Water tank size

[rooster]

I getting ready to install a water tank in my tear, but I have no clue what size to get. The fellow at the Moble supply store said a 6 gallon would be fine and I bought it, but after I got it home it looked rather small.

Any suggestions?

Jim,

[bledsoe3]

I would say it all depends on where you are going to place it, where you have room for it and how that will affect your tongue weight.

[asianflava]

When we primitive camp, we have 28gal for 10 of us. We don't drink it, we have bottled (and canned) stuff for that. Sometimes we don't use up all the water for a weekend trip. 6gal for 2 people should be OK.

[DestinDave]

That's the size I'm looking at also. I plan on mounting 2 six-gal tanks on top of each other. Top for fresh water, and the bottom tank for a grey water holding tank. Mounting them center-line would keep the weight balance the same all the time. They will fit in a cavity behind the drawers in the galley. I'll be by myself 99% of the time and 6-gal will be plenty for cooking, washing, brushing my teeth. Bottled water for drinking. Dave

[Joseph]

I have the 7.5 gal. Kit reproduction tank from the Teardrop Fix-It Shop but I have yet to fill it, let alone use it since I've been camping where water is readily available. When I go boondocking I'll use it but my water use tends to be limited to morning coffee and the occasional sponge bath. Regardless of the style of camping I have yet to use more than five gallons of water over the course of a long weekend.

Joseph

[IraRat]

Rooster, how are you pumping it?

The reason I ask is that since 5 gallons seems to be okay, you may want to use one of those collapsible 5-gallon jugs, something you can easily set off to the side of the galley, or even UNDER it, on the ground.

[rooster]

I'll be traveling alone so I guess 6 gal tank would be enough. Dave, I like your idea for the gray water. I thought of having a 5 gal plastic gas container for gray water and have it come out the side of my tear.
I'll have a 12v pump to install to fill the sink. Thanks for all the ideas and help.
I"ll stay with the 6 gal tank....

Jim,

Just put on the second aluminum side on yesterday and trimmed it up today day. looks nice.

[Michael W]

In the LuxoTear, we have a 7 gallon Aqua-tainer. This usually is enough to last us for a weekend trip using it for cooking and washing up. Note that water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon, so full the Aqua-tainer weighs almost 60 pounds. If we are camping were I know there will be water, I prefer not to haul around the 60 pounds when in route, chosing instead to to fill up the tank after we arrive at our destination. For added safety, we have a cermic water filter in-line between the Aqua-tainer and sink. This assures we are safe from giardia and other water borne bacteria if the quality of water at the campground is unknown.

[doug hodder]

To anyone wanting to put water storage into their tear....1 cu. ft. of water weighs 62.5 lbs at 39 degrees F... and 1 cu. ft. is about 7.5 gal...figure 1 gal. of H20 weighs 8.4 lbs...Just info for calculating your weight distribution...from Machinery's Handbook...they use different temps in the water in these calcs.....Doug

[madjack]

... here is what we did for a water tank...it holds 5 gals
madjack

[Nitetimes]

... here is what we did for a water tank...it holds 5 gals
madjack

I LIKE THAT Very excellent idea. Did you have a way of calculating how much it held before you built it or was it just one of those 'build it and see what it holds' things? I may just have to do that myself. A guy could make 2 of those and intertwine them and have a water and gray water tank in minimal space. If you didn't calculate the quantity first do you have some measurements you wouldn't mind sharing?

[dacrazyrn]

Dam! that is genius. All those years of landsscaping, construction and plumbing, I never thought of that! Sweet!! It would seem it is semi-baffle also with the curvature. Now to plan something like that in.
Considering that pipe and fittings like that run under probably $20 total. Rock!

[doug hodder]

4" pipe holds .625 gal. per foot....and that is really a trick idea MadJack!!!....you could run stuff all under the tear in PVC., just protect it...good thinking...that one didn't cross my mind...+ you can distribute the weight....I don't know why I didn't think of this, except i'm a dummy as I have a ton of it only in black ABS that I use to heat an above ground pool...a giant radiator for solar heat....Doug

[madjack]

... tank calculator here
...the pipe is sch40 4" PVC water pipe with NSF rating, the biggest cost was for the 1.5" tap...30 bucks add another 20 for pipe and fittings
The tank will strap under the trailer, behind the axle, with the fill tube coming up thru the floor and connecting to a fill on the side of trailer
We used 4 in, because it would tuck completely up between the frame/axle tube/crossmembers. 6in could probably be used without any problems and a subsequent increase in water capacity(and price of parts)
madjack

[asianflava]

I was shocked at the price tanks were going for. I was thinking of using 6in PVC for a water tank instead. I eventually ditched the whole water/sink plan. I was thinking of just using 1 pipe, Madjack's plan with the U would peobably work better because it's a built in baffle.

Anyway I figured it out manually

Find the volume of the pipe

Pi x (D/2)^2 x H Thats: 3.14 x (half the diameter squared "in inches") x (height "in inches")

Then take that volume V and divide it by 231 (cubic inches in a gallon)

Or you can use that handy dandy calculator.