Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 03-05-2015, 04:06 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 10
Year: 1989
Coachwork: GMC
Rated Cap: 66
Water re-usage

Hi skoolies, I bought a 1987 bluebird with a detroit diesel engine in August and am mid-conversion. I'm in school so progress is slow and the budget is non-existent. I'm looking at water tanks and I don't want to have to buy two (I'm using a compost toilet). I was thinking about how awesome it would be if I could filter my own water and just have one tank and a filtration system. Has anyone successfully done this? I've been reading about the activated sludge process that cities use and I'm a little intimidated. Are there any numbers on how to scale it down--how much sludge I should maintain for a 50 gal tank for instance?

tesswynn92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2015, 04:30 PM   #2
Bus Geek
 
lornaschinske's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Roswell, NM
Posts: 3,588
Year: 1986
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
If money is non-existant and you ARE operating on a meager budget then you need to rethink. Ultraviolet filtration systems are expensive. Build your own tank. I bought the rocket tank for my fresh water and need a second one (for 60 gallons total). I have a used black tank but when it warms up, I will be building two custom tanks (vinyl liner on plywood) for my grey and black. Like I keep saying, it really depends on how you intend on using your bus. I live fulltime in mine. I am on hookups most of the time. I have a regular residential toilet in mine. I take showers that last as long as the hot water does. I have a super capacity washing machine. I have a really big sink (8" deep 22X43). I am a water hog. We knew how this bus was to be used and it was built accordingly.

For tank sizing, plug your numbers into this tank calculator. If you are using a rectangular or square tank, make sure you choose "Rectangular" not "Flat Bottom" under tank type. To make it easy, just type in the height of the tank, the width and then type in how many gallons you want. Click on "Diameter or Length" button under "Diameter in Inches (Length for Rectangular tanks)" And don't forget that all measurements are in inches except for the gallons. If you are trying to figure out the holding capacity of a piece of pipe then you choose "Flat Bottom" for the tank type and you plug in the number as though the pipe was standing vertical as opposed to the horizontal mount.
__________________
This post is my opinion. It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
Fulltime since 2006
The goal of life is living in agreement with nature. Zeno (335BC-264BC)
https://lorndavi.wordpress.com/blog/
https://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps0340a6ff.jpg
lornaschinske is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2015, 04:58 PM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 10
Year: 1989
Coachwork: GMC
Rated Cap: 66
Haha, nice disclaimer at the bottom. I'm living on my bus full time as well. It's more of a glorified camping set-up right now but I'm getting there. I've found cheaper tanks on Craigslist but I like the idea of building one. At the moment, I'm more interested in water filtration. I don't think a UV filtration system is the way I'd go because it doesn't remove detergents. I need a filtration system that removes soap/detergents and bacteria.
tesswynn92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2015, 05:09 PM   #4
Bus Geek
 
lornaschinske's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Roswell, NM
Posts: 3,588
Year: 1986
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
You would need UV plus. UV is what is going to get rid of bacteria. The additional filtration will take care of the solids, etc. I used to read posting on a different forum where they put in a filtration system that they could pump out of and river, creek, pond or lake and get clean potable water. But the system was very expensive to install and maintain.
__________________
This post is my opinion. It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
Fulltime since 2006
The goal of life is living in agreement with nature. Zeno (335BC-264BC)
https://lorndavi.wordpress.com/blog/
https://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps0340a6ff.jpg
lornaschinske is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2015, 05:46 PM   #5
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Turn your bus into a water treatment facility?
Sounds like a nat job!
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2015, 06:11 PM   #6
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
Turn your bus into a water treatment facility?
Sounds like a nat job!
Lol

A bus is not big enough for this in my opinion.

You need to dig into a hill, and build a earth ship home.

Plants are what purify's the water properly. Not any of the energy sucking tools of man.

Youtube Earthship house. You may like it. That will be my final home one day.

Nat
__________________
"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization
nat_ster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2015, 08:00 PM   #7
Skoolie
 
Outcast's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: North Georgia Mountains
Posts: 106
Year: 96
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466
Rated Cap: 75
If expense is your major motivator, filtration isn't the way to go. Another tank will be much cheaper, and probably take up less space. And that's just up front cost, filtration systems also have large budgets to maintain, tanks are pretty much done once you buy them, as long as you clean them out properly when you empty it.
Outcast is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2015, 10:48 PM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 10
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: 429-4V Lima
Quote:
Originally Posted by nat_ster View Post
Lol

A bus is not big enough for this in my opinion.

You need to dig into a hill, and build a earth ship home.

Plants are what purify's the water properly. Not any of the energy sucking tools of man.

Youtube Earthship house. You may like it. That will be my final home one day.

Nat
I toured a couple of those while in Taos, NM for a few days. Really cool designs and I too hope to incorporate a lot of what they do into a future home.
Kafkaesque is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2015, 11:26 AM   #9
Bus Nut
 
PDBreske's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Ocala, FL
Posts: 635
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Bookmobile body by Farber
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: Navistar DT466/Alison MT643
Rated Cap: 1
(Sigh) This thread belongs in the General Discussions forum. Please read the "sticky" thread at the top of this forum.
PDBreske is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2015, 02:24 PM   #10
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Agreed, and done!
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:40 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.