Cottage Water Systems: An Out-of-the-City Guide to Pumps, Plumbing, Water Purification, and Privies

OK

This book is a glossy generalists dream. If you don't know what a well is, buy this book. If you don't know what a septic tank is, buy this book. If you can't tell the difference between a submrsible pump or a jet pump, buy this book.If you want to design or install your own hideaway water system, forget it. The author makes to frequent use of "consult your owners manual", "local authorities" or "hire someone" to have any real value.This book would benefit the rural homeowner who has never owned a well, septic, etc. and needs to talk with a repair service. It would be unadvisable to attempt installation or repair of any system with knowledge gained from just this book.

At 57 years of age and no cottage experience, I needed some comfort in understanding the essentials of my newly purchased, but 30 year old cottage's mechanical systems. This book is quite comprehensive, at the entry level, well illustrated and humerous to read. Written by a Canadian, it provides information in both metric and imperial units, which is helpful, if a bit annoying to the non-metric system challenged.It provides a basic understanding, but is designed for maintaining and not designing systems....leave that to the pros. But you will know what questions to ask them if you read the book before calling for quotes for installation or maintenance services.First published in 1993, and apparently long out of print, these books are asking up to $200/copy in like new condition. Frankly, they are not worth anywhere near that, but there seems to be a good supply (at least in 2009) for about $25 or so. Amazon is a good source, but there are other online sources.Get one and keep it at the cottage. But don't present it as reading materials for your guests....keep it out of sight.

I'm on the fence here. One reviewer thought that it was way too basic. And no, I would not attempt to install a pumped water system in my cabin based on this info solely. On the other hand, I learned TONS of things, seriously. I mean TONS. I also learned (big time) what my options are and "how these things work." There is a WONDERFUL appendix in the back containing the contact info for all kinds of suppliers, which I found very valuable. In fact, I would be pretty comfortable building a small grey water drainage system or something simple. The one thing I was dissappointed about is this - We plan to use hauled water and roof drainage in a cistern, and there is absolutely nothing about that in the book anywhere. Still, I enjoyed it.

An excellent book that covers in detail all the aspects of water required at a cottage or remote site. The manner of writing is excellent and manages to make what could have been a deadly boring topic, quite interesting. I can't imagine a book on this subject being more informative or presented in a better style

The importance of establishing a good water supply is unsurpassed for those living beyond the reaches of municipal amenities. This simple fact requires an effective manual dealing with all aspects of water-- its acquisition, preservation, use, and disposal-- because it's up to the homesteader to know all about it. Max Burns provides this invaluable companion text in Cottage Water Systems, an easily read and remarkably entertaining guide to being your own little water and sewer company. This he accomplishes with a folksy wisdom which transforms the potentially tedious subject matter into the common theme in a series of interesting fireside chats. For the reader with a limited attention span, the book is expertly sectioned into short how-to passages with timely sidebars and very effective illustrations.The chapter on outhouses finds the author in his best form and should not be missed. I found Cottage Water Systems to be the definitive guide I needed to confidently tackle the indispensable project of successful water management. However, the reader must consider how much he or she agrees with the author when he declares,"..part of the fun is in the fixing." If your idea of an enjoyable cottage experience does not include extensive labor (sometimes requiring a backhoe), then some of the tasks explained in the book will be passed on to others. Still, the reader/cottager enjoys the future benefit of knowing what he or she is talking about. I get the feeling that I'll be going back to Cottage Water Systems again and again for its complete how-to information and learned wisdom.

Mr. Burns does a good job in this book telling you how to; for me as a youth camp site manager this book has been a big help, but Max also tells you the why. Any one who has a camp of any kind would find this book helpful. Thanks Mr. Burns.

I bought the book for a friend and he's happy. But I'm very happy with Heather from ThriftBooks, she was very professional and very helpful with my requests. Thank you Heather, I'm looking forward to purchase another book from your store.

The book is great.. the price..awesome BUT the shipping was almost 4 times the cost of the book 😏 On a better note we'll have water at the cottageCheers

very Informative