Actually, a few years ago I was looking at buying a Motorhome and one manufacturer (Sunliner I think) did have a gutter and collected rainwater in a collection tank. I thought it was a great idea, I don't know if they still do this as I bought a caravan and have not followed up on this.

Eaglemax wrote:

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As caravans need regular water tank filling why isn't roofs designed to catch rain water into the tank?

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 Ours OKA is designed to catch rain water ..............

 

Cheers,

Peter

Yuglamron wrote:

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Crypto-Spiridium and Giardia for a couple and mostly vans and motorhomes are on the road. Asbestos dust from brake pads,(Not supposed to be used any more I know)  Diesel particulates, rubber from tyres, oil residue and all the other stuff given off by vehicles.

I prefer to use water treated that we normally use for drinking.  A really good filtration system if you do use catchment water.

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 We chlorinate all water we put into our tanks from anywhere and then use a 1um activated carbon filter for all drinking water, immediately before consumption.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Thanks for your replies. I was aware of the awning gutter concept but, in comparison to the roof catchment filling up as you drive would catch more off the roof. Ad many of you know I built my own small van. Our trip around oz is coming to an end so we have decided to sell this one and build a larger one (14ft). Catching rain water on a flat roof would be as simple as having 4 low points where the water flows to. In my current van I built it with what I call a roll bar but is actually a wall made of 30 mm gal square tube. This central wall is for general stiffness. One vertical tube in this wall goes from under the van to the roof. All roof wiring from the vent fan to solar panels travel down it to under the van. If ever there was a leak in the silicone seal rain water would simply fall inside the tube to the ground. If the next van roof was slightly concave and there were say 4x 30mm PVC conduits taking the rain water to the tank what issues would I be tackling? I think I'd need a tank gauge. I don't feel contaminants is a big worry. A tank flush annually perhaps. The other idea I had is that as most of my roof will have solar panels to seal the together will a small circumference gutter and one downpipe. Such downpipe could run down on a side wall beside an awning bar blending in with the van and not being complex. Any more comments welcome Tony

We have an everpure water filter system that I built into the van under the sink that filters any water that is used for drinking and cooking. I also catch water from the awning wasting the first few ltrs to get rid of contaniments then put all that is caught after in the tanks until full. We have used this system for a few years now without problems.