Thread: Water use, storage and transport

To me this is the down fall of any bad situation gone wrong and its always water related, plus add some natural human mistakes and its a wonder some people do survive, my advice is to drain and clean out your washer bottles and fill with clean water and only top up with water, no cleaners, why? well if you should have the undesirable happen and you are short of water you will at least have a few litres between the washer bottles, Do the Discos have removable side panels in the back? the bladders mentioned earlier and the goon bags, chuck some in these cavities if you can, the old PVC tubing makes a fine water tank, under the trailer or across the front just about anywhere you can fit it, the Simpson is a trap for learners, reminds me a story of two blokes up north, there car broke down out in the boonies and in the infinite wisdom they chose to walk out, the big decision was wether to take the beer or the water, the beer won out in the end, anyway the guys died of you guessed it thirst, later when the vehicle was found they actually had enough water to see them through, silly buggers. If you can carry it, do so.

On my Simpson Desert Trip ( Simpson Desert 2006 ) I got a mate to drive a Defender tray back ute with a 400 litre water tank. It was plumbed to a Rinnai infinity Hot Water system and had a pump for running hot & cold water. That way we didn't have to drink South Australian water .

On my Defender I have a 44 litre water tank in the rear quater panel and a 50 litre tank that's only 8cm thick against the fire wall. For me water tanks are a must, as a family of five takes up all the room in the car. However before space was at a premium, I would have just settled for water cubes or jerry cans. There will be lots of movement across the Simpson, so it's best not to leave the plastic taps on while travelling, but block those holes with a bung. The taps are handy because you can then sit the cube or jerry on a table and get water without tilting it.

On a water conservation point, using mouth wash to brush your teeth instead of toothpaste requires less water for rinsing. You could save a whole mouthful of water per person per day that way.

Another good way to reduce water requirements is through well prepared food prepartion. We cooked all our meals before hand (Stir Fry, Beef Strog, and a couple of other dishes. Then froze them solid in the foil containers. These stacked neatly in the freezer. Each day we'd pull one meal out and place it in the esky to defrost, then at night we'd boil a billy with rice or pasta, then add the thawed meal. This meant no washing and cooking of vegetables etc. It saved storage space, preperation time as well as water.

Make sure you budget enough water for the car too. Normally that will be nothing, but a cooling system problem may suddenly cause it to require a hefty ration to top up.

Originally Posted by Michael2

...On my Defender I have a 44 litre water tank in the rear quater panel and a 50 litre tank that's only 8cm thick against the fire wall. ...

That should read "CARGO BARRIER" - not "firewall". Obviously I need the EDIT button.

In a trip to the centre in 1964 two of us used four four gallon containers in a swb Series 2 (plus four jerricans of petrol - and not much else!).

In my current 110 I have a sixty litre sill tank, but always carry other containers as well. The advantage of an under vehicle tank is that it does not use interior space.

But I emphasise that you should not have all your water in one container - even if it is leak proof, people have been known to leave the tap on, and there is not really anything absolutely leakproof.

John

There will be lots of movement across the Simpson, so it's best not to leave the plastic taps on while travelling, but block those holes with a bung. The taps are handy because you can then sit the cube or jerry on a table and get water without tilting it.

Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, as usual, I forgot to mention something! The bungs should always be in place because those little plastic taps are a great way to lose water on the track.

At the moment I'm thinking of making a little system where a pump and tap are connected by hose to a jerrycan cap. Then I can just move the cap around from jerry to jerry to have running water. I have found that running water can make camping much, much easier but it's also a great way to waste water, too.

on our regular beach camping trips we are using about 10-12 litres between us per day including washing up, cooking etc.. But not including showers Etc.. Which goes with the theory of 5l pppd....,

So for a 10-12 day trip, (Is that about how long it takes to do the simpson) 120L or about six Jerry cans!

I did a 7000km trip recently, about 75% sealed roads. Carried about 100L of water. Some in heavy plastic (20L) drums, and others in 15L containers (the kind you buy in the supermarket - but fairly thick plastic).

About 3/4 of the supermarket containers split or rubbed through at the seams on the trip. I wouldn't take them again.

i have a 72L tank in my rear footwell with a pressure pump connected for my simpson trip, instead of cups we used drinking botles this means no water is thrown out of the cup when you need to pack it away.

we use paper towel to wipe clean dishes and pots prior to washing, less water required, we also wash in the water that we boiled the vegies in which is still normally hot after you have finished

i still had water in my 72L tank when i return from touring the simpson desert for 17 days, around 4L water per day for two blokes and one six year old

maybe the six thirty packs of beer covered the rest of our drinking

i had a spare 20L jerry on the roof rack for emergency use