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Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by gcanyon on Thursday August 29, 2024 @08:54PM (#41396836)
Average rainfall 11 to 41 inches per year -- more than I expected in AZ. Still, to have reasonable water year-round for 2 people you'd need to collect across maybe 10,000 square feet? That's not a small installation.
Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by ElSucioDan on Thursday August 29, 2024 @11:44PM (#41397563)
Probably more than that since the rain is all concentrated around the months of July and August. Would need to store for the rest of the year too.
Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by asah on Friday August 30, 2024 @02:30AM (#41398197)
obviously, you need substantial storage...

what about harvesting water from the air ? I've heard that modern techniques can work in 15% humidity ?

also, trucking in water once a year can augment the supply ? at 10c per gallon, it doesn't seem crazy... https://www.reddit.com/r/TinyHouses/comments/10qj5ey/no_well...

Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by gcanyon on Friday August 30, 2024 @07:57AM (#41399826)
I was going off 100 gallons per day per person, which is typical, but can obviously be improved upon. But that said, I don’t want to pay $7000 per year just for water. Plus living remotely like that is just terribly inefficient in general: food, trash, heating/cooling, transportation, water, and just everything all take much more effort/resources to produce in a solo venture like that. I’m not saying I don’t see the appeal, but the Earth could not (even remotely) support everyone living that way.
Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by jonstewart on Friday August 30, 2024 @08:18AM (#41399957)
Net zero living looks a lot more like the Upper West Side than a cabin in the woods.
Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by gcanyon on Friday August 30, 2024 @08:38PM (#41405812)
There's a reason NY is near the lowest per capita energy consumption for residential usage.
Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by eek2121 on Friday August 30, 2024 @08:04AM (#41399863)
No idea of the situation there, but rural areas in our part of the world tap underground sources for water. It gets pumped and filtered on premise. Septic is a big tank with a field up front for dispersing fluids/liquids. Commenter below mentioned trash, but if you are applying some basic sustainable living techniques, the amount of trash produced should be minimal to none.
Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by fshbbdssbbgdd on Friday August 30, 2024 @12:31PM (#41402275)
I don’t know this specific area, but some deserts you have to drill impractically deep to get to any ground water.
Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by lazide on Friday August 30, 2024 @09:08AM (#41400330)
If you’re buying land in AZ without a reliable well or utility hookup, you’re buying a nightmare.

There is plenty of land with reliable water there.

Rainwater for irrigation, maybe. But the reality is, most of AZ gets monsoons a couple months a year, and then essentially zero precipitation. So unless you have land favorable for setting up a dam or something, you’re going to have a hard time living off that kind of setup.

Flagstaff and Phoenix/far south being a bit different.

Re:Can solar costs keep shrinking? by idiotsecant on Friday August 30, 2024 @10:41AM (#41401205)
Or drill a well like most rural people already do...