06x05 - Troubled Water

[bunniefuu]

Marty:
if something drastic doesn't
happen in the next few days,

You can kiss
this homestead goodbye.

Watch out.

Holy moly.

Our well is poisonous.

I don't see a lot
of signs of life.

I just don't... I don't see
a future for us here.

This is a farm
that you can't farm on,

And I want to do
everything for her, but I can't.

This is how dry our soil
is right now.

Marty: am I on a mission?

Absolutely.

We find clay,
you guys have a chance.

That looks suspicious!

There is a technique
called hugelkultur.

Look at how moist
the soil is.

Matt: we're gonna just employ
basic science

To turn this desert
into an oasis of a homestead.

If you don't get water
in the next couple of days,

Every single thing that
I've done will be for nothing.

If you don't have water,
you don't have a homestead.

♪♪

--Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Marty: all right.
Here we are, oregon.

I don't know if you remember
this, but in 1980,

Mount st. Helens blew.

It wreaked havoc on
the water systems around here.

I will tell you right now,
if our mountain in alaska

Starts to shake
and tremble

And I have to leave my cabin
on that mountain,

I'm staying.

Let it blow.

Can I have your truck
after you go?

[ Laughter ]

Narrator: 50 miles
from mount st. Helens,

The raneys are headed outside
rainier, oregon,

Where 52 inches of winter rain
and warm 70-degree summers

Provide perfect conditions
for a homestead to thrive,

But paradise on the surface
hides chaos down below.

The region's groundwater
is undrinkable salt water.

♪♪

-Marty raney.
-Hi.

Anthony.
Anthony, nice to meet you.

-Hi.
-Nice to meet you, marty.

I'm jess.
Misty.

Hi.
Jess?

Nice to meet you.
Anthony.

-Marty, bobby.
-Nice to meet you.

Marty: robert.
Well, first of all,

We love
the pacific northwest.

I grew up in north bend,
washington.

I live in camas, washington.
What are you doing here?

My brother.
This is my little sister.

This is my baby.

My big brother.
Came here to help.

Oh, any time she calls.
What are we doing here?

We can't do
what we want here.

Like, it makes me sad
every time I talk about it.

Sorry.

Like, I want to have
a real homestead.

Like, I want to try to be
self-sufficient,

And we can't do that.

My name
is jessica ahola.

This is my husband,
anthony.

Anthony: having a saltwater well
has completely stopped us...

[ Spits ] ugh.

...from making any progress
on this property.

It looks dry, unmanaged.

There's hardly
any actual food.

I'm afraid to bring
in any livestock here.

That dream is out
of the question.

This is our last shot.

This is crazy.
Your well is just salt water?

-Mm-hmm.
-Straight salt.
-Yes.

Matt: water is life,
especially for a homesteader

Because you're watering animals.

You're growing crops.

Nothing can survive without it.

Jessica: definitely a blow
to our plans

For everything we wanted
to do here.

♪♪

My dream,
I feel like my calling

Is to be outside gardening
and farming.

So I'm raking this bed right now
to try to get it ready.

Before we moved here,

I had had a long career
in the investment industry.

I was just really not happy
with where I was with my life.

Jessica quit her job to go
to school to become a farmer.

It was definitely her passion
in life.

Our goal was to live out
in the country

And provide for ourselves.

Narrator: in 2014, the aholas
invested their life savings

In their homestead dream,

Purchasing a home
on 5 acres of farmland.

The next day,
we get our keys.

We're super excited.

It's a sunny,
beautiful fall day.

Yeah.
We show up at the house.

We go inside,
and I'm thirsty,

So I grab a glass of water.

The second I tasted it,
I knew it was just super salty.

It was just, "oh, crap, like,
what are we going to do?"

Their well, the homestead's
only water source,

Contained hazardous levels
of sodium and toxic nitrates.

This water can't be used
for gardening.

It's too salty.
It would k*ll the plants.

Can't be used for animals,

And it's deadly
for a small child to drink.

We did try and drill
another well this summer.

$15,000 Later,

The well hit
the same saltwater pocket.

That was pretty devastating
for us

Because everything we had
we put into that.

Desperate for usable water,

The aholas sank another $10,000
on a rain-catchment system,

But it's not enough
to carry them

Through the summer dry season.

Jessica: when we need water,
he takes this tank in his truck

To other people's houses,
wherever he can to fill it.

I probably do five 2-hour water
runs a week,

Takes a lot of time,

Especially after
a 12-hour workday.

Narrator: with barely enough
water to keep the family alive,

Their dream
of self-sufficiency has stalled.

We've spent so much money
on this water situation

That I had to stop farming
for a living

And go back to my old job.

It's feeling like a nightmare
some days.

I don't know if we can sustain
this another year.

We're on the verge
of giving up.

They've spent every dime --
excuse me --

Every dime they had trying
to make this right,

And it's just impossible.

It just feels like
there's a dark cloud right now.

This was my sister's
american dream.

This little piece of 5-acre land
is her american dream,

And it's being ruined.

I'll tell you straight up
that it's not like

We can drill a well
and find water that they can't.

-Yeah, exactly.
-Right.

Let's get that out of the way
right now.

We just thought, the more ideas,
the better.

I would love to take
a look around.

Yeah, let's not quit
before we start.

You can tell right away these
homesteaders have worked hard

To fulfill their dream,

But these obstacles frankly for
most people would be impossible.

We're not going to give up.

Narrator:
the ahola homestead sits

On an underground store
of water, or aquifer,

Made of porous volcanic rock,

Which has allowed seawater
to percolate inland.

Compounding the problem,
overtapping and lack of rain

Has diminished the aquifer's
fresh water supply,

Causing the salt water
to take over.

Marty: may I taste it?
Go for it.

Pretty salty, huh?

It's terrible.

Something is going
to happen here.

Watch out.

I believe the salt
is probably corroding

The casing
that's in our well.

And I just tasted that?
You did.

You didn't...
That's why I was like...

You didn't tell me.

I wanted to tell you to hurry up
so you didn't get any of that.

Holy moly.

All right. So explain to me
the catchment system.

During the winter, this water
actually comes off

Of our roof here.

Well, this isn't winter.

How much is in there?

I'd say maybe 1,500 gallons
combined right now.

Mm-hmm.

So we've got about 1,500 gallons
of water on the homestead?

Yes.

Is there any other ways
that you're catching water here?

No, that's it.

They need about


To homestead properly,
couple animals, a garden.

These homesteaders come up


They're running dry.

Narrator: at the edge of
the woods, robert takes matt

To check out the homestead's
only working well.

This is the well that was
on the property

When they bought the house.

This is where the water
was coming from,

And it's still hooked up,
but they don't use it at all.

Matt: because of that
corrosiveness of the salt water?

It's... Like I said,
it's eating appliances,

Pots, pans,
inside of the toilets.

It eats everything.

This is a farm
that you can't farm on.

Jessica saved her money up
for this piece

And thought of the exact
right amount of sun,

The right angles.
Yeah, that's crazy.

She has the knowledge, and she
just doesn't have the resource.

Yeah.

And I want to do everything
for her, but I can't.

I don't know
what we can do,

But, I mean, is there a way
to get rid of the salt?

That's the question.

On this homestead, we're dealing
with a well that's salt water.

That's basically like water
from the ocean,

But honestly there's ways
to deal with that,

And to give up on that well
without even trying,

That's just like quitting
before we started.

Narrator:
across the homestead...

Misty: I don't see a lot
of signs of life.

...jessica shows misty
the dire state of her garden.

Do you have any food
in here?

There is
a few edible things,

But all the food crops
I planted on this site I lost.

My plan
was to be able to grow

At least enough food
for ourselves

And then hopefully
have excess to sell,

But I stopped watering
the garden

Because we just couldn't bring
in that much water.

Yeah.

I've hauled water for
a temporary solution,

And it was hard,

But to do it for 5 years,
I would be in tears.

I mean, livestock can take,
like, 2 to 3 gallons a day.

We're talking a garden needs...
I know.

...hundreds of gallons
depending on how big it is.

We have to haul in hundreds
of gallons a week just for us.

That's so brutal, man.

We almost left this year.

That makes me really sad,
but I just don't see a future

For us here, like, doing things
the way we've been doing.

This is a lot to take in,
and I think the best thing

I can do right now
is go find my dad and matt

And get some
sort of plan together.

Okay.

Water is key for life,

And if they haven't been able to
solve this problem in 5 years,

How are we going to do it?

Narrator: the raneys have just


Before they must head
to the next family in need.

This is the most pressure I
think I've felt on a homestead.

I mean, how do you
make water happen

Where they've tried
everything?

They haven't tried everything,
and that's the kicker.

Come here, guys.

You're not going
to believe this.

Look.

When I saw this, I realized
there is hope on this homestead

When I saw that clay.

This is insane.

It's textbook, the terrain
for catching water.

People would k*ll to have
that kind of slope.

People would k*ll
to have this clay.

Their whole property
is like a rain-catchment system.

You dig a pond,
and the rains

And the snows will come
and fill it.

I love the idea of the pond,
but, I mean,

Even the well that they have,
the existing water,

There's ways
to get rid of that salt.

Desalinization?
Yeah, definitely.

Meanwhile, I want to bring
in livestock,

And I want to bring in a garden
and choose a type of gardening

Which helps with areas
that don't have a ton of water.

We're going to go all-in.

We're going to play
every card.

We're going to go for it
because the pieces are here.

If this thing works,
you can have it all.

Narrator: if he can find
a solid layer of clay,

Marty will dig
a catchment pond

Capable of storing enough
winter rain water

To allow the aholas to garden
and keep livestock

Through the dry
summer months.

For food security,

Misty will create a special
moisture-conserving garden

Called a hugelkultur as well as
bring in drought-tolerant goats.

For drinking water,
matt will construct

A solar still in an attempt
to remove the salt

From the water
in the failed well.

Last but not least,
look behind you.

That massive
douglas fir tree

Can clearly hit
the homesteaders.

That's a dangerous tree.
That's a big tree.

-Got to go.
-I like it.

Let's go tell the family.

So we've never really faced
this kind of a problem before,

So what's the fix?

Capture as much water
as you can,

So if we start digging
and it's nothing but clay,

Then we'll dig
a significant pond.

If we dig there and find a bunch
of dirt,

Then our dreams are dashed
on the rocks again.

Yeah.
Everything that I do will rely

On whether or not
my dad pulls this off.

I know.
I know.

We won't know until we try.

This homestead has
a unique problem,

And it's k*lling
the homesteaders' dream.

Narrator: in oregon,
a contaminated well

Has left the ahola family
without water.

Ugh.

The raneys have just 6 days
to make a garden

And livestock a reality,

Or the aholas' homestead
dream will run dry.

We're looking for clay.
Anthony: yeah.

We find clay, you're going
to end up with a pond.

All right.

We've noticed that a lot
of the water collects down here.

Mm-hmm.
They say there's no water.

There may be a solution
right under our feet.

Can this clay hold a pond,

And could that pond
collect enough water

To run this entire
homestead forever?

I need to find out.

This whole entire bowl
right here,

All of that water runs down
this hill and fills this up.

Let's start digging.

♪♪

♪♪

What's that?

Get over there
and feel it?

That's good topsoil
for a garden.

It's not clay, though.

♪♪

♪♪

That looks suspicious!

Looks like clay!
Is it?

Yeah!

That'll hold water!

Yeah, I think so!

Clay,
it's a game-changer.

It's a life-changer.

And it's what we're looking for.

Well, let me
get to work.

Okay.
Clear!

♪♪

Narrator: back by the cabin...

I would love to introduce
a very unique type

Of gardening
to your location.

Okay. Yeah.

...misty and jessica begin work
on a water-conserving garden.

Misty: there is a technique
called hugelkultur,

And it's basically just
creating these mounds

Using wood and other organic
mass or compost,

And they absorb
every drop of water.

I really believe it'll help you
with the lack of water here.

Roughly translating
to "mound culture,"

The german method of hugelkultur
has been practiced for centuries

As a way to improve
garden fertility

In areas too harsh
for plants to grow.

Now the mission is to find
any dead tree that we can.

We'll need a lot.

To create the hugel beds,
misty will first lay a base

With large
moisture-absorbing logs.

Then she will layer 3 feet
of organic debris

That will decompose,
providing a natural fertilizer

Before topping with soil
and planting crops.

Look at this one.
Yeah.

Oh, yeah,
that's a good one.

This is the perfect log to start
this hugelkultur garden.

It's already started
to decompose.

It's soft and squishy
like a sponge.

Oh, yeah. The stuff I found
was more like this.

Misty: that'll work!
You can drag that up there.

Fortunately, we found a ton of
material to use for these beds,

And we'll start stacking them
big to little,

Kind of like
creating a lasagna.

We're going to use
big rotten logs,

Bring in some branches,
bring in little sticks,

Leaves, grass clippings, mulch,
and start seeing these mounds,

Creating a new garden space.

You just got to, like,
see the vision in the end,

But it's not this
big pile of sticks.

I see the vision.

Wait for it.
I see the vision.

Wait for it.
It's coming.

It's coming.
It's coming.

By the end of the week,
I'm hoping that those doubts

Of what our future
looks like here go away,

And I see a lot of potential

And a lot more reason
to want to stay here.

♪♪

Narrator: on the other side
of the property...

Okay.
This is just drinking water.

Robert: plain,
yeah, plain old water.

Plain drinking water.

You can buy this at the store.
All right?

Before we actually build
this solar still,

I want to look at the well water
and see how salty it really is.




Now let's test this water.



Right now, we're getting
salinity readings

That are 2,200 parts
per million,

And that's actually


Than what you would want
for potable drinking water.

What do you know
about solar stills?

Solar stills, you're using heat
to evaporate

The water
to get the impurities out of it,

And you're basically
distilling water.

Exactly.

Evaporation, solar energy
and...

The impurities do not evaporate
with it, just the moisture?

And you guys have
a lot of daylight here.

We do.

Narrator: using spare parts
from around the homestead,

Matt plans to build
a 6-by-12-foot solar still

That will harness
the sun's energy

To heat the salt water
to the point of evaporation.

Water vapor will separate
from the salt,

Rise and collect on
the still's plastic surface

Where it will condense back
into droplets of pure,

Distilled drinking water.

I don't know how scratched
or dirty they are but...

Hey,
this is going to work.

We can clean this up.

There are communities
around the world

That are desalinating
this water.

They're taking the salt
out of actual ocean water,

And we're going to just
employ basic science

That I think will give us
drinkable water

On this homestead forever.

♪♪

Narrator: the next morning...

I want to talk about
that huge dead douglas fir.

This tree is well over 100
years old, and 100 years ago,

There was only one way
to cut this tree down,

And that was by hand.

We found these in oregon.
-Okay.

This is what built
the pacific northwest.

My dad moved out of the house
when he was 16

And became a logger.

He's in his element, and I think
he likes to remind homesteaders

This is how it used to be.

You think you have it rough?

Look at how it used to be done.

We're probably going to cut this
off a little higher than normal

Because we have plans for this
tree after it's cut down.

Hold that right there.

I'll make a notch.

How cool would it be to cut it


And then
incorporate it into a build,

Use that same lumber
to build a goat pen

And fencing attached over
and around the very stump

Where the lumber came from?

Okay.
Here we go.

Slowly but surely!

You guys are looking good.

Matt: usually when you cut
a tree down with a chain saw,

You just cut a wedge
out on one side,

And then you back-cut
towards it,

And it falls
towards that wedge,

But we've got to use
this cross-cut saw

To cut way into the tree,
about a third of the way in.

-All right.
-Whoo!

And now we got to use axes

To literally chop out
that wood into a pie shape.

♪♪

Here we go!
All right.

Stand back.

It's going to get serious now,
real serious.

Matt, let's start cutting.

We're starting to do
the back cut.

My adrenaline is already pumping
because anything can happen.

Here it goes!
It's opening up!

There's movement!

Get out of there! Get out of
there! It's going!

-Here it goes!
-Matt, get down!

Whoo-hoo!

Timber!

-Whoo!
-Yeah!

-Ugh!
-Woo-hoo!

We can breathe.

We can breathe now.
Yeah!

Yeah.
Nice job, guys.

-That was awesome.
-Whoo!

Thank you, guys, so much.

I think my heart can
finally stop pounding now.

What a valuable resource
to get from our property.

Like, that tree is going to
become something else for us,

Something useful,
something meaningful.

See you!
See you!

Thank you!

Narrator: coming up...

You guys won't leave us,
like, high and dry so...

We're not going to leave you
high and dry.

Yeah.

If you don't get water,
every single thing

That I've done
will be for nothing.

We are in trouble here.

Narrator: in oregon,

The ahola homestead
is struggling to thrive.

We have to haul in hundreds
of gallons a week just for us.

With no source
of freshwater...

They haven't tried everything,
and that's the kicker.

...marty is excavating
a massive catchment pond.

Looks like clay!

But before marty gets back
to the dig...

Ready?

Don't let it slam, right?

...he must process building
materials at a local sawmill...

♪♪

While, back at the homestead...

All right.
Last shovel.

Jessica: whoo-hoo!

Oh, yeah.

...misty and jessica
prepare to add the last layer

To the hugelkultur garden.

It's looking good.

We got the logs.
I'm excited.

We got
the bigger branches.

We got
the smaller branches.

We have
the grass clippings.

We have
the decayed wood chips.

We have compost.

We have topsoil,
and now we are adding,

Last but not least,
the straw, which is the mulch.

It's the barrier,
kind of sealer

That's locking in
all of that moisture.

It's trapping it all,
so there'll be way

Less evaporation happening,
so let's get this spread out.

I'm so excited with jessica.

She's about to have
this massive garden,

But one of the first steps
we want to do

Is saturate it with water,
which we still don't have.

We need to sort this
water problem immediately.

I feel positive.

I have confidence you guys
won't leave us,

Like, high and dry so...

We're not going to leave you
high and dry.

Yeah.

♪♪

Narrator:
across the homestead...

All right.
Here I go.

We ready to start screwing it?
Yeah.

...matt and jessica's brother,
rob,

Piece together the basin
that will hold the well's

Contaminated water
to be desalinated.

Let's flip it this way.

All right.

A solar still can take 2 days
before you get any water,

So we need to build
this thing pretty big

So that once this water
starts dripping down,

It's a lot of water.

I heart water.

There you go!

It's a hot, sunny day.

When we get that salt water
in there,

This thing is going to
be flooded with drinkable water.

Oh, yeah.

All right.
Keep that lip up.

Yep.

We're lining our solar
still with black material

That'll absorb that energy
from the sun,

Superheat the water,
and supercharge

That evaporation process.

Okay.
Turn that water on.

We're ready
to fill this thing.

Here we go, salt water.

Let's test it right now.

♪♪


Per million,

A lot more than
the last time we tested it.

Yeah.
Okay.

Here is
one 5-gallon bucket.

It's going to be a lot.

Keep going.

♪♪

All right.
What is this, 15?

It's 15.

And here is 20.


A good round number to stop at.

All right, man.
Yeah?

I'll go k*ll the water.

Yeah, k*ll that water.

It's about little under
an inch of water,

And this entire reservoir
is just about 6-by-12.

As soon as we put that cover
on it,

We'll be in full swing,
full test mode,

And I'm really hoping we see
a lot of water come out.

Now that we have salt water
in this solar still,

We have to add
a gutter system

That's going to catch
our distilled water.

All right.
Let's put the top on.

Here we go.

Everybody good?
Yep.

Oh, that's so much easier
with three people.

We're going to place that
plastic panel

At a 25-degree angle
over the water

So we can catch those vapors,

And they'll be able to drip
down right into our gutter.

Right on, 20 gallons,


All we need is
a little bit of sun.

I got high hopes.

Come here, bro.
Yeah, dude.

Thanks for the help.

Good work.

♪♪

Jess, let's talk about
the plan for these goats.

Narrator:
with just 2 days to go,

Misty and jessica get started
on an 80-square-foot goat shed.

We have all of this 8-foot
lumber, and we have a ton of it.

You're going to have leftovers,
which is great.

We've got two goats
coming in less than 2 days.

We don't have a quiet,
safe structure in place.

We need a milking station,

So we need to get that up
as soon as we possibly can.

I'm thinking some kind of


Rectangular structure
that goes this way

And just build
this little goat shed

Right here off of this tree.
Okay.

So the first thing I'm going
to do is try and cut this

And get it as level
as I can.

Catch me if I fall.
Okay.

Okay?
Sounds great.

♪♪

I mean, of course we want
livestock here,

But there's still the issue
of water looming over my head.

I don't want to bring goats here
until I know

That we have enough
water to support them.

We should start the platform,
get the floor joists in.

Misty: jessica is really
worried, and rightfully so.

We are bringing livestock
to the property.

We have this massive garden
in place.

Matt is building
his filtration system.

My dad is building a pond,
but as of right now,

I cannot fill up
a water jug.

I need to talk with my dad
and matt

Because we're running
out of time.

♪♪

[ Coyote howls ]

♪♪

Okay, so in case you guys
haven't noticed,

I have created
a massive garden.

Now I'm bringing goats here,
and we need water.

We, days in, still haven't
captured one drop.

Yeah.
It's not good.

There's not going to be any rain
according to the forecast.

We are a little bit
in trouble here.

If you don't get water
in the next couple of days,

Every single thing that
I've done will be for nothing.

That really puts the pressure
on me and you and you.

It's just...
It's do or die now.

Narrator: in oregon,

The aholas are
in desperate need of freshwater.

Marty is digging
a catchment pond,

But misty's garden
and goats hinge on water

Before the end of the week.

You guys won't leave us,
like, high and dry so...

We're not going to leave you
high and dry.

Across the homestead...

Matt: all right.

I wish it was sunnier
than it was, but hey...

Yeah.

...we do have some water
collected in there.

-Let's lift it up.
-Okay.

Matt: the solar still has been
sitting for 36 hours.

It's been cloudy, and honestly
I don't know

What we're going to get.

♪♪

Keep going up, up, up, up.

Okay.
-All right. We're on the lip.

So you see
all that water?

Anthony: yeah.
That's our water.

That's good water.

That's good water
right there coming down.

Yeah.
Give it a tap.

Give it a tappy tap.

Give it a shake.

It literally feels like
a sauna.

That's, like,
hot-tub warm.

Yeah, that's really warm, man.
Let's test it.

If it's under 500 parts
per million, it's drinkable.

The water that we poured in this
solar still was, like,



And anything below 500,
that's drinking water.

So here is the test.




We went from 3,200 to 72.

This is awesome.
It totally works.

Yeah.
And it... Does it taste good?

I don't know.
Cheers.

Here you go.
Cheers.

Distilled water.

Delicious.
Yeah, it tastes good.

Yeah?
Mm-hmm.

I'm thirsty.

Anthony is going back
for seconds.

That's amazing.

Dude, this came right out
of your well,

And, I mean, every bit of it can
be desalinated just like this.

We proved it.

It's crazy.
Yep.

Narrator: seven days ago,
the aholas had a toxic well

That produced water
too salty to drink.

Now they can have
an endless supply

Of solar-filtered drinking water
from a still built

Using materials
salvaged from the homestead.

That's the first time
we've ever gotten drinkable

Water out of that well.

We took something that
was unusable and made it usable.

We'll do a couple
more tweaks.

I think this thing is going
to be

Really beneficial
for this homestead.

Yeah, I think so.

Boom, fellas.

Boom.

♪♪

Narrator: across the homestead
at the pond...

Hold that, buddy.
All right.

Stay right here.
Okay.

Tape might not be
long enough.

Hello!
Hello!

It's like the grand canyon
down here.

That's 100 feet
to where I'm standing!

Wow.

But the pond keeps going
another 23 feet!

Overall, 123 feet long!

-That's long.
-Yeah!

Ponder that, buddy!

This family needs water,

Every extra drop
that they can get.

I'm not going to build
a baby pond.

Okay.

So basically we've got
a 100-foot circle

With an average of about


Okay.
That's to the top.

All right. So how far away
are we from the rains?

I'd say we're about 2 months
from the first big, big rain.

Two months?

A month or two from now,

The rains will start as everyone
in oregon knows will happen.

When they start, this homestead
will have a pond

That holds


Going to be a game-changer
and a life-changer.

This could supply all the water
for our garden, our animals.

I'm happy with it.
I'm impressed.

Listen.
Let's get back to work.

So tomorrow is the last day
where we say goodbye to this

Hardworking family
and never return.

We've set them up
in the long term,

But in the short term,
they don't have enough water.

So 100 inches will work,
you guys.

During the dry season,
we have not cured

The immediate water shortage
on this homestead.

That said,
help is on the way.

Hey! [ Whistles ]

Could you use some water
today?

Oh.
Oh, it's a water truck.

Oh, wow.

-Wow.
-Oh, my gosh.

-Yeah.
-Hey!

If you're on a homestead
without water,

There's only one truck
you want to see coming.

H2o.

My god.

Obviously it's about survival
for you and your family first.

How many gallons you hauling?


So he's got 3,000.
Wow.

Awesome.

So we'll fill up
one black tank now.

He'll go back,
get 3,000 more gallons.

We'll fill up
the other black tank.

Oh, my god.
Thank you.

That's awesome.

Robert: she has water at least
for the rest of the year,

Makes me very happy.

It's one less thing
she's got to worry about.

You're making me emotional.

My brother does to me...

I mean,
this is just a relief.

Now I know we got the garden.
We got the goats.

I know we'll be able
to take care of them

For the next few months
until the rains start.

That makes me feel
a lot better.

I got one more surprise.

All of the water-storage
containers have been topped off,

But I just ordered
another 20,000 gallons.

Where am I going to put it?

In the pond.

I have to know if that thing
is going to hold water

Before I leave here.

I have to know the answer.

♪♪

♪♪

I'll mark it, drive stakes
at the edge of the water,

Give it a night, and see
if the water goes down.

See if this old girl
holds water.

Narrator: one week ago,

The raneys arrived to find
a homestead

Dying from a toxic
saltwater well.

Marty and anthony are gambling
that the clay

In the new catchment pond
will hold water.

Matt: this is awesome.
It totally works.

Anthony: yeah.

Matt and robert's off-grid
desalination system

Has successfully made 20 gallons
of salt water drinkable.

Here you go.
Cheers.

Marty: here it comes!

Narrator: and misty and jessica
are creating

Self-irrigating hugelkultur
garden beds and a goat pen.

♪♪

Pretty exciting stuff
right now.

On the final day
on the homestead...

Misty: right now,
it's late fall,

And we're going to put in
a bunch of winter crops.

We got broccoli.

We have cabbage and a ton
of herbs and leeks.

Oh, look at how moist
and how warm the soil is.

This bed has just gotten
a little bit of water on it,

And it's retained
every drop,

And then the warmth is coming
from it actually composting

And breaking down
right now in place

And just creating, like,
the most beautiful soil.

This is really exciting.

Because you can plant
in the sides too,

It's, like, so much...

It... Yeah.
...planting space.

Like, there's...
There's so much...

...so much...
...growing room.

...square feet
of planting here.

I was really struggling to see
a future

In this property
a week ago,

And now it looks like
it's full of life.

You know, a small farm
has sprung up.

There you go.
That seems better.

She looks like she needs
to be milked.

Raising livestock,
growing food,

It is not just
an unattainable dream anymore.

Kind of rolling down the teat,
and watch out for her kick.

She's a bit nervous
because she traveled.

Nice.

Narrator: seven days ago,

With no freshwater
to supply her garden,

Jessica had given up
her dream

Of farming
the homestead full-time.

Now she has a massive
water-efficient garden

Along with livestock

That together will not
only feed the family

But survive enough extra room
for a farm stand.

Misty: we're setting her up
to be incredibly successful

For not just herself
and her family

But to provide
supplemental income.

You got goats!

All right.

♪♪

Narrator: at the pond...

There's 20,000 gallons
of water here.

Well...

So let's just cut
to the chase.

It's not going down.

It looks like it's going
to hold water.

Jessica: looks like
it's going to work.

-I think so.
-This is great news.

We have a future now, like,
a bigger future.

You make me tear up again.
Stop it.

It makes me feel good
because we're helping you.

Yeah,
this is really exciting.

Narrator:
at the start of the week,

The aholas had
no reliable source of water.

Each drop had to be hauled
in by hand

At a tremendous
cost of time and money.

Now,
with a 1/2-million-gallon pond

And a 27,000-gallon
freshwater reserve

To get them through
the dry season,

The homestead is finally
prepared to sustain life.

See lots of water
in our future.

So does this mean
we're staying?

Yes,
of course we're staying.

All right.
Yes, we're staying.

We're staying.

♪♪

All right!

Seven days later, here we are.

[ Chuckles ] oh.
To a homestead, water is life,

And a homestead
without water is dead.

-Mm-hmm.
-Right?

No doubt.

Kills the spirit,
and it kills the dream.

Yeah.
Right.

Now you're homesteaders
with 27,000 gallons of water,

And it's only
going to get better.

It's huge for us.

We've been worrying about water
every single day, you know?

I'm very grateful for what
you guys have done

For my sister
and my brother-in-law.

Jessica went from getting ready
to walk away from this.

It broke her, broke her spirit,
and look at her now.

Yeah.

It's just such a sense
of relief.

Like, now we're really going
to start our homestead,

And that's exciting,
so thank you, guys,

So much, for making me cry.
Hey.

No.
-You're very welcome.

Marty: when we showed up
on this homestead,

We started out cutting
a tree down old-school,

So here is a slab of wood
off of the tree.

Oh!
[ Laughs ]

Marty: that's our little gift
to you.

See you later!
Bye!

-Thank you, man.
-Thank you so much!

See you guys.

For the aholas,
the only salt water

You're going to find
on this homestead from this day

On will be tears of joy.

Bye.

-See you guys!
-See you later.

Aw, thanks, guys.

I would say there's
"ahola" [a whole lot] of water

For anthony and jessica.

♪♪

Jessica: we're getting our first
good rain,

And you can see on the far side
of the pond

Where water is starting
to flow in,

So that's exciting.

The solar still, as you can see,
it's freezing outside,

And it's actually
condensing water.

This garden has been amazing.

We have gotten so many
harvests already.

We love our goats so much.

We've gotten so much milk,

And it's so rewarding to be
providing more for ourselves

And being closer
to being self-sufficient.

Thank you, raneys,
for helping us live our dream.