Transporting water

[Nimrod]

I have a bare piece of land off the grid. There is no well. I want to bring in water to water an orchard and take showers while I am there.

The 300 gallon tanks that chemicals come in for cleaning milking equipment seems to be the answer. This one held an acidic soap that the farmer uses as a final cleaning of his equipment. Then he rinses the equipment with water and runs the milk through it. I figure the water will be safe for a shower if I rinse the tank 3 or 4 times. It will never be used for drinking water.

The plan is to take the tank 3/4 miles to the lake and use a 12 volt pump to put water in it, then haul it back. I will have to see how much I can put in without overloading the trailer.

Down the road I will put in a sandpoint well. Then the tank will be filled by one 12 volt pump and a second pump will pump the water out for use. Apparently they don't make a 12 volt pump that can lift water out of a well and have enough power left to send a decent flow out for use.

The tank cost $40.

[rambler]

Are they about 275 gallons? Nice to mostly keep them out of the sun so the plastic doesn't break down. As well to keep algae from growing. You can find adapters for that fitting - there are about 3 common types - at most farm supply stores.

In theory a 3000lb trailer should be able to haul it about full and be about right, weight of trailer and water combines.

Paul

[o&itw]

Fill it absolutely full when you transport it. Sloshing water will jerk the trailer around all over the place.

[Harry Chickpea]

NO WAY is that tiedown with the open hook on the end safe. It might keep the tank from shifting during normal driving, but with any stress that hook is going to open up like wet macaroni. If you get into a head-end accident, that means a ton of water heading for the back of your vehicle when you come to that sudden stop. At a MINIMUM three straps with different attachment points. Even some carbiners aren't strong enough, I would probably go with nylon rope and knots.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

NO WAY is that tiedown with the open hook on the end safe. It might keep the tank from shifting during normal driving, but with any stress that hook is going to open up like wet macaroni. If you get into a head-end accident, that means a ton of water heading for the back of your vehicle when you come to that sudden stop. At a MINIMUM three straps with different attachment points. Even some carbiners aren't strong enough, I would probably go with nylon rope and knots.

And with 2500+ pounds of water inside the tank that IS a lot of force if any undue stress is about to happen. Ouch that needs the large straps imo. And being just at or even slightly above what that trailer is rated at. That is another ouch about to happen imo.

[Bearfootfarm]

I suspect that trailer will be overloaded if you put more than 120 gallons.
You'd be far better off to go ahead and put in the well NOW

[KIT.S]

A twin-size water bed bladder fits very nicely into a pickup bed. Many of us old hippies in Alaska brought water home that way. We filled the bladder in the truck bed then emptied it into barrels or whatever we were storing it in, in the warmth of the house or barn so that it wouldn't turn into a giant ice cube in the truck. I believe all water beds have hose attachments and don't slosh as badly.
Kit

[unregistered353870]

Definitely needs to be secured to the trailer better for hauling water and should be filled completely. Even then drive SLOW and carefully. Hauling water in a truck can throw you around. I imagine it's even worse on a trailer.

[gunslinger598]

I don't know if anyone here ever followed the blog of Bob Skelding who was traveling the country in a horse & wagon.

He had a 12 volt pumped rigged to get water water from lakes & streams & often had to pump uphill. I can't recal the lift but I think at times 30 ft or so. A 12 volt pump may just work on a shallow surface well.

[Conhntr]

Didnt he say he is going 3/4mile? He isnt going to be doin 60mph down the highway sounds like

[K.B.]

I bought a 12v sump pump for moving water around our orchard this year. It can move water at ~15-20 gal/min with ~10 feet of elevation (head) difference.

If you are looking for cheap storage tanks for the orchard, used intex pools off CL are hard to beat.

For the showers, I would suggest a solar shower setup (either a camping type or a homemade version using an elevated 55 gal drum).

[unregistered353870]

Originally Posted by Conhntr

Didnt he say he is going 3/4mile? He isnt going to be doin 60mph down the highway sounds like

3/4 mile is plenty of distance to get into some trouble if you're not careful.

[Ozarks Tom]

When you put your well in look into Simple Pump. They have a solar setup for pumping water as deep as 300'. Pricey, but works well. They also have a windmill adapter.

[Nimrod]

Thanks for the concern. The straps are just for tieing down an empty tank so I can get it there. When I fill it with water it will be better secured and I'm only going 3/4 mile and I won't get out of first gear.

The trailer is homemade. They used the springs and axel from a 60 something Chevey van. I have put over 1500 pounds on it and towed it at highway speeds without breaking it. That works out to about a half tank of water so that is the limit for now.

Good call on the sunlight breaking down the plastic and algae growing inside. Maybe a bit of chlorine in the water will solve the latter.

I did pick up an adapter for the valve on the bottom. It has 2 inch pipe thread and I will get the bushing so I can hook it up to garden hose. Many of the 12 volt pumps have garden hose thread fittings. I need to be able to unhook the pump and reverse it for filling the tank.

I have propane tanks to run the camper and the refrigerator. The refrigerator is one I salvaged from an old camper before junking it. It won't fit in the existing camper so I just set it up on the picknic table under a tarp. The next item that will be purchased after the pump is a small propane fired water heater like the camping type. Hot showers when ever I want one, Ahhhh. I already have the necessary tanks and I can fill them off the bulk tank for a third of what it costs to have them filled at the station.

The idea is to have a very comfortable camp for the summer so I have a place to stay while I work on the property. Eventually I will build a house and live there year around.

I wanted to share how perfect this tank is and how cheap.

[Wis Bang 2]

Water is 8.463# per gal so that tank full [300 gal] is 2540#

[joebill]

Paint the tank. No more sun problems and minimal algae....Joe

[BigHenTinyBrain]

Great price for the tank- we have looked for similar around here and the price is MUCH higher. Your anticipated set up sounds quite luxurious!

We used to haul water in 3 55 gallon plastic tanks- they didn't have open tops, just screw off spouts, so they floated. We'd take them to the pond nd toss them in, then jump in and try to sit on them to get them to begin sinking. I don't remember how my Dad got the mostly full tanks back out of the pond nd into the truck, but knowing him he probably bear hugged them nd picked them up.

[fishhead]

Yeah either paint it or cover it with a tarp. I would think some chlorine would be in order to keep the slime down. Probably a measured amount of pool chlorine pellets. Just put them in before you start filling and they will dissolve while you fill it.

I used to haul 75 gallons of fish tank water in the back of my Ranger. When you came to a stop the truck would wobble for a few seconds.

You wouldn't get a lot of pressure but you could mount a second tank up off the ground 10' and use gravity to power your shower. Some pressure treated 4"x4"'s set in concrete should hold it up like a modern deer stand.

[Ernie]

How much rain is in the location you're looking at?

Maybe I'm crazy (I am), but why transport water in the first place?

For not a lot of money you could put up some sort of roof like a carport. Then put gutters on it and let the water run into a stationary tank.

There are a lot of rainwater collection calculators out there which would tell you how many square foot of roofline would be required to collect the water you want. Put the roofline and tank in above your orchard and then you can gravity feed the whole system on timers.

[Truckinguy]

I deliver water for a living and the truck I drive has a 4500 gallon tank on it. If I have a 1/2 to 3/4 load on in the winter and have to make a quick stop at a traffic light the water can move the truck a foot or two with the wheels locked when the load hits either end of the tank. With the truck brim full it's like any other load, solid and stable.

You can buy large plastic balls for the big trucks that you fill the tank with and it eliminates the slosh. If you can find a good supply of small plastic balls that fit through the filler hole in the tank, maybe toys for example, you can drill a bunch of large holes in them and partially fill the tank with them so you can haul a part load with little or no sloshing.