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Old 06-12-2008, 02:00 PM   #1
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An Option to Carry Extra Water

It didnt take long for us to realize the stock 40 gallon fresh water tank on the 2499 was way to small to live fulltime out of. We were pre-filtering our water before we put it in the holding tank so we could always drink right from the tap.

Heading down to Mexico where the water is a bit questionable to say the least, I was contemplating adding another holding tank to the underside of the camper. Then I saw what the cost would be to have another tank added, and decided to mount one in the bed of the truck instead.

What this has accomplished is, we now use the 35 gallons that we carry in the bed of the truck strictly for drinking water. This water is always pre-filtered with a Class-A filter to insure it's taste and cleanlyness.

The 40 gallons that we carry in the camper holding tank is used for flushing, showering and washing dishes and is still pre-filtered, but just with two carbon filters to get rid of any odor or sediment that might be in the lines. If we are set up in a nice secluded spot and we run out of water in the camper, I can run into town with just the truck and not have to break down camp to go fill the holding tank.



The tank in the bed of the truck can act as a transfer tank and will allow me to refill the campers holding tank as long as I can get within ten feet of the side of the camper.

By switching to this 35 gallon fresh water tank, we have cut our plastic water bottle usage to almost nothing. We used to always keep a case of bottled water with us. Now we use a 3 gallon jug that has a spigot on the bottom to keep drinking water inside the Sunline. We refill this from the tank in the bed, and if we're going out anywhere, we use reusable, washable Nalgene bottles to drink from.

This is doing our part to cut plastic waste going to a landfill or needing to be recycled.

The 35 gallon poly tank was purchased at a local feed store and is food grade plastic. I put a hose shut off at the bottom of the tank where I could keep the water flowing to the hose by a simple lever. The tank was $89 and with the hose and fittings, I'm right around $100 total for the set-up. It's held in the bed of the truck with a ratchet strap that is connected to the tie down in the truck bed and wrapped around the tank. This holds it steady from shifting when it's full with the water.


Here is a shot of the shut off valve I made from pieces I purchased from the local hardware store.

To make it easier to refill our 3 gallon jug, I bought 10' of clear food grade braded poly hose and attached to the hose fitting on the end of the shut off valve with another shut off valve on the end of the hose. This way, you set the jug on the ground, turn the hose on and let gravity fill it with no use of motors or pumps. The valve in the bed is always on, and we just use the shut off valve on the hose to allow the water to empty.
I just thought it might be smart to have a shut-off valve right at the tank itself incase we were going to move it or empty it at any point.



If we need to fill the camper holding tank, I only need to back up to the side of the camper to within 10' of the filler location. The truck bed sits higher than the fill valve, so gravity will do its job here too.

Sure I could have added a second fresh water tank, but with the hassle of installation and the work it would have taken to accomplish, the hour it took me to set this up, and the minimal cost was well worth it. Plus it keeps us out in the boonies longer, which is worth its weight in gold!
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Old 06-12-2008, 07:35 PM   #2
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Have you ever considered by a cheap/used water pump to attach to the tank to "pump"it into your fresh water tank, should you need it?
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Old 06-12-2008, 08:05 PM   #3
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Very nice! I was just pricing out a pair of those tanks the other day to keep in the bed of the truck. One for extra fresh water, and the other to act as a grey water tote.

- Frank
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Old 06-12-2008, 08:23 PM   #4
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Pat

Good idea for the RV.

We had 2 of those with the Boy Scout Troop I was hooked up with. Put 2 in a truck bed and portable water for a whole Troop for the weekend. We use to call them Water Buffalos... Never knew exactly why, but that is what we call a big portable tank of water….

John

PS We also put a garden hose fitting on the end of the hose. When you went to fill the tank, just screw on the hose and back fill thru the hose into the tank. It saved crawling up in the truck bed and unscrewing the big cap.
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Old 06-12-2008, 09:23 PM   #5
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Hey John, that's what we call it was a Water Buffalo, dont know why, but while I was putting it together in Arizona the camp ground host came over to see if I needed a hand and said "Oh, you're putting together a water buffalo are ya'?"

So that's what we've always called it.

So far, we've never had trouble with the fitting needing to be tightened to allow the water to come out. If I'm going to fill the camper, then I unscrew the lid on the tank to allow air to push it out faster, but when just filling the 3 gallon jug, the gravity works just fine.

As for hooking up a cheap pump, I keep saying I'm going to replace the noisy one in the camper with a new quiet model, and when I do, I'm gonna mount the noisy one in the bed of the truck and wire it off the battery. But that's all when I have money, which I have none of right now
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Old 06-13-2008, 06:45 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emam
Hey John, that's what we call it was a Water Buffalo, dont know why, but while I was putting it together in Arizona the camp ground host came over to see if I needed a hand and said "Oh, you're putting together a water buffalo are ya'?"

So that's what we've always called it.
And the mystery of the Water Buffalo continues....... Even in AZ....LOL

John
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Old 09-23-2008, 04:51 PM   #7
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Way back when I was in the Air Force, the term water buffalo referred to a cargo truck with a large water tank, similar to an airport refueling truck.
The truck would be marked as to whether it carried drinking or non-drinking water.
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