Water tanks?

saabman · 05-08-2009, 01:04 AM

I am looking at fresh water tanks and shower setups...

I wondered what capacity of fresh water you have on board and how often you refill.
I have currently a 20l canister (jerrycan) for fresh water... not sure I will have enough...

As for shower units have any of you used this kind of thing?

geoffff · 05-08-2009, 01:20 AM

I have a 10 gallon tank, but that's not very much. Even for just drinking and washing dishes, 10 gallons doesn't last very long. I also carry an extra one or two 5 gallon jugs.

Solar showers do work, but I don't normally carry enough water to justify a 5-gallon shower.

If you lay the solar shower out in midday sun, it'll heat to a nice hot shower temperature in an hour or so. For a longer shower, I pour this hot water into a garden weed/bug sprayer. The bug sprayer's misting nozzle uses much less water than the one that comes with the solar shower.

-- Geoff

AndrewST · 05-08-2009, 01:36 AM

Saabman,

The solar bag works great to heat up the water when you stay on site.

If you want a similar system but built to military specs, go by the army liquid-shop they sell their waterbags for CHF 10.-

If you want, next time we see, I can show you one and why not sell you one of mine...

See ya,

Andrew

saabman · 05-08-2009, 01:46 AM

@ geoffff
So you carry about 20 gal of water...that is 80l I had been thinking of a fitted tank, but it does take up allot of room... And you count all that for drinking and washing-up alone?

@ AndrewST
Well 10.- CHF is a good price! Where is this army shop you are talking about? Yes I would like to see one

I could easily put 3 or 4 of these on the roof they would heat and have showers ready for all the kids mid afternoon

geoffff · 05-08-2009, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saabman

@ geoffff
So you carry about 20 gal of water...that is 80l I had been thinking of a fitted tank, but it does take up allot of room... And you count all that for drinking and washing-up alone?

Yes. It's the washing-up part that can waste quite a bit of our water unless we're very careful. Wiping dirty dishes first with paper towels helps.

I haven't measured exactly, but I'd estimate we use about 3 gallons a day. So, that's about 6 days of boondocking for us between refills -- but I like to always keep a water reserve when we're out in the desert (Baja, etc.)

Speaking of boondocking, I just realized that there's no need to use your drinking water for solar showers -- If you come across clean streams or lakes, I don't see why you couldn't use that water in your showers.

geoffff · 05-08-2009, 08:55 AM

Once in Baja, I saw a VW campervan with a creative idea. The owner had mounted a tube of black PVC (4" diameter) pipe along the whole length of the van's roof -- like where the awning is on my van. This pipe had two end caps, and a fill/shower fitting. Fill it with water in the morning, and because it's black, by the end of the Baja sunny day he had 5+ gallons of hot showers ready to go, already mounted and elevated!

-- Geoff

Greggd · 05-08-2009, 07:11 PM

I used this very same method and it worked very well . I used 2 each 4" diameter Black ABS pipes mounted to custom ConFer Roof Rack , I installed air fittings that handled up to 50 PSi on the cab end end of the rack and 1/2" Hose fitting's to the rear end caps . The idea came from one of my friends Plumbing Trucks . I purchased all of the materials from http://www.americanvan.com and made the necessary adaptions , about a 2 hour job . This set up was on 2 of our Quigley's ,
300,000 plus miles and never failed once ! I frequently filled them and used on numerous Surfing Trips , with no ill effects in the handling of the vans . I would do this again in a heartbeat if the additional water was desired . We also have used the 5 to 15 gallon Solar Showers with much success , and the only problem that I ever had was the creation of large Water Balloons when I forgot store them before travel . Kinda of entertaining to watch the reactions of the people who were following us .
Greggde

AndrewST · 05-13-2009, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saabman

@ AndrewST
Well 10.- CHF is a good price! Where is this army shop you are talking about? Yes I would like to see one

I could easily put 3 or 4 of these on the roof they would heat and have showers ready for all the kids mid afternoon

The shop is at L'arsenal de Morges on the harbour, or you have one in Thun with more choice.
I'll PM you when I am back.

saabman · 06-11-2009, 07:22 AM

Hi I am back on this topic... On my water tank quest I was wondering if anybody had tried using water fountain bottles like you find in offices?

ChkouMoon · 06-11-2009, 08:37 AM

i try de the waterbag from the army

if you drink the water from the bag you feel like you licking a tire

its taste realy bad!!!
and when you take a shower your smell goes to be"rubber smell"