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Old 03-05-2015, 05:06 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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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?

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Old 03-05-2015, 05:30 PM   #2
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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.
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Old 03-05-2015, 05:58 PM   #3
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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.
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:09 PM   #4
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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.
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Old 03-05-2015, 06:46 PM   #5
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Turn your bus into a water treatment facility?
Sounds like a nat job!
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Old 03-05-2015, 07:11 PM   #6
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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
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Old 03-05-2015, 09:00 PM   #7
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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.
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Old 03-05-2015, 11:48 PM   #8
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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.
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Old 03-06-2015, 12:26 PM   #9
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(Sigh) This thread belongs in the General Discussions forum. Please read the "sticky" thread at the top of this forum.
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Old 03-06-2015, 03:24 PM   #10
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Agreed, and done!
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