Water storage survey - what do you do?
 

Hi,

I have been pondering the issue of water storage in an LC (although it could be any vehicle) for long trips.

Most 4x4 companies in the UK seem to be selling things like combination fuel (120l) and water (60l) tanks to go up under the boot, prebuilt tanks to go in the boot behind the second row of seats between the wheel arches, or even custom built tanks made of aluminium or stainless steel fitted in the boot. You can also get tanks that fit up in spaces between chassis rails under the truck.

On top of those options you can get flexi tanks that are made to fit in the spaces in the rear wings behind the panels.

I have even heard of someone with a series of joined lengths of pipe, cut to fit stacked up in the inner wings at the back and then held in place with expanding foam.

I like the idea of having the water stored out of the way and low in the vehicle, however the big problems with these fixed tanks is the filling of them, as well as cleaning them out if you get crap in them.

On the flip side it is very easy to get three plastic jerry cans or slightly bigger sitting immediately behind the 2nd row of seats and then use a small pump for getting the water out to the back of the vehicle and they are easy to get out an fill by lowering one of the 2nd row of seats and pulling them out.

I would be interested to know what arrangement you have in your vehicle and what you consider to be the pros and cons.

Also if you are using it for drinking, do you filter the water before putting it into your storage setup or afterwards?

So fire away ;-)

Julian,
 

Four black jerry cans behind the seat row (front) or three (rear). The Whale Submersible 881 pump just fits the filler hole.

No fuss, no complicated designs, keeps water from different sources separate, easy to fill from taps with a garden hose.`

ditto
 

Julian. Same as Roman. You can make a frame up to stop them rolling around and then strap them in. As Roman says, easy to fill, easy to get at, weight in the right place etc etc. They do occasionally leak but you can sort that pretty easily. Simple is is usually best i reckon.

Hope you and the family are well

Jeremy

Hi. swiss army water bags - 20l full, hangs off the side of the car, has a tap on the bottom and most importantly completely flat when empty so I can carry 5 for really long legs without the bulk of solid cans. Had them 4 years now and one of them is in the back rattling around all the time without any damage. Black rubber so heat up if left in the sun or on the roof. Being flexible they pack well between the storage boxes too.
Cheers
Chris

Horizontal plastic
 

Hi All,
55 litre horizontal plastic tank sits on the rear drawers + 2 x 20 L jerry cans that fit nicely against the side under the internal grab rail ( strap these in when necessary )

The Mrs in particular loves the ease of access that the tank with tube and tap provide. On the big trip the tank held drinking water while the jerries held water for washing etc, however I m thinking of changing that now we re back in Egypt and rarely doing more than a week off road in the desert. Probably use the plastic tank for washing and bottled water for drinking.

Actually considering putting the tank on the roof rack. Yes it would add 60 kg, but we ll probably remove the roof tent anyway. Any opinions on the danger of an extra 60 kg high up on a 3 ton landcruiser would be appreciated.

Thanks

JT

I'm inclined to agree that the smaller cans are better than a fixed tank, but am interesting to know how those with fixed tanks get on.

These sound similar to Solar showers - are they as good when it comes to heating up and do they have any fixings on them so that they can be strapped down? Any pics?

We had 20l solar showers in Morocco strapped to the bonnet - the big problem was they could only really be strapped via the handle so swung around a lot and had very flimsy seals on the fill hole so leaked a lot.

Hi Julian, I've been using on Landys and LC's these from AMR/Carysan
- micropur in the water and never had a problem - cheap and easy...
cheers

Well Julian, I've got 2 fixed tanks in my Merc truck. One is a 150ltr plastic rectagonal affair just to the side of the entrance steps (it used to be a bus) and the other is a purpose-made 30 gallon stainless steel tank which fits under and is profiled to fit said stairs. The plastic tank has a Sureflo pump which sends water via a Seagull IV water filter (removes all known baddies) to a Truma heater, taps etc. The SS tank has another in-line pump which pumps up into the first tank. I fill this with a hose which has an in-line pre-filter and also have the option of filling it with a bucket and submersible pump if I use wells as a source.

I appreciate this set up is a bit over the top but it works brilliantly. The only downside is that you can be a tad wasteful if you're not careful and of course it does weigh quite a bit. However, weight isn't an issue on a 10 tonne truck. The reason I like a fixed installation like this is that it saves having to manhandle heavy cans which my Mrs would find next to impossible and it allows space which otherwise would be wasted, or at best awkward to use, to have a use. Having the pumps allows me to keep the 'stair' tank full all the time which helps to keep the weight low down and it's amazing even on this truck what the effect on stability is of having the 150 litre full up.

My advice would be keep the weight as low to the ground as possible, make use of wasted space if you can and have a means of filling up your tank(s) without having to take the tank to the water source.

Q

PS the Seagull filter is a great piece of kit. OK it's pricey but it's very quick (7.5 litres a minute) and very effective. It even removes the ghastly taste from our c**p Lincolshire water!

I have two huge (~270L each?) black plastic rectangular tanks under the left hand seats in the front of the camper, opposite from the 270kg battery bank. My advice: mount a fixed tank inside the vehicle (to prevent freezing - don't even think about external mounting with heating); as low as possible, and as far forward as possible since on most expedition vehicles the rear axle gets overloaded first. Make sure you have a hose, a filter is a good idea. I even carry a submersible pump. Also, look into some chlorine dioxide generating tablets. Accepta makes some good for 30L each.

Charlie

I had a fixed under body 160ltr tank and a 20ltr gerry can with tap, strapped above the sink in a merc van. the 160ltrs I used for washing cooking and tea/coffee, and the 20ltrs I purified with micropur powder, for drinking. I never had any problems. micropur powder is excellent, leaves no taste and a film canister size container is enough for 10,000ltrs! very economic. I believe some of the overland companies use it.

I agree that the outside tank could freeze and mine did get hot! so I would keep it inside next time.

I used a foot pump which was fine.

Graeme

I have used old catering sized veggie oil containers in a wooden frame - total cost about 10 quid. Actually they are really tough. Also found that when you can get really cheap or clean water that a lot of 1.5 litre bottled water has advantages - always popular and easy to hand out when done. Tried sachet water but it couldn't hack the abuse

It's interesting to hear from you guys with the bigger trucks and the space for the large fixed tanks.

Personally for travelling in a Land Cruiser I would go for small 20-50l containers behind the 2rd row of seats with a pump to take it to the rear of the vehicle an some form of inline filter so that you don't have to think about whether it is drinking or washing water.

Travelling with children (we have 3.5 children!) means that car seats will have to be removed to drop the seats down to get at the tanks, but hopefully with larger cans this shouldn't need doing everyday.

In Morocco we went through around half a dozen bottles of water a day as well as two 20l solar showers (most leaked out so often ended up with only 5-10l in each) and then a 20l Jerry can would last us about 2-3 days. In the future I want to avoid using bottled water because you can become reliant on them and it's a problem when you then can't get any and also you end up filling your car up with full and empty bottles and with limited space (did I mention the 3.5 children!) this can become a pain to deal with and finding places to throw them bottles away (not many bins around Morocco!) can be a problem.

What do you do for hot water?

Any travelling I will do will most likely be with my family and having warm/hot water for washing ourselves and washing up after a meal does make life that little bit more comfortable - I have tried the solar shower which are great when the weather is good, but's it's the cold/wet days when you wouldd far rather be washing in warm/hot water than cold.

I think that the only time I would have a fixed tank would be for hot water, linked in with a heat exchanger, recycling the contents of the tank through a heat exchanger whilst on the move and then you have warm/hot water for washing in the evening - insulating the tank would keep it warmer for longer.

I have been wondering if it is possible to get some inline heaters, but I guess the main problem will be the power needed to heat the water, shame really, it would make life/plumbing easier ;-)

Julian, you could always get a diesel-powered water heater-the type used to pre-heat engines and modify it to provide hot water. Never seen it done but I can't see why it couldn't be. Whether it's worth the effort though........

Q

Hi Julian, I'll try to take a photo of the swiss bags for you.
Re hot water :- I think alisport, or a friend of his did a heat exchanger off the cooling system - may have a reference somewhere.
I haven't got the 3.5 kids so I tend to use the kelly kettle if there's no sun with an ex army shower bag which i picked up from B.A.S.E. army surplus - they also do the swiss army bags which are not to be compared with the flimsy solar showers - you can drive over these things.
I'll post later
Cheers
Chris

Tank
 

Hi Julian
I got a plastic 75l tank made to fit between the rear chassis rails, and a whale hand pump to lift it up into the sink. Easy to fill with a pipe fitted up the rear of the van, weight low down and best use of space. As to the freezing problem, head south!
Bruce

Keep it low and statched
 

Hi there, it's Lio.

I followed the link you sent me and I'm now logged in under your ID!?

Anyway, here's my 0.2Euro opinion on the water storage subject:

When travelling with kids in a 4x4, the trunck tends to fill really fast (as you know ;o) but it's a strategic place for everyday life on the piste so should be loaded adequately.
In priority, I would use the trunck for things I cannot fit anywhere else on the vehicle and should be easily and quickly accessible (clothing, cookware, food, wine, kid toys, ...). In my case, all the roof is taken by the family rooftent so tools, recovery gear and the like need to find a place in the vehicle - and not under the car as they need to be accessible even if the vehicle is stuck - so they'll end up in the trunck.
This leaves very little palce in the trunck (unless comfort is compromised) an quiet some space under the vehicle. Space to be used in priority for things that are easy to "put" in and out (liquids? ;o) and are heavy (liquids? ;o).
=> For that matter, I'll statch all the liquids I can (water, fuel, oils, more wine ;o) under the vehicle.
It's easy to take it out with a submerged pump or inline pump that will not have to be installed/removed everytime water is needed.
It's a little more difficult to get it in but it's only water so you can poor it as slow as you want (unlike fuel) and can bear spilling a bit. My friend Franck who made his own under-body tank on the opposite side of the front muffler (LandCruiser HDJ80) fills it in thanks to a filer pipe that comes up under the bonnet, by the brake booster. The filler being so high, you could make several small tanks and fill them all up from the same filler. I know some people also use the space available when you remove the main muffler (HDJ80).
If this solution is the best to my eyes, I agree it's not ideal (but is there one ideal solution?) as the tanks are not transportable and not easily washable. That's why I'd still carry with me a empty 10L jerrycan (or the swiss army bags?) to carry the water from the source to the truck if needed.

Hope this help.

Lio
HDJ80 - France

link for swiss army bags
 

I found this link, I think these are the bags, they look a good alternative to the solar showers that I have always used. as someone said they leak. these look very good.

20 Ltr Swiss Water Carrier > Exarmy Ltd

Graeme

Well done graysworld, they're the ones but I paid about £8 .
As I said they are very strong and pack flat when empty which saves loads of space on short legs. I have euro boxes with lids for storage and they are about the same size when full - a ratchet strap over the top and everything stays put.
Try B.A.S.E. in bournemouth 01202 535555
The rope handles at each end can be used to hang it off the side of the car or tie it to the roof - I hang mine in the sunny side window ( no wind chill) in the afternoons and hot water for washing up even in the uk - when the sun shines.
The taps are push for on and close positively, very good and don't leak. With a little ingenuity you could rig up to a shower head.
Cheers
Chris
ps it's worth having your water in a few different containers then if 1 gets contaminated you don't have to dump the whole lot. Remember to fill up in diferent places too.

10 euros
 

water bag 10 euro + postege

Thanks for the info on the Swiss Army water bags - they look a far better replacement to the flimsy solar showers that I have.

The big problem with Solar showers is that you need the sun something you can never really rely on.

Looking at alternative ways to heat water with a 4x4, one of the most common ways is to use a heat exchanger which is fine as long as the engine is running or it is still hot.

My current solution is to go for a heat exchanger, but use it to heat water in an insulated fixed tank somewhere in the vehicle so that the water is still hot/warm some time after you have stopped.

I guess one could use something like a Webasto heater to provide warm/hot water on demand, but these are extremely expensive.

I have been scouring the caravan and boating sites for alternatives, but most seem to point to mains electricity based heaters.

Have any of you come across any alternatives?

cheap n chearfull
 

One off the best solutions I have seen is a converted garden presure sprayer filled with a kettle! I used also fill my solar shower with the kettle.

Graeme

Good idea, although you need a big kettle when there are 6 of you travelling in the vehicle ;-)

H all,

The garden pressure spray bottle is an excellent thing. I've used in on several trips and would not leave home without it. It uses very little water but is great for dish washing, a quick hand wash or for creating a cooling mist. In my experience, using bottled water for drinking plus a spray bottle and wet wipes will reduce daily water consumption very considerably, (no more than 4-5 litres per day for two people).