Water Systems

Technical Guidance - Water Systems

Australia has an endless supply of solar energy but a limit on available water!

Like the gum tree, you may have to conserve water for periods of time but make the most of it when plenty is available.

Water is also heavy, so you only want to carry enough "pure water" that you calculate you will need plus a reserve.

You may have access to plenty of "dodgy water". What do you do?

The perfect scenario is to have dual tanks, to keep your pure drinking water “pure” and the second tank for bore water or equivalent.

In addition, ALWAYS carry as a reserve at least 20 litres in the vehicle.

Our principles of water storage:

• Dual tanks, dual water fillers, dual hoses, dual pumps
• Lockable and secure water fillers
• Be able to pump from a stream or billabong.
• If pumping, have a bypass valve to isolate from the main water tanks.
• If running "hot water", avoid LPG heaters which consume too much energy for a small tank volume. Consider Diesel water heaters or engine heater exchange water heaters.
• Water for hot water tank to be heated with a stainless steel heat exchanger so that it can be rinsed with town water if they become contaminated.

Your typical water use pattern may be:

• Keep the smaller water tank with good drinking water as full as possible.
• Carry only enough water in the second large tank as you need from filling point to filling point (this may be bore water) – typically 30 litres to full.
• Always carry an emergency 20litres of water in the vehicle
• Use hot showers generously when there is available bore water
• “Navy wash” when bore water is limited
• You will use less water if you have very Hot Water when washing up
• Use hot “shower” drain water for washing clothes when bore water is scarce.
• Check water meter levels daily

What type of water filter to use?

The principle a lot of people use in the bush is: " only put clean filtered water into the tanks".

Then you dont need a filter!

However, this is not always possible so you should have a filter fitted.

The filter type we recommend is a silver acting filter.

This system utilises a bed of crystals coated with a sanitising solution of silver before and after the filtration process. Here you are assured no bacteria will breed within your water filter.

The level of silver released is very low, hence it is not as effective to prevent bacteria in any stored water.

These units are more compact and less expensive. The brand we recommend is B.E.S.T.

How does the Hot Water System work that use water from a local stream?

There are 4 steps:

1. The Diesel Hot Water systems heat a fluid in a small heat exchanger (about size of a pack of Kleenex)
2. The heat exchanger is set to heat up the water flows through it.
3. Turn the 2 valves to by-pass the water tank and take the stream water into the pump and heat exchanger.
4. Turn on the tap!

The water pressure and flow will reduce proportionaly to the lifting head. At a 3.5m lift, we found the pressure and water flow to be approx half that from the on-board tank. It was still a quite acceptable 5 litres/min

What if I suddenly discover the stream water is unclean?

You have to flush the heat exchanger and the water lines but do not have to worry about the tank.

You have to flush the lines before turning the valves back to the tank to prevent backwash into the tank.