Ultra High Water Capacity: How did you implement over 200 gallons of holding tanks?

[gs1949]

Yeah, it's just amazing to me that people still do something so incredibly stupid. They probably put that setup together themselves and just didn't know about the result of no baffles.

I've been thinking that my water tanks should be resistant to freezing because I want to go moose hunting one more time. So my idea was to put long narrow water tanks under benches and cupboards. But then I thought about having a long horizontal column of water slamming into the forward end of an unbaffled tank every time the brakes were applied hard.

I've just done the calculations and a tank 1 foot square and 15 feet long would hold just over 112 US gallons, which would weigh just under 900 pounds. Even half that amount of water would generate a lot of force when braking hard.

So I think an unbaffled tank would have to break, and it probably wouldn't take too long. And I now think that even a baffled tank that long would probably create enough pressure from surges back and forth from braking and acceleration to cause the tank to start leaking eventually.

So I now think square or nearly square tanks would probably be better. Or even the food grade barrels that apple juice concentrate and stuff like that come in would probably work just fine and be much cheaper and easier to replace if they did get damaged somehow.

Or maybe something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Holdin...440717-7414656

[Inner Love]

Originally Posted by TJones

The surge from a couple hundred gallons spilt into at least 2 tanks wouldn't be noticable in a full size bus. Making sure the tanks are well secured so that they can't move during a surge is important.

Ted

This is what I’m thinking. Please say something if we’re underestimating the surge in the above scenario.

I looked up the tank dimensions Iceni John uses in his bus and his 115 gallon tanks are over $500 each, compare that to a common dimension 100 gallon tank and you have a $300 spread in per tank price. Since I don’t cry “too costly” and then dismiss the option completely based on cost and bias it’s just a matter of raising my income for the tanks that fits between the frame rails and skirt without losing considerable ground clearance.

[Iceni John]

Originally Posted by debit.servus

This is what I’m thinking. Please say something if we’re underestimating the surge in the above scenario.

I looked up the tank dimensions Iceni John uses in his bus and his 115 gallon tanks are over $500 each, compare that to a common dimension 100 gallon tank and you have a $300 spread in per tank price. Since I don’t cry “too costly” and then dismiss the option completely based on cost and bias it’s just a matter of raising my income for the tanks that fits between the frame rails and skirt without losing considerable ground clearance.

I didn't pay that much! I ended up getting 400 gallons of tankage for $1000, including all the spin-welded fittings I could ever need: that's just $2.50 per gallon, not bad for good quality tanks rotomolded from 3/8" virgin polyethylene. And because Ronco Plastics is just a few miles from here, I transported them back in the bus, so no trucking fees either.

My primary consideration was to have the most gallons in the available spaces, with the least wasted space. I have only 1/8" space between the poo tank and the outside body skirt; I couldn't have done any better with fully custom tanks!

Ronco also makes tanks for other resellers such as Ardemco in Costa Mesa CA, but you always get the best deal directly from the actual manufacturer. I'm very happy with them.

John

[Inner Love]

Originally Posted by Iceni John

I didn't pay that much! I ended up getting 400 gallons of tankage for $1000, including all the spin-welded fittings I could ever need: that's just $2.50 per gallon, not bad for good quality tanks rotomolded from 3/8" virgin polyethylene. And because Ronco Plastics is just a few miles from here, I transported them back in the bus, so no trucking fees either.

My primary consideration was to have the most gallons in the available spaces, with the least wasted space. I have only 1/8" space between the poo tank and the outside body skirt; I couldn't have done any better with fully custom tanks!

Ronco also makes tanks for other resellers such as Ardemco in Costa Mesa CA, but you always get the best deal directly from the actual manufacturer. I'm very happy with them.

John

Sounds great! $1000 for 400 gallons of tankage complete with spin welded fitting is very reasonable. Did you pick up at the factory? Or their warehouse?

Now what did it cost you in materials to secure the tanks in all six directions of movement? Did you have apprehension when installing the tanks thinking your mounting methods were not strong or durable or safe enough? Can you fill both freshwater tanks from one side? Did you weld, drill through the floor and hang by a bolt, or bolt then weld?

[Disastrogirl]

have you looked at Inca plastics? They have fresh and wastewater tanks in all shapes and sizes.

http://incaplastics.com

[Iceni John]

Originally Posted by debit.servus

Sounds great! $1000 for 400 gallons of tankage complete with spin welded fitting is very reasonable. Did you pick up at the factory? Or their warehouse?

Now what did it cost you in materials to secure the tanks in all six directions of movement? Did you have apprehension when installing the tanks thinking your mounting methods were not strong or durable or safe enough? Can you fill both freshwater tanks from one side? Did you weld, drill through the floor and hang by a bolt, or bolt then weld?

I bought all four tanks directly from Ronco Plastics' factory in Tustin CA, so no trucking fees.

I don’t know what it cost me to mount the tanks. I generally don’t pay too much attention to costing individual jobs, and I prefer to spend whatever it takes (within reason) to do the job well enough that I will never need to redo it ever again! As with most things I do, it’s much more labor-intensive than money-intensive - I spent many hours devising how to do it in the first place, then many more hours hand-fabricating all the bits and pieces. I have absolutely no concerns about the security or reliability of any of my work, tanks included; I have far more important things to be concerned with! Each of the two water tanks and the gray tank are hung by ten lengths of ½” threaded rod from the frame rails or structural underfloor members, and the poo tank is hung by six similar hangers, so they’re not going anywhere. If in doubt, I overbuild! All the tanks are laterally secured by their tops being surrounded by frames attached to the floor (Crowns have 1.5” marine ply floors) and to other steelwork, and this completely prevents any fore/aft/sideways movement. By doing this, the hangers only need to support vertical loads. Each tank sits on a support frame made from military-surplus angle steel, and their floors and sides have ½” plywood to protect them from road debris and to help support their sides. Nothing is welded; everything I do is good ol’ bolting, which makes it easier to make changes later if I want.

Each water tank has a stainless-steel Whitecap 6125 marine deck fill, much nicer than the usual cheesy plastic RV junk, for gravity filling them. Because both tanks are interconnected, I can also fill them from the city water connections on each side by just opening a valve. The right tank has a sightglass to show its water level, and it also has a ½” inlet for not-yet-hot-enough hot water to avoid wasting it before it runs hot enough at the bathroom basin. Both tanks have ½” vents to equalize pressure inside when being filled, so when water comes out of them I know they are full.

The gray and poo tanks are similarly hung, but they have a different venting system. Each of them has two 2” vents: both those tanks are interconnected by a vent pipe that loops under the frame rail between them, and each tank’s other vent allows fresh air to enter or exit. This will allow the aerobic bacteria in them to do their work and prevent bad smells. When driving, fresh air is pushed into a high louvered vent, down into the poo tank and across the gray tank, then sucked out at road level just ahead of the differential; when parked the airflow is reversed, with cool air entering the gray tank from ground level, circulating through both tanks, and exiting out the louvered vent due to natural convection. There are three cable-operated Valterra 3” dump valves for the gray and poo tanks on the driver’s side, and an additional 1.5” gray water dump valve on the other side that points straight down just ahead of the right rear wheels. If the gray tank is full I can transfer gray water into the poo tank by a transfer pump that squirts it in just above its drain to help break down any Mounds Of Doom that may be there, and if that doesn’t help I can also connect city water to also jet into the poo tank there; obviously each inlet has a check valve to prevent any backflow.

John

[family wagon]

Originally Posted by Disastrogirl

have you looked at Inca plastics? They have fresh and wastewater tanks in all shapes and sizes.

Home

I bought mine from Inca. I'm not local like John is to Ronco.. but I found some construction equipment I wanted to buy a few hours away from Inca's factory and made a road trip from Utah to California to pick it all up. There was some misunderstanding and they didn't have the tanks ready when I arrived. They literally made the tanks while I waited. I haven't actually installed the tanks yet, but I do like how they turned out.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

Normal practice and idea?
In my mind?
You only move with your fresh water tank full or run with your tank empty until you get to a fresh water site at the wherever your staying for the night?
If you take off with freshwater then as you use it that freshwater goes either into the grey tank or black tank which includes whatever solids you just added?
The weight of water is 8'lbs per gallon? Know for a fact!
A 100 gallon fresh water tank feeding a 35-gallon grey tank and a 50-gallon black tank won't run out of water because of the solids sent into the waste tanks ?
Position your tanks properly and they will equalize themeselves.
For the one that brought up baffles?
Yes they are a good idea.but for the low amount of water in an RV tank they are not necessary if the tanks are installed correctly.
My family is fire fighters for life and my dad rolled a tanker truck in the 60's cause a lady pulled out in front of him?
He is retired now but they completely re-built that old Mack and he still drives in parades and for funerals