Potable Water

Hi Hairy
That sounds pretty good to me. Just the thing I might need, and a chance to meet the locals.
A good ice breaker as well. "Hi! Got any water?" :o)
Not that I'd intend to run dry, but a Top Up might come in handy now and again.

Hairy

Just dropped me guts! Your've got a fancy way with words young fella....HaHahaHa

LOL

Regards

Kim

Gday Kim,
Just had the old Fart ( and Judith ) around for a couple.

Cheers

Hairy

Gidday Hairy

Bloody old fart tourist

I suppose he wanted a top up as well.....?

LOL

Regards

Kim

Hi Mick!
No, I hadn't considered that. I'll probably be travelling alone, and the extra cost, just for one might not be worth it. I'll be hiring a vehicle, or several, over a period of months and wouldn't want too much Top Hamper unless it was essential.
I went on a 4x4 trip, as a passenger a few months ago, and the leader topped up the water into jerry cans as we went. I don't know if he paid for it though, as it was usually done while we visited places and used amenities in the towns. William Creek and Coober Pedy are examples of this.

Remind me not to bump into you to say hello unless it is the 2nd of the month, or else stand upwind. :o)

Hi Grey Nomad
That's a good point, a place that sells fuel is hardly likely not to have some sort of water available is it? Even if it comes in the form of ice for the Esky? Eskie?

Hi Darian
I never realised that obtaining potable water could be such a risky affair. For a start, it appears that much of the water that is available might not be drinkable in the first instance anyway. Boiling twice sounds good, the second boiling for a cuppa of course :o)
It's hardly fair to ask people for water if they are short themselves is it, and I guess that a refusal might offend.
I wouldn't envisage ever being more than a couple of days from a town, but I reckon that even for that sort of timespan I'd need at least a weeks supply in case things went wrong, and a weeks supply of water might be hard to find. So frequent top ups would be essential. Having said that I wouldn't want to just go from place to place looking for the next supply of water. I'm sure there's more to see and do in the Outback than just look for water. :o)

So basically two sets of water containers then? One for un treated bore water and the like, and another set for boiled and drinkable water. Good idea to boil twice what you need as well. I guess that if you have a fire going it might as well be used to the maximum.

hey there,
Curious to know how the solar still works, and how much did it set you back.

thanks

Hi Ian

Hayley's questiion and -

How long does it take to get a useful quanity of water?

Motherhen

Ditto the above, very interested

cheers,

Lance

Hiya Wheelybin
Unfortunately I will be unable to do more than a few weeks or months touring. I don't live in Oz, but on my retirement I do want to spend time down there and see a bit more of your country. My vehicle/s will be hired, so any extra equipment, not supplied will have to be bought by me, then disposed of when I leave. Probably a time consuming and loss making affair. So, allthough no doubt Solar Stills are good pieces of kit, if they aren't Vital I would not envisage buying one.
I plan to spend around 3 months minimum, and 12 months Maximum in Oz, depending on health checks and bank ballance, and probably most of my touring will be on hard top, I want to circum navigate Australia, as well as explore some of the interior. Travelling alone, I think I could manage with a fairly basic set up, no vanity mirrors, no makeup compartment, no toy box, no underwear drawer, no table cloths etc etc :o)

Ditto here Wheelybin..........more info please

Just did a google searchon "solar still"....some interesting ideas out there.....but volume amounts may require large units which would take up a lot of space.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/pdf/lesson_plan09.pdf

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/dec/stories/water.html

http://www.solaqua.com/solstilbas.html

http://www.solarpurewater.com/

http://www.csiro.au/helix/sciencemail/activities/WaterPurifier.htm

It was on the ABC the inventors and currently sells for $595 plus freight RR.
its the same size roughly as a 60W solar panel witha feed tank and a collector tank.
Even through winter I still got 2L per day and currently am getting around 3+L.
It has been a problem getting one as they were to be sold through Rotary International but now they are sold through a firm called Sunsure Water in Victoria.
Some of my mates have seen mine and want one so Ive just bought some more for them to use.
One chap has a fifth wheeler and said its good to be able to guarantee yourself clean pure drinking water from any source and didnt buck at the cost.
Ian

Hi Davoe!
That's good to know :o)
Is Rainwater drinkable without treatment, if stored correctly?

Hope so, it's all we've got!

That's good to know, I'm used to drinking chlorinated water out of a tap. Not "Real" water :o)

Hi Phil
That's good to know as well. Signed as suitable for consumption or not I assume?

Nope. Up to you to taste it.

Should be okay if the tap is above the level of the Dunnie then :o)

If its not OK, you'll know soon enough :-))

But seriously, as you enter any australian town, there will be signs telling you where the public dunnies are, and theres almost always a town water tap for washing them out. I reckon all town water is safe to drink - its just that some of it doesn't taste as good as you'd like. Most town water have improved a heap over the years - 30 years ago most tasted salty and smelt of sulphur - these days thats pretty unusual.

That's good to know. Just as long as I don't have to learn Aboriginal skills and dig for it. :o)

Wealso found that there are some fellow travellers who have 'the knowledge' . Just like the licence test for cabbies in London. There are some places you can get good quality water provided for travellers.

On the road between Winton and Boulia for instance there is a mill just off the road and a water tank that has the best bore water in the area we were told. In one of the cities before population got scarce, we heard that there was a good town tap 'near the netball courts'. We found that too topping up. Sometimes you are best paying a night in a caravan park where there is reasonable water and topping up there. We always carry a reserve supply though, just in case the tanks run dry in the Karavan 20-25 litres.

Hi Hairy.
Yeah, I'm genuine and I've now got the information and advice that I requested so I'll leave the thread.
I'd like to thank you for your valuable input into this thread.
Cheers!
Dickyboy