Lowtech Graph lists low-tech options for every need of a home. Here you can compare them, find tutorials to build them, and link them together into a circular system. Why low-tech?
Mains water
Passive
One of 10 ways to meet this need. Cost, carbon, footprint and rankings are relative to other solutions for the same need, not absolute.
What your site needs
A public water main reaching the property, and a connection permitted by the utility
Drinking water from the public network, arriving already treated and under pressure. There is nothing to pump, store or treat at home, and it keeps flowing in a power cut. But the household depends entirely on the network staying up and on being able to pay for it.
Build it
This solution is not buildable as a DIY project.
Cost
Medium
Upkeep
None
Skill to build
Specialist
Lifespan
Connection and buried service pipe: 50+ years, effectively the life of the network rather than of anything you own; the meter is replaced by the utility on its own cycle
Embodied carbon
Low
Space / material use
Low
Output timing
On-demand/controllable
Skill to repair
Specialist
Regulation (FR example)
Connection is requested from the local water utility and is generally compulsory where a main passes the property in a served zone. Billing includes a sanitation charge where the property is also on the public sewer.
Levels are relative to the other options for this need, not absolute. Fewer dots is lighter.
Mains water (This page) Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Medium · Skill to build: Specialist · Upkeep: None · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if the network reaches you and you want treated water under pressure with nothing to manage.
Drilled well with an electric pump Can I use it? Not in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Medium · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: No Choose it if there is water under your land and you want your own supply at the tap through dry spells.
Rainwater harvesting and storage Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you have a roof and want free water for the garden, washing and flushing.
Spring capture Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if a spring rises on your land and you want water that can flow to you with no pump.
Drilled well with a hand pump Can I use it? Not in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you have a well and want water through any power cut.
Drilled well with a rope pump Can I use it? Not in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you have a well and want the cheapest hand pump, repairable with local materials.
Hydraulic ram pump (belier hydraulique) Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if a stream with enough fall runs on your land and you want to lift water with no power, for decades.
Fog collector (cloud net) Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Medium · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you live where fog is frequent and want water with no power.
Free-standing rainwater catchment Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Regular · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you have no roof to collect from, or none clean enough for drinking water.
Spiral pump (coil pump) Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Regular · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you have a moving stream without the fall a ram pump needs.
Sources
French public water service connection practice (mains supply, metering and billing)
Limitations of this page
We don’t list sizing or quantities, as the yield of each technique depends on the quality of its build. The catalogue compares options but doesn’t dimension them. Regulatory notes are indicative, with a French example, and need to be confirmed locally.