Anyone using roofrack mounted water storage?

[PsychoBurb]

I do already have a couple of the solar showers. They work great for what they are, but are not a good means of storing and transporting water. I am looking at this as a solution to storing a relatively large amount of water, and not occupying space inside my burb. And, if on the roof, gravity kinda takes care of getting accessing the water, and could be pressurized to 10-20psi if needed for showering.

As for the UV aspect...At work we use a piping called polypro. it is an industrial process piping made to handle some pretty aggressive chemicals, and be installed outside/UV resistant. We currently have plenty for me to sneak up on enough to meet my needs.

I'm pretty sure, at this point, that this is the direction I am going for wash water storage. On most trips it'll be more water than I need. But in the rare instance where I need more, the added capacity, without impinging on my in-vehicle room, will be nice to have.

BTW, I like the 5gal bucket washing machine idea myself. I will file that one away!

 

[bobDog]

wash bucket

If you read "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck, he mentions washing his clothes in a bucket w/ water & soap that he ties to the roof of his camper shell.
Good book I might add.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

BTW, I like the 5gal bucket washing machine idea myself. I will file that one away!

I think I can fit my Zodi in it and some hose and a 12V pump, use the bucket for storage... then use it to hold water for a shower.. then use it to do the laundry while going down the road...man..I gotta get a bucket...lol

 

[off-roader]

On a recent 4x4 trip to Mammoth Lakes, I traveled there with four 5 gallon jerry cans worth of fluid on my Montero's roof (3 gas Jerry cans + 1 Frontrunner 5gal water Jerry can).

I don't have a decent pic of it right now but here's a pic with 4 jerry cans to show you how they're mounted up there.

Mounts are made by Baja Rack.

Now if you need a lot of water, you can replace each of the Gas Jerry cans with one of these Front Runner Water Jerry Cans.

I like this solution better since you can easily remove it once you're at camp so when you're wheeling for the day, you aren't any more top heavy than you need to be.

HTH.

 

[Ohlins]

My plan is to use some bleach to prevent the growth of algae when not in use. Then flushed well and refilled for use. It will not be drinking water. Just wash water storage.

Rinse with sterilizing fluid one would use when sterilizing baby's bottles...cheap and effective if carried out sort of regularly....

 

[Scoutn79]

I would use the rubber expanding plugs for plumbing available at Lowes/Home Depot. They are air tight and when you are finished camping you can remove the plug to clean out the pipe.

Darrell

 

[Seeker]

I would avoid linking the two pipes. It would allow the water to build inertia, flow from high-side to low-side, and possibly upset the balance of your vehicle at an inopportune time. I might also baffle the pipes to slow/prevent sloshing action for similar reasons.

 

[plumber mike]

Has anyone considered a bladder style well storage tank? They come in many shapes and sizes. The design already allows for pressure to be added on the air side to help overcome gravity if mounted down low and the rubber bladder that separates the air from the water would allow for thermal expansion if heated. A smaller thermal expansion tank like you'd see above a water heater would do the same thing, just with less volume. One mounted low for cold(maybe underneath) and one on the roof for hot both meeting at a mix able single hande shower type valve. Why not go a little further and coil a little copper around the exhaust manifold after it exits the hot tank. On a cloudy or cold day a hot shower could still be had. I would also add a temperature and pressure safety relief valve if I was planning to add heat like that.

PVC is very brittle when cold and easily broken down further with uv rays. Painting it would be a must for longevity on a roof under pressure.

 

[southpier]

would electrical PVC (grey stuff) be anymore UV stable?

 

[PaulJensen]

(above) What we have here is 4" PVC water pipe, epoxied at the seams and mounted using a combo of SS hose clamps (with washers and bolts through the side wall) and HD Zip-Ties looped through the factory cut outs on the wall...The red plug at the top is where it fills...I use a one gallon jug to fill it...I could use a potable water hose, but the jug works fine...The red plug does make it air tight so I drilled a tiny hole in the cap to allow venting, with no sloshing overflow...


(above) The capacity of 4" pipe is about .6 gallons per lineal foot...I have about ten feet of pipe there and with the elbows and tees, gives me about seven or eight gallons of water...


(above) The faucet is a simple PVC ball valve...The water flow is a hard smooth 3/8" diameter stream...Not wimpy...

 

[digitaldelay]

That is awesome ^^^^

Jason

 

[graynomad]

throwing dirty clothes in a big water jug with some soap and sticking it on the roof rack. The sloshing around would wash the clothes.

Old trick, motorhomers have been doing that for decades.

The PCV pipe idea works well, I had something similar in a 40-series (but under the tray), being round they are a very inefficient means of storage for the space they take up but OTOH it's cheap, easy to make, and often fits in a place you would not otherwise use anyway.

That's a particularly nice implementation Paul.