If you go long enough on the internet, you will eventually find yourselves in a corner where people seem to have moved out into the wilderness, built their own homes, and are living peaceful and idyllic lives away from not just things like war and the grand movements of politics, but also everyday concerns like electricity, bills and water utility payments.

The key philosophy behind this is being off grid, beholden to no-one but yourself. This often takes the form of a wizened and hale-looking American (and a large number of them are Americans of New Zealanders) - or a farming couple in the peak of human health, glowing as they describe how self-sustaining and self-reliant they are.

Being off grid - or at least having the ability to survive off grid in Sri Lanka - is I think a good thing. More than a photogenic lifestyle choice. Our governments cannot adequately respond to oil shocks, weather events, political disruptions. We are doomed to be at the mercy of madmen elected in by voters who want nothing more than a free lunch.

My grandfather’s generation was well versed in this. They lived in mountaineous areas (Halwinna, off GOdakawela) and understood that infrastructure was not something that the state would provide unless they were important enough. And so they had to learn how to do things the hard way.

Water

The first thing you need to sort out is water. When we say of grid th those of us who come from more digital generation might immedi immediately think of electricity. However, you can survive without electricity, as we discovered the hard way, you have absolutely no chance in hell of surviving without water.

The first and most easiest thing you can do before you go fully off, it is if you have a water line coming to your property or your house, and water storage between your ultimate use and that line. this is very important in Sri Lanka, where water cuts are common. And especially when electricity cuts out, water cuts are not too far behind because pumping stations need electricity.

We do this by having three two thousand litre tanks. These tanks are placed at a higher elevation than the consumption point, that is to say the taps, showers wherever we get water from. so that gravity itself gives us pressure. Each tank has a ball valve in it. A ball valve is basically this big pl plastic or rubber ball that floats on top of water. It is connected to a metal rod as the level of water in the tank rises, the ball valve also rises and at some point cuts off the flow of water into the tank when it is level.

This is very common and completely common sense plumbing. This level of water storage, even if you are using a washing machine every three or four days, should last you a good week or so before you start to notice a power cut. If you really draw it out, you actually have a substantial amount of water.

You should always pick for more storage than you think you need. You may think that a thousand liters of water is a large amount, and yes, if you are asked to drink that water, it certainly is a large amount. However, drinking is not the only thing we do with water. a shower for a person typically takes anywhere between thirty five to seventy two liters of water. washing machines consume a huge amount of water. For toilets. In fact, drinking water may be one of the smallest percentages of use of daily water in a household. So always have more than you need.

Move on to off grid water.

The off grid water takes two forms.

The first is rainwater catchment.

If you have a roof, rainwater catchment is easy. Modify your gutters so that they lead into a pipe, which then leads into a tank. Sri Lanka sits squarely in the tropics and has two distinct monsoon seasons:

Southwest monsoon (Yala): May to September, affects western and southwestern slopes
Northeast monsoon (Maha): December to March, affects eastern and northern areas
Inter-monsoon periods: Irregular rains in April and October-November

What this means practically: if you’re in the Central Highlands around Kandy, you’ll get rain year-round with peaks during both monsoons. In the dry zone (Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa), you might get most of your annual rainfall in just a few months, so it always pays to have water storage.

We collect about a thousand liters a day in this way. And the only reason we collect a thousand liters a day is because we’ve hooked up a thousand liter tank. We’ve done some quick maths from where we are and estimate that we could easily be collecting three to four thousand liters a day of rain water during the rainy seasons.

The second is a well.

A well is basically a shaft dug from the ground down to the water table. That is where water naturally exists in the soil. In areas where the water table is quite close to the ground, you dig a conventional well. You basically dig a hole. You have it surrounded by a concrete wall so that you don’t immediately fall in. And voila, well. In areas where the water table may be of quite away down, people tend to use tube wells. Basically you call a tube well company, there are plenty listed. they come over, they inspect your site, they try and figure out where water is most likely to be on your side. And using a machine they basically sink a cylinder that can go for hundreds of meters down to where the water table is, and as a result of it, again you get water.

No, all of the steps that I’ve d described are actually easily doable. And by easy I mean they will take some time and you will probably need to find a decent plumber. but they’re not exorbitantly expensive. two thousand litre water tank, the last time bought one, which was a few months ago, cost me about twenty seven thousand rupees and transport from the hardware it cost me a little bit more. pipes leading to that. Fine. it took the plumbers about a day or two to install and test it and wait for and that in also m meant waiting for it to f fill up so that it could be tested for leaks.

You can hire people for this. Again, a tube well is probably the most economical way of going about this. It is probably also the fastest and the most automated. If not, you’re going to have to hire a few day laborers to cut into the soil until you find water. This is where observing water patterns comes in handy. In our case I had noticed that there were particular regions of the land that tended to overflow in oddly specific ways when rain hit, and speculated that there was a spring underneath, and lo and behold four feet in we struck water. So we have a well.

So that’s it right? No, wrong. If you want this water to be good for anything other than watering plants, you need to think about two things. You need to think about A) filtration B) how it’s going to get added to your existing water system.

So because of how things are set up, the tank where you’re going to collect this water is going to probably be at a lower elevation than where you need the water to be. This is the opposite of how water flow normally works. Normally mains water comes to a tank which is elevated above your household so that gravity gives you water pressure. So to use a rainwater tank, your taps either need to be below it in elevation, or you need to have a small pump that can elevate that water.

Understanding Sri Lanka’s Rainwater Patterns

During monsoon season in high-rainfall areas, you can easily collect 3,000-5,000 liters per day. During dry season in the dry zone, you might collect almost nothing for weeks. This is why having adequate storage capacity is critical—you’re not just capturing daily use, you’re capturing seasonal surplus.

Building a Water Filtration System for Sri Lanka

The Practical Preppers 7-layer system is comprehensive but relies on specialty components that are either expensive to import or don’t exist locally. Here are two approaches:

Minimum Viable System (Low Cost, Local Components)

If you’re working with limited budget or remote location with poor supply chains:

Gutter guard: Use locally-available mosquito mesh or a piece of PVC pipe cut lengthwise. Clean it after heavy rain.
First flush diverter: This is critical in tropics—it diverts the first 20-50 liters of water away from your tank. You can DIY this with a PVC pipe and a manual ball valve. When it rains, you manually open the valve to let debris-laden water run to your garden, then close it once clear water appears.
Settling tank (optional but recommended): A second, smaller tank (200-500L) positioned before your main storage tank. Water spends 12-24 hours here, allowing sediment to settle. Drain sediment from the bottom regularly. This dramatically extends the life of your finer filters.
Pre-filter: Cloth or sand filter at the pump intake. Use a simple mesh strainer (available at any hardware shop) or build a sand-gravel filter box. Replace cloth monthly or as needed.
Boiling or UV treatment: For final disinfection. A simple UV unit (₨8,000-15,000) or boiling for 1-2 minutes will handle most pathogens.

Cost: ₨30,000-50,000 total. Maintenance: monthly mesh cleaning, quarterly settling tank drain.

Comprehensive System (Better Quality, Mixed Components)

If you’re willing to import some components and have budget:

Roof screen: Gutter guard or mesh screen
First flush diverter: Manual or gravity-fed design
Tank inlet filter: 100-200 micron mesh to stop large debris
Main storage tank: Covered, opaque tanks (not transparent) to prevent algae. Dark plastic or concrete cisterns work well. Size for at least 3-4 months of dry season usage.
Floating intake: Extract water from 20-30cm below surface (not from sediment layer at bottom)
Spindown or sediment filter (5-20 microns): Locally you can find basic sediment filters at plumbing suppliers, not just Rusco brand. ₨3,000-8,000
Canister filter stage: 5-10 micron replacement cartridges. Expect to change every 2-4 weeks if you’ve got sediment issues. ₨2,000-5,000 per cartridge.
Final stage: Either a ceramic filter (₨5,000-12,000, but imported and fragile) or a UV disinfection unit (more practical for tropics)

Cost: ₨80,000-150,000 depending on filter quality and imported vs. local components.

Practical Tank Design for Tropical Climate

Your tank decisions matter more than your filters:

Tank material: Concrete cisterns are excellent—they don’t degrade in sun, they’re heavy enough not to move, and they’re built locally. Disadvantage: porous if not sealed properly. Second choice: dark-colored plastic (blue or black HDPE). Avoid transparent tanks—algae growth is inevitable in Sri Lanka’s sunlight.

Tank cover: Essential. Use a fitted metal or wooden lid with ventilation (small mesh openings) to prevent debris and mosquitoes while allowing bacterial gases to escape. Make sure the cover is removable for maintenance.

Tank elevation: If possible, elevate your tank 2-3 meters above your highest water use point (kitchen tap, shower). This gives you gravity-fed pressure. If you can’t elevate, you’ll need a pump.

Tank size: A general rule is 1,000 liters of storage per person per month of dry season. If you’re in an area with 4 months of dry season with no rain, and you use 100 liters per day, you need 12,000 liters of storage. That’s large but achievable with multiple 5,000-liter tanks or a small concrete cistern.

Water Pumps and Configuration

You’ll almost certainly need a pump. Your options:

Electric pump (₨15,000-40,000): A small submersible pump (0.5-1 HP) or a surface pressure pump. Requires electricity (solar panels, generator, or grid). Easiest solution if you have power.

Manual/gravity pump (₨5,000-15,000): Some hand pumps can sit at tank level and pump water uphill. Labor-intensive but reliable.

Pressure tank configuration: After your pump, the water goes into a pressure tank (20-50 liters, ₨8,000-15,000). When the tank fills to pressure, the pump stops. When pressure drops below threshold, the pump restarts. This gives you tap pressure without running the pump constantly.

A simple configuration:

Tank → floating intake → sediment filter → pump → pressure tank → filtration (if desired) → taps

If you want filtered drinking water separate from washing water:

Tank → pump → main tap line (for washing, garden)
Tank → pump → secondary line to fine filters → drinking water tap

Understanding Your Water Source: The Second Form

You mentioned “the off grid water takes two forms”—the second is usually groundwater (wells or springs). If your area has a water spring or you can drill a well, this becomes your dry-season backup or primary source.

Spring water is often cleaner than collected rainwater (it’s naturally filtered through earth). A simple pre-filter might be sufficient. Well water risks include:

Bacterial contamination if the well is near a septic system
Iron/manganese (common in Sri Lanka’s geology), requiring basic sediment filtration
In some areas, naturally high fluoride or arsenic (rare but worth testing)

Any well or spring should be tested before relying on it. Many district councils or private labs can do basic water quality testing for ₨3,000-10,000.

Maintenance Rhythm

Your system’s success depends on regular maintenance:

Weekly: Check tank for debris, visually inspect water clarity
Monthly: Clean mesh pre-filter, check filter cartridges for clogging
Every 3 months (or after heavy monsoon rain): Drain settling tank sediment, inspect tank cover and seals
Annually: Test water quality, replace all filter cartridges as preventive measure, inspect pump operation

The biggest failure point is neglecting mesh/sediment filters. These catch the heavy lifting—iron, silt, leaves. When they get clogged, water flow slows dramatically and people bypass them. Don’t. Replace them. They’re cheap compared to clogged pipes or ceramic filter damage.

Local Sourcing Notes

Finding components locally:

Tanks: Any hardware shop in towns carries plastic tanks. For larger storage, find a concrete tank maker through local building contractors
PVC pipe, fittings, valves: Any plumbing shop in even small towns stocks these. Learn PVC sizes (1-inch is common for household use)
Mesh, cloth, sand: Available at any hardware or agricultural supplies shop
Pumps, filters, cartridges: Electrical/plumbing suppliers in larger towns carry these. Colombo importers (check areas around Fort or Colombo 3) have almost anything
Water testing: District council public health office or private labs in district capitals

Most off-gridders end up with a hybrid system—some locally-sourced basics (tank, pump, mesh filters) combined with a few imported components (quality cartridge filters, UV unit). That’s fine. Work with what’s available.