natural resource. Even if one had access to running water in the studio, I believe we should practice water conservation where we can. It's a bit more bothersome, but not difficult. Potters/clay artists have a close relationship with the earth due to the medium we work in. We all spend time reclaiming clay as we view it as something of value. Merely because water can be piped into a studio, doesn't mean it has less value.

 

Thanks for reading, Neil

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I installed a water line from my house-four ft. below the ground with heat tape. The idea was that clean water would come to the studio from the house and dirty water would return to the house beside this line,into my house sewer. Both underground. I never did install the sink. Got scared about it clogging with clay. Once digging that trench was enough.

I use 3 , 5 gallon pails for water. I use a separate pail for glaze washings. Sometimes the hand washing pail begins to stink and you have to dump it. Had to do that yesterday as the little Girl Guides were coming to glaze their mugs.

I have a laundry tub in the basement where I dump my dirty floor water.I did walk down the lane and dump the hand-washing water in the sewer yesterday

In the summer I have two big 55 gallons barrels for rain water. I use these for clean water.I also have a hose.

The only time I miss having water is when I am glazing pots. But I am adaptable.

TJR.

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I have a tap outside my pot shed, but no delivery to a sewer or septic tank. Throwing and hand building requires very little water. A bucket for washing tools and hands, and a bucket to collect the wheel washings. I also keep several plastic soda bottles filled with water at various points around the studio for when I need clean water.

The process of glazing is a different story. It takes plenty of water from the hose, but I can't send anything to the septic tanks. My lawn is my glazing area and I use the hose as a pressure cleaner. All the water goes directly into the ground. As Western Australia is very dry for half the year, the lawn likes it just fine.

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My studio doesn't have water either.  I bought a 30 gallon garbage can, installed a spigot at its base and fill it with water I catch from the shower.  It works great, especially in drought-ridden California!

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Thanks to all of you for the great ideas and taking the time to share them. I had been thinking about using a water reservoir above a sink and am happy to hear it has worked for others. Your experiences give me more confidence in my decision to not spend the money tapping into the sewer. Many thanks.

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I have a wash basin outside on my back porch. About 20 ft. away from my studio. I have a hose in the front driveway. I use most throwing water to recycle trimming scraps of clay. I have a mop bucket on wheel for cleaning. I live in the tropics so freezing is not a problem.I have been here for 9 years.

 

Marcia

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I have a double sink with a clay settling system on one side and the other for clear water, the gray water goes into a sump pump and then to the yard.  Perfect set up but I rarely use the clear water side, I worked so many years with a limited water supply, I still work that way.  My first settling level is the plastic container in my sink, I take it out and dump it into a ditch if it's just clay.  If it's mostly glaze I put it into a large container let it dry out and take it to hazardous waste.  I live near a creek and I worry about the wildlife.  Clay is notorious for clogging sewer lines any type of water containment you decide on will work.  Denice

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I am also in the process of setting up a studio without regular plumbing.  My intention has been to have a cooler with spigot for fresh water (to drink as well as use for cleaning, etc) and a bucket that will drain into another bucket with a strainer to catch clay so I can recycle it.  I am happy to find, from these posts, that I am heading in the right direction!  Good luck on your new studio -- I know how excited you are about it, because I am in the same place.

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One of my previous studio's was in a small workshop that the previous owner used to rewire motors .  It had a shower and toilet but we didn't want to run the clay water into the sewer.  We drilled a hole in the side of the building and ran a short garden hose from the settling tank out to the yard. I would move the hose around so the yard would get watered evenly.    Denice

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birdnsong, if freezing weather would not hurt your water supply, there is no reason not to run a pipe carrying fresh water out to your studio.  you do not have to drain the sink into a sewer at all.  mine is drained into a 55 gallon drum and i usually use a bucket inside the sink to catch clay and dirty stuff.  that bucket gets tossed out the door onto the yard.  very little clay is in there because i work fairly clean and use very little water for throwing.  walking the few steps outside to toss the water out is good exercise.  only once did i do the silly "hold-onto-the-bucket-too-long" and splashed slurry onto the concrete step, my shoes, my pantlegs and assorted other things that i then had to wash. ( you have seen the people on TV who do not let go of the rope hanging over the river.) :rolleyes:

 

the plastic 55 gallon drum is on its side outside the studio with the drain pipe dropping into it through a hole drilled to fit.  the bung hole of the barrel is on the high side of the end and a piece of insect screen is stretched over the bung hole.  cannot even see the water that may have collected in the bottom of the barrel in 3 years of use for each winter, it is so low.

 

the good part is that the sink is a deep one, a janitorial kind that allows me to put buckets inside to wash them off.  no outside hose needed.  there is enough dirt tracked in by the dog, i don't need wet mud added to that.

 

wherever you live there is a government agency to ask about how deep a water line needs to be buried to avoid freezing.  if it is a reasonable depth, go for it. 

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