Six months off grid. Water, water where's the water

I read caravan magazines and online forums when ever I can. A reoccurring theme of discussion between the free site-ers (caravan speak for off grid camping) is access to water.  Where to get potable water as we travel and ways to reduce usage.



Our caravan has 180 litre water tanks and if we are careful and have very fast caravan type showers  we can last 4 days before the water pump stops delivering. 

Our spot on the farm is a cracker. Views to die for. Sheltered from the worst of the wind. But..... No town water.



So  K has been lugging water containers back from town almost every trip. 2 by 25 litres at a time. I have gained new respect for how strong K is despite his light build. He heaves these 25kg containers up above the tailgate. One day I thought I would show my appreciation for my caravan hot shower by sneaking the containers into the ute and fetching water. All went well until I was ready to lift them back in the car. I couldn't get them up high enough. After a very frustrating 5 minutes I conceded defeat and completely rearranged the front and back passenger area and jammed one water container into the front passenger foot well and seat belted the other in place. Very careful driving back to camp.



The transfer into our tanks is handled by pump set up Mr Fix It put together from a caravan 12 volt pump, water pipe, hose fittings and washers. The pump is housed inside a plastic box and hangs off the water heater shroud next to the water inlet. The water is pumped through a filter first.



I really appreciate the water that comes out of my caravan taps and try to make it last. Short showers, wash dishes once or twice a day, resist the temptation to rinse everything and wipe dishes with paper towel first instead. We use shower water to  wash clothes  and the cold water that comes through before hot water makes it to the shower head is saved in a bucket sitting in the shower and goes to  fill the flush tank on the toilet.



Rain provokes a wonderful dance where we chuck a bucket under the best water drips off the annex and transfer it to the tanks and containers. This exercise is supposed to save K trips into town, but we get plenty of exercise running in and out.



My caravan twin tub is the best water saving thing. It does a wash in 15 litres plus a bit extra for rinsing. So two showers worth of water.



A great event happened in the water department this week. K put a rainwater tank on a shed and it rained.  We pumped water from the tank to the caravan for the first time.  Champagne moment.



Cheers Sue



A Ferg on the Move.

Off the grid. Water

On the farm we are set up in off grid mode. That is we rely on LPG gas for the fridge and cooking, solar and generator for electricity. We have this all pretty much under control and can run and charge up most of the normal appliances everyone uses.

Water on the other hand is an issue. The family are still renting in town and planning to build their house here in the not too distant future. At present there in only an old rainwater tank on the shearing shed and that is for the stock … and the luxurious flushing toilet that a previous owner put in!  The water in the dams is not so attractive for people use.

 

So water has to be carried in every couple of days from town and transferred into the caravan tanks for washing and showers.  We have 180 litres so if we have lightning fast showers and save the dishes up for one or two big washes a day we can go four days before we run out. We have two 25 litre water containers that travel in the back of the Ute and every trip into town has include water collection. 

Once upon a time transferring the water was done by the old fashioned method of syphoning. Pipe with a weight on it into the containers, containers up on the ute tray and other end of tube into the tank. Worked well.

But  Mr Fix It was not content with that. Besides sometimes the water quality in some of the places we stay can be a bit dubious and he wanted to be able to filter if necessary. So this is the current solution.

In the black box is a water pump, exactly the same as the ones that are in most caravans today. (This one has spent a bit of time in the eldest son’s van one trip when his pump gave up)  The case is hung on the water heater by a hook.

A pipe goes into the water container and the pump pushes the water into the tank.

K has made a fitting that goes over the inlets so we don’t have to stuff a pipe into the tanks anymore. 


Water can be pumped through our filter as well, but this is town supply so we are not filtering it.

The pump is powered by the caravan batteries connected by an Anderson plug.  50 litres takes only a few minutes. Even I can do it.

We go into extreme water saving mode when camped off grid and so I have a 5 litre bucket sitting under the bathroom waste water outlet. One quick shower is about a bucket full and we recycle that either to fill the toilet flush tank or to use in the twin tub for clothes washing. I have to remember to go out and empty the bucket but it’s worth it to save K lifting more heavy water containers than necessary.  The kitchen grey water is run out to water the black berries or a garden when we have one.

Today I did the clothes in the twin tub with shower water and a  few extra  litres from the caravan tanks for rinsing. This is when the twin tub really comes into its own.

This kind of camping is a bit more work, but very satisfying. There’s something special about being reasonably independent.

Cheers Sue

 

A Ferg on the Move.