Water?

KFT · Guru

RE: Water?

jules47 · The Happy Helper

A freshly wiped newborn baby's bum of course!!!!!!!

Only use the top quality Coles Home Brand!!!!! Lovely fragrance - tried some others - the flies seem to like them too much!!!!

The dog lady · Guru

Funny but I use the Coles ones too (they say unscented but still have some scent). And I think a freshly cleaned baby's bum smells just fine thank you KFT biggrin .

jules47 · The Happy Helper

My thoughts as well Marianna! (The dog lady)

intouch · Veteran Member

We have in the past, filled our tank at the local cemetery. You can always find a tap close and handy to the roadway.
intouch, just Pass'n Thru.

Cruising Granny · Guru

There are a couple of things which worry me about this random water filling.
Firstly, do you know the source of the tap water in the location?
Secondly, do you help yourself to water wherever you go?
In towns where there are water restrictions or other conditions it doesn't seem right you just fill up.
I developed giardia in the Kimberleys at the station I was working at. I didn't like cold water so I drank it straight from the tap at "room" temperature. In the Kimberleys it's just off the boil in the wet season. It was good bore water, but the pipes were old and the tank was open on the tank stand.
This bug really hurts and made me feel like death warmed up. A trip to the local hospital got me a dose of antibiotics and eventually I was cured.
Since then I chilled the water. It wasn't necessary to boil it, and we had no filter system, so chilled worked a treat.
Border Village has beautiful water. It starts at the bore but after the solar stilling it's clean and fresh.
I wouldn't fill up at Nullarbor. It costs because they have to cart and pay for it. Ceduna has good water though.
****burn at the SA/NSW border uses dam water and it smells like it. Don't shower, drink or fill up here. There's barely enough for the townsfolk. The van park up by the pub has a big rainwater tank which may allow you some if urgent.
I went walking in Carnarvon Gorge on a very warm day. I didn't go all the way in because I was a bit pooped. So I sat on a sandstone rock in the fast flowing stream. After soaking me feet in the cool, refreshing water I scrubbed my feet on another sandstone rock. Free pedicure, was very soothing.
I also needed to fill my water bottle. That water was too good to resist. I drank that water with no ill effects.
Please be careful and considerate when you feel the need to fill up.
Some outback places have to buy and cart in water for the locals. Other water comes from bores of varying depths and water quality.
If in doubt, buy it until you find a safe place to refill your tanks.

PS. Thank heaven for baby wipes.

-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Wednesday 22nd of January 2014 10:55:39 PM

jules47 · The Happy Helper

We are very frugal with water - always carry fresh drinking water from a known source in containers, even buy it in sometimes - we ration the water in the tank, washing up once a day, or showering every second day - very quick showers I might add - baby wipes are great for an all over wash.

Have been low on water at times, but never run out.

native pepper · Senior Member

We filter double filter all our drinking and cooking water and our washing water gets filtered once then is used for the toilet. We carry over 300lt and have never run low.

kww511 · Member

OK, Here is my story on the water situation...

You need water for either drinking or cleaning/washing/shower/toilet. You can't mess with the drinking water, this needs to be bug free.

I recently spent some time on the Murray River free camping and had few revelations that made me plan my water better.

I only use my on board tank for washing which I only fill with (relatively) clean water from good tap sources and carried drinking water from home in 20L containers which can be cumbersome and only good while it lasts.

For drinking water longer term, I have acquired a couple of kits courtesy of the hiker fraternity. One is Aquamira water treatment drops (ww.aquamira.com) which will kill bugs in any water and the other is a Sawyer Squeeze manual filter kit (www.sawyer.com) Read up on these to find out more. But with these, the drinking water problem is solved no matter where you are. As long as there is water, you can drink it with these kits. The Sawyer kit is an excellent product used as a cheap aid to making water drinkable in third world countries and is guaranteed to filter millions of litres (yes millions!). I have used it to drink water out of lakes without boiling and had no health issue whatsoever.

So for the rest of my water needs I address where to get it, where to store it and and how to clean it.

Source 1. The sky. Catch the rain water (when you can) into containers or feed it into the onboard tank. I use a funnel and hose arrangement by catching the water that runs of the awning. This has an attachment that I can connect a hose for running straight in to the tank. If the tank gets full, then fill containers.

Source 2. Rivers/creeks /lakes etc. These sources can be of hugely varying quality and clarity. Never trust that natural water sources are free of bugs and safe to drink. There could be a dead cow in the water upstream that you may not know about. I always hold storage from these sources in separate drums/buckets.

Source 3. Taps of dubious distinction

I have made mods to my van pumping system so that I can select manual or powered pumping and also fashioned a simple 3 way valve from a "Y" tap so that I can select which source I draw from, tank or drum/bucket. No matter which source I draw from, power pumped water that goes to my sink is filtered through a 5 micron sediment filter (under $50 on ebay) Finer elements available.

To clean up the water that is sucked from the drum/bucket, I use a coarser 150 micron suction strainer filter on the end of the suction hose. The other end of the hose gets connected to a branch of the "Y" tap using common garden snap on connectors. The course filter is just to stop rocks, leaves and rabbits getting through to the pump. Then it gets pumped on power through the sediment filter and relatively clean water comes out of the tap for washing. If you are fastidious about bugs in your dishwashing water, put a tiny amount of bleach in the water drum/bucket at the rate of about 2-4 drops per litre. This kills the bugs. You can also use Milton's bottle wash instead. Bleach containing 5.25-6% sodium hypochlorite can make water safe to drink at the mix rate mentioned (allow to stand for 30 minutes prior to drinking) Treating water for taste is a whole different thing!

When water comes out of the van tap it is quite suitable for washing or I can treat it further for drinking with the kits mentioned.

No matter what, conservation is essential. I and my (short haired) partner easily managed showers with half a bucket of water each.

So, water problems solved. Well......until there isn't any water. That's where a shovel might come in handy

-- Edited by kww511 on Friday 24th of January 2014 02:56:03 PM

Kooroorinya Kelpie · Senior Member

We to carry Chateau Nerf de Cardboard wine, white for Her, Port for Him, and if it is left unattended in the glass this little Kelpie is not adverse to a wee tipple. Makes the world a beautiful place to be. Hooowwwwl, yip yip. confuse biggrin