Slab water tanks

[travelrover]

Hi team

Looking for ideas on water tanks to sit on the floor behind the front seats of a 110.

I spotted this one in SuperCheap the other day and have seen similar in BCF

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220426/4af6d63fd772cc1056482b774f6fe88a.jpg


Looking for something that I could connect to an external tap (gravity fed) and a pump for showers etc.

I haven’t measured the space yet.

Be keen to see what solutions others have others have used. What problems have been faced and how have you overcome them? How did you secure the tank…

Cheers Simon

[W&KO]

I made an ally tank for my previous defer there sat in the foot well, it was perfect when the kids were young.

From memory it was 65L

[travelrover]

I made an ally tank for my previous defer there sat in the foot well, it was perfect when the kids were young.

From memory it was 65L

Hi W&KO

That would ideal I guess as you could put weight on it too without any significant protection but unfortunately probably way outside of my budget.

We won’t be using the rear seats so could remove them if there is a benefit which might provide for a wider (low profile) unit.

[trout1105]

Have you considered using a water bladder instead of hard tanks?

[travelrover]

Have you considered using a water bladder instead of hard tanks?

Hi trout1105

I have, but haven’t seen any in SuperCheap or BCF. Mind you I haven’t specifically looked for them. Is this something you have used?

[trout1105]

Hi trout1105

I have, but haven’t seen any in SuperCheap or BCF. Mind you I haven’t specifically looked for them. Is this something you have used?

I haven't used them myself but they have been discussed on this forum before and the consensus was that they are a good option when space is at a premium [thumbsupbig]
Personally I carry 6x 30l plastic containers of water with me on remote trips, The beuty with these is that you can remove the plug at the bottom of the container and fit an ordinary garden tap on it to make dispensing the water conveniant and easy.

[travelrover]

I haven't used them myself but they have been discussed on this forum before and the consensus was that they are a good option [thumbsupbig]

Yes some quick googling this morning seems to support that view. There seem to be plenty of options as well. Thanks for the tip

[Robmacca]

Curious.... What was the Water Capacity of that particular Tank>

Personally I've run 3x20ltr Plastic Jerries in line behind each other in the cargo area with a hose out through the lid and just use gravity - to date it's worked a treat but having that weight much lower would be a benefit




Hi team

Looking for ideas on water tanks to sit on the floor behind the front seats of a 110.

I spotted this one in SuperCheap the other day and have seen similar in BCF

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220426/4af6d63fd772cc1056482b774f6fe88a.jpg


Looking for something that I could connect to an external tap (gravity fed) and a pump for showers etc.

I haven’t measured the space yet.

Be keen to see what solutions others have others have used. What problems have been faced and how have you overcome them? How did you secure the tank…

Cheers Simon

[trout1105]

It says 95l on the label on the tank in the OP's image [thumbsupbig]

[scarry]

Boab have quite a few,I have a slimline attached to the cargo barrier.45 litres approximately.
It works fine with a small pump and tap at rear of vehicle.

I also carry another 10L in a small container at all times.

Not interested in bladders after a mate had one that leaked and flooded the vehicle,but I don’t know what exactly happened.

[101RRS]

Not interested in bladders after a mate had one that leaked and flooded the vehicle,but I don’t know what exactly happened.

It had a hole in it.

[travelrover]

It says 95l on the label on the tank in the OP's image [thumbsupbig]

The one to the right was a little larger.

[travelrover]

It had a hole in it.

A quick search on eBay last night found these guys,

bladders-r-us on eBay (https://ebay.com.au/usr/bladders-r-us)

Aussie made, quite a decent range and pumps and filters available.

[jon3950]

A quick search on eBay last night found these guys,

bladders-r-us on eBay (https://ebay.com.au/usr/bladders-r-us)

Aussie made, quite a decent range and pumps and filters available.

I've been using bladders for about 20 years now and in that time have only had one very small leak due to poor quality material, so don't write them off as an option.

My current bladder is from the mob in your link and has been in the Defender for about a year now. So far very happy with it, mine sits between the back seat and the cargo barrier and I can get 70 litres into it. The key is making sure it doesn't rub on anything.

I tried a Boab water tank once. It was solid and well made, but it had no baffles, so was annoyingly noisy. I tried filling it foam cubes which got rid of the noise. Unfortunately the foam started wearing on the sharp edges inside the tank so I ended up with little bits foam in my drinking water.

The advantage with a bladder is you can fill it to the top and eliminate the air space so it doesn't slosh around.

If you go with a tank make sure its well baffled otherwise with it sitting right behind the front seats I think the noise will drive you nuts.

If you go with a bladder, make sure it has a second vent on the top so that you can easily get the air out of it when filling. I have a hose on mine that is long enough to run outside the car. I can then just attach a hose to the inlet, open the vent and not worry about overfilling or flooding the car.

Cheers,
Jon

[travelrover]

I've been using bladders for about 20 years now and in that time have only had one very small leak due to poor quality material, so don't write them off as an option.

My current bladder is from the mob in your link and has been in the Defender for about a year now. So far very happy with it, mine sits between the back seat and the cargo barrier and I can get 70 litres into it. The key is making sure it doesn't rub on anything.

I tried a Boab water tank once. It was solid and well made, but it had no baffles, so was annoyingly noisy. I tried filling it foam cubes which got rid of the noise. Unfortunately the foam started wearing on the sharp edges inside the tank so I ended up with little bits foam in my drinking water.

The advantage with a bladder is you can fill it to the top and eliminate the air space so it doesn't slosh around.

If you go with a tank make sure its well baffled otherwise with it sitting right behind the front seats I think the noise will drive you nuts.

If you go with a bladder, make sure it has a second vent on the top so that you can easily get the air out of it when filling. I have a hose on mine that is long enough to run outside the car. I can then just attach a hose to the inlet, open the vent and not worry about overfilling or flooding the car.

Cheers,
Jon

Thanks Jon

Am leaning toward bladders for the reasons you have sighted.

Was weight the main factor in selecting 70l bladder? I have as looking [emoji102] @ 80…

[jon3950]

70 litres was just what fitted in the space. I actually thought the bag was bigger than that but I’ve just checked the website and it looks like the one I have is actually 70litres Cargo Barrier Hanging water bladder tank(70 Ltrs) DW70CBH - Temporary Water Storage Bladders & Tanks in Australia (https://fmestore.com.au/product/cargo-barrier-hanging-water-bladder-tank70-ltrs-dw70cbh/) so I must be getting it pretty full. It just expands into the available space behind the seat. I also carry an extra 40 litres in two Blu Bags on longer trips. Partly for the extra capacity but also to spread it out into more than one container.

I would just get as big a tank/bladder as you can fit - you don’t have fill it to the top. If I were putting it on the floor I would try to get two smaller ones instead of one big one. Something like this: Box type water bladder 60L - DW60B - Temporary Water Storage Bladders & Tanks in Australia (https://fmestore.com.au/product/box-type-water-bladder-60l-dw60b-copy/). This would give you much more flexibility. For short trips you can just take one. For longer trips if one does leak you still have the other one and you can also split it into drinkable and non-drinkable water if you need to.

Its also worth noting that any small leaks are easily patched. I’m pretty sure the bladder came with a repair kit.

Cheers,
Jon

[travelrover]

70 litres was just what fitted in the space. I actually thought the bag was bigger than that but I’ve just checked the website and it looks like the one I have is actually 70litres Cargo Barrier Hanging water bladder tank(70 Ltrs) DW70CBH - Temporary Water Storage Bladders & Tanks in Australia (https://fmestore.com.au/product/cargo-barrier-hanging-water-bladder-tank70-ltrs-dw70cbh/) so I must be getting it pretty full. It just expands into the available space behind the seat. I also carry an extra 40 litres in two Blu Bags on longer trips. Partly for the extra capacity but also to spread it out into more than one container.

I would just get as big a tank/bladder as you can fit - you don’t have fill it to the top. If I were putting it on the floor I would try to get two smaller ones instead of one big one. Something like this: Box type water bladder 60L - DW60B - Temporary Water Storage Bladders & Tanks in Australia (https://fmestore.com.au/product/box-type-water-bladder-60l-dw60b-copy/). This would give you much more flexibility. For short trips you can just take one. For longer trips if one does leak you still have the other one and you can also split it into drinkable and non-drinkable water if you need to.

Its also worth noting that any small leaks are easily patched. I’m pretty sure the bladder came with a repair kit.

Cheers,
Jon

Thanks John

That’s a smart idea, two smaller ones. Though they only seem to have one fill/vent point. I guess you would be more conscious of your usage too.

[plusnq]

I haven't used them myself but they have been discussed on this forum before and the consensus was that they are a good option when space is at a premium [thumbsupbig]
Personally I carry 6x 30l plastic containers of water with me on remote trips, The beuty with these is that you can remove the plug at the bottom of the container and fit an ordinary garden tap on it to make dispensing the water conveniant and easy.


I use one of these.

SUV & 4x4/ 4WD Water Bladders Archives - Temporary Water Storage Bladders & Tanks in Australia (https://fmestore.com.au/product-category/flexible-tanks-bladders/suv-4x4-4wd-water-bladders/)

best part of bladders is you roll it up and put it away when it isn’t being used.

[jerryd]

I had one custom made that sits between chassis rails under the drivers seat [smilebigeye]

Home - ABBERTANKS CUSTOM MADE WATER TANKS (http://www.abbertanks.com.au/)

[BradC]

If you were West of the rabbit proof fence, these guys would do a plum job also : Rylex Plastics (https://rylex.com.au/)

I had a special custom welded up for the Caravan to fit a "novel" space and they did an excellent job.

Sometimes nothing off the shelf will fit.

[jon3950]

Thanks John

That’s a smart idea, two smaller ones. Though they only seem to have one fill/vent point. I guess you would be more conscious of your usage too.

Yeah, looks like you're supposed to fill it from the outlet and the top one is just a vent. Sounds like a pain to me, but maybe you need to as it's not self supporting. Anyway, you get the idea. They claim to custom make so you could try asking them to add a fill point to the top. I've tried a couple of times to send them an enquiry about a custom design but have never had any success, which is why I ended up with an off-the-shelf size.

Cheers,
Jon

[DieselDan]

I've used one of these boab 40L tanks squeezed behind the passenger seat and underneath the fridge.
Seemed a convenient place for it since I'm always opening that rear passenger door to get to the fridge anyway.
Both me and the Mrs are fairly short-arse, so don't need the seat all the way back, which would be a limiting factor to fitting this tank in the space.
Pic shows a trial fit before I bolted those track rails to the floor (with a support plate on the underside) and strapped the tank down.
Tap is just gravity fed.

I've also got a separate 20L plastic Jerry with the same style of hose/tap coming off the bottom that can stand on a table or on the rear step of the Def.178471

[travelrover]

I've used one of these boab 40L tanks squeezed behind the passenger seat and underneath the fridge.
Seemed a convenient place for it since I'm always opening that rear passenger door to get to the fridge anyway.
Both me and the Mrs are fairly short-arse, so don't need the seat all the way back, which would be a limiting factor to fitting this tank in the space.
Pic shows a trial fit before I bolted those track rails to the floor (with a support plate on the underside) and strapped the tank down.
Tap is just gravity fed.

I've also got a separate 20L plastic Jerry with the same style of hose/tap coming off the bottom that can stand on a table or on the rear step of the Def.178471

Hi DieselDan

That’s a good solution too! What is the fridge sitting on, is it just the seat folded forward? Also where did you get the track rails from?

Cheers - Simon

[DieselDan]

Hi Simon,

I've taken the smaller section of the rear seats out and made a platform for the fridge to sit on which just bolts into the same mounting holes as the seat.

I think I got those short sections of track from Bunnings, possibly a "Grunt" brand?
But the usual auto stores, supercrap and autoburn, usually have them too.
Cheers

[travelrover]

Hi Simon,

I've taken the smaller section of the rear seats out and made a platform for the fridge to sit on which just bolts into the same mounting holes as the seat.

I think I got those short sections of track from Bunnings, possibly a "Grunt" brand?
But the usual auto stores, supercrap and autoburn, usually have them too.
Cheers

Cool, thanks DieselDan

[I Love My Landy!]

My idea, similar to others already mentioned. Willow 22 L jerry cans - $15 each from Big W. I was going to make a bracket that bolted to the floor so they could sit nice and sturdy, but the strap around the bottom actually works well enough. 13mm poly taps and barb fittings from bunnings fit well.

When the kids were younger (and had shorter legs) I used a couple of 20 L water cubes that my work cafeteria was throwing out (they contained white vinegar). They were better because they were less top heavy, were made from thicker plastic yet were still transparent.

Edward :)

[DiscoMick]

We have a couple of 20 litre plastic water drums which can be put behind seats or in the back and the handles secured to the seat with a strap.
Being only 20 litres makes them much easier to cart around than larger tanks.
Then just undo the lid and chuck the pump end of a 12 volt shower in the top. Or put water in a square plastic bucket and stand in it to shower. Or both. Reuse the water.
I can shower and only use a couple of litres of water if necessary, without getting too pongy. Lather up first, then get in and wash it off.
After all, if you're out in the desert, who cares?

[travelrover]

I have reassessed the slab tank options and think we’ll go with 4 20l plastic jerrycans that we already have in the shed. This gives us more redundancy and flexibility and saves a few hundred bucks which can go toward fuel!

Can also put the empties on the roof rack for more room inside.