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?
Spring capture
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 natural spring physically present on or adjacent to the site, not creatable, only usable if it exists
Where a natural spring exists on-site; often gravity-fed with no pumping required.
Effectively indefinite as a natural feature; the capture structure (spring box, piping) needs the same 30-50 year renewal as other buried infrastructure
Embodied carbon
Low
Space / material use
Medium
Output timing
Continuous process
Skill to repair
Basic
Regulation (FR example)
A spring feeding a single household is a domestic abstraction and must be declared to the mairie (art. L2224-9 CGCT, contents set by the arrete of 17 December 2008), with an analysis by a laboratory approved by the health ministry. Beyond one family, a seasonal let, a campsite, anything supplying other people, it needs prefectural authorisation under art. L1321-7 of the code de la sante publique: R1321-6 and R1321-7 name springs explicitly, and the procedure brings a hydrogeologist's opinion and protection perimeters with it. Owning the land the spring rises on removes neither step.
Levels are relative to the other options for this need, not absolute. Fewer dots is lighter.
Spring capture (This page) 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 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.
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.
Mains water 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.
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.
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.