A Simple Water System for a Riverside Cottage

Here is an interesting wildlife related problem for you all to mull over.

I have a cottage on the wonderful Medway River. I carry in my drinking water but for showers, toilet and sinks I draw water from the river.

The system is simple: a pump and pressure tank up at the cabin and a long run of plastic pipe to the water.

 To prime the pump I use a “shop vac”, one of those wet/dry workshop vacuum cleaners, to suck water into the intake pipe. It doesn’t quite have the power to finish the job so a bucket of water is still required to completely fill the pipe and prime the pump.

 Before my Dad had the brainstorm to try the vacuum it would take many buckets painstakingly poured into the prime inlet on the pump. Anyway, once it is primed and working it just ticks along, adding an element of luxury and convenience that makes the cottage very comfortable.

 The thing I like about the system is that it is non-intrusive. When I shut the place down for the winter I just roll the pipe up and put it in the garage ready for next year. There is no trace that it was ever there.

Sounds great so far, right? Well, here is the thing. Beavers!

They must figure my water pipe is a root or tree branch that is in their way and set out to chew a path through it.

When primed, there is a fair amount of water in the pipe. The beavers gnaw away and as soon as they break through, a stream of water jets out like a geyser. The pressure switch kicks in and runs the pump which makes a wonderful fountain-like effect as a pulsing jet of water comes shooting up out of the Button Bushes that line the river bank.

It must scare the dickens out of the beavers because when I repair the leak they won’t touch it again for weeks. Inevitably though, they will try and clear it out of the way once more.

And I used to laugh at the effort people go through trying to outsmart the squirrels that rob their bird feeders.



Here is a tip for you if you can trust a man that is not as smart as a beaver.

I use the shop vacuum again in the autumn to suck out all the water from the camp plumbing. No water gets left in the pipes so no leaks from poorly drained fixtures or low spots freezing come spring . Well, in theory anyway.