WATER TANKS/PUMPS AND STUFF

Turist, I am interested in the water pump input pickup you talked about earlier. I am mainly wondering about the best way to draw water from a creek. I was considering a small submersible and filling the tanks with that. How effective would you be your method and have you ever done that? In what circumstances would you want to draw water from a container? Thanks Nomad

We never draw water directly from a creek, always fill a plastic
jerrycan first.
We use the translucent jerrys for water as you can see both the level
and any sediment.
Taking the water into a jerry first means that you can let any sediment
settle, then draw water from above the sediment level.
We found that with 3 tanks (2+1) we could live for 5 days taking tiny
showers.
If we know we are to be on a campsite for longer than that we actually
start using the jerry cans before the 2 tanks run out. This way we
always have a supply of known clean water.
The drawbar pick up goes directly to the existing shower/sink pump.
If you have clean water in the jerry cans you can transfer it to your
tanks bu putting a hose on the drawbar tap. Water goes from jerry,
through pump, out d/b tap and into tank.
In your case probably via your filter setup.
Turist

I have a detachable 12v flojet pump mounted in the cargo bay. It has an (with filter) inlet and outlet hose attached. I carry a 60 plastic drum in the F250. If we are in a camp ground I roll the 60lt drum to the nearest tap (preferably uphill) fill and roll back to the cargo bay door. One hose in the drum... outlet into the non potable filler and flick the switch.
I made the pump detachable to drive to a creek if I have to ... the f250 has twin batteries mounted in a box in the tray. Connect the pump drop the hose in the creek flick the switch and pump 60lts of water in the drum in the back of f250. Retrn to base, crack beer, pump in tanks as before ...
Mounted pump, circuit breaker and hoses on a plastic cutting board from KMart sits flat or hangs on hook in cargo bay. Ran a 12v power supply into cargo bay to power water sterilization gear , light and water pump.
Anthony

here is something that might also be helpful in moving liquids from containers into either van or vehicle. i think andy has one but dont know how effective it is.http://www.outbackin.com/ angie

Angie before taking a nice early retirement I owned a company that did
the maintenance for the service stations owned by the 2 major oil companies.
Until around the late sixties this displaced fluid system was commonly
used to dispense oils and fluids in service stations.
Even the so called fail safe pressure release systems failed from time
to time with nasty results.
The system was withdrawn from use.
Oil drums and jerry cans are not pressure vessels.
I have seen these units advertised and I wonder if they are 'legal'
Pressure vessels require periodic testing and registration in most states.
Personnaly I would leave them alone.
Turist

thanks turist, always looking for ways to help hwmbo from having to do too much work. but will re-think our approach. angie