Bringing lots of water?

[s10texan1]

Hello all,

Going camping soon and need to bring a lot of water with us. It'll be used mainly just for showering and flushing, not for drinking or cooking.

I was looking at mounting a big tank in the bed of my truck (3/4 ton) and Tractor Supply has a 65 gallon tank for $150. This could work.

BUT, if I just use ordinary 5 gallon buckets like you get at Wal-Mart or Home Depot, they run about $5 a piece with lids so I could move 65 gallons with 13 buckets for $65. Much cheaper!

So what would you do? Would you just use 5 gal buckets? Or, what do you do now? I'm not exactly sure how much water I'll be taking, probably 100 gallons at the most.

Thanks!

s10texan

[RoyB]

I have been to several NATL FOREST areas where they allowed the dumping of GRAY WATER around the trees... They had posted signs to this as well...

I have even been to some campground where they had GRAY WATER dump area in each end of the camping spots roads. I don't know if these are tied into a sewer line or just seep into the ground. They always took all the gray water I would pour down them. I believe this one is at CLOUDLAND CANYON camp ground at Trenton GA exit on I59


Got to dig a hole for the POOP at NATL FOREST areas however or pour down the primitive deep vault bathroom setup they usually have in a central location somewhere close by...

My experiences at any rate...
Roy Ken

[Murphsmom]

Even on backcountry rafting trips, the rule is that you pack out that poop! Nobody wants to step in it, no matter how well you think you have buried it. Animals will excavate it and spread it around. Please, please, please...NO POOP BURYING IN PUBLIC CAMPGROUNDS,,!

[TurnThePage]

Maybe consider one of these for the fresh water, and empty 5 gallon buckets for the gray water.

[JoeChiOhki]

I just went to recyclers that sold used 30 and 50 gallon food grade barrels and bought some.

I picked old peach flavoring syrup barrels, as there will be a tiny bit of lingering scent for a while from what was in it, even if its steam cleaned.

Then I made some cradles out of 4x4s and adding a couple valves to the bung plugs so I could fill it and then use it to gravity feed a small live well pump I'd modified to pump it up into the camper's onboard tank for using.

[Lantley]

mikensallyt wrote:
Pardon me about the grey water .... Seriously I use mine in our drought stricken yard with no problems. No plants have died and the yard looks great.

On private property or your own yard you maybe free to do as you please however at a public CG there are specific rules and regulations for waste water.
Most do not allow dumping waste water on the ground.

[NMDriver]

Buy some salt water soap, wash with salt water, final rinse with fresh.

[2gypsies1]

If you're going to Padre Island National Seashore don't even think of dumping gray or heaven forbid black water on the ground or burying it!!

I can't imagine anyone would even consider it.

[Veebyes]

Kinda like the 5gal bucket idea best, if only for the ease of storing when empty or using them for other uses. Devise some sort of gravity refill system for unit tank.

[amdriven2liv]

My father in-law bought a used 5th wheel that a guy had put a big basket/cage on the rear. It was well done when it came to mounting to the frame. Held a lot of weight.

Father in-law found an old 55 gallon drum. Cleaned and sanitized it for water. Mounted it in the basket on the back. Then he spliced into the water line from the trailer tank with a valve. Got some water line and would run it back to the 55Gal drum. Used it first, then used the trailer tank last.

As for the extra grey water issue, he would take 2 5 gal buckets and drain water and pour it down the grey water disposals at the camp ground.

As for extra black water? Rule was, use out house during the day, trailer at night.

[mikensallyt]

Pardon me about the grey water .... Seriously I use mine in our drought stricken yard with no problems. No plants have died and the yard looks great.

[WyoTraveler]

RCMAN46 wrote:
How do you plan to dispose of the waste water?

That was what I was thinking. Solve fresh water problem creates a waste water problem.

[RoyB]

SOUNDGUY - Thanks for the photos post.. Some great ideas there... I even got a small chuckle out of the GP24 battery boxes being used for the water pump housing. The battery thieves will get a surprise out of that looking for batteries to steal...

Roy Ken

[donn0128]

You cant simply drain the gray water on the ground. That is illegal most places. Pooping and peeing on the ground is definitely illegal. So besides potable water you need to figure out how to dispose of waste water.

[RoyB]

I would most definitely pick up a 12VDC portable water pump if I was going to deal with moving water like that... WALMART or AMAZON has a line of them...

Just drop the hose down into the water and turn the pump ON to transfer water.

I would also pick up a two wheeled folding cart. 5-gallon water totes can get pretty heavy...

Roy Ken