How much water to take to the desert?

Views differ on this a little Rodger , and the amount also varies with the type
of adventure you are on with an average of 3lt/person/day.

We tend to go on fairly remote type trips and our total water usage over time
has averaged about 1.5lt/person / day and so we plan and carry 2lt/person/day.

All of this water is consumed in food or drink , we carry none for washing etc.

In practise one also consumes another lt/day from cans of coke , wine etc.

Putting a figure on it will always be difficult and as others may have differing requirements it might be worthwhile to consider;

How much do I usually drink each day,

Who is going, and do they have any special requirements in regards to hydration,

Do I expect more or less physical activity than normal,

How much do I need for cooking (what sort of meals will you be eating)

What is the planned time between known water supplies, and

How many extra days do I need to plan in case of being delayed between the known water supplies (I’d increase by 50%).

Water left behind will be useless to you if ‘Murphy’s Law’ takes over and things go wrong. Keep this in mind when planning water requirements, you can do without most things, but not water. Take more than you'll ever need...

Enjoy your trip....

If we take our trailer, we take 6 square 25 litre containers of water, they fit across the rear of the trailer and help balance the trailer for ball weight. We would rather take it than not, you never know if you encounter a radiator hole you cant entirely repair or a leaking water pump. Its a few dollars in fuel , we also use it for showering and the portable toilet and the like, we usually tip most of it out when we get on the black top on the way home where it wont likely to be needed. We may also be able to help others in an emergency who haven't planned well !! Water is so important when you really need it.. and it costs little!!! Michael

If you mean for personal consumption, not use, then in the last 20 years of outback travel our planning figure is 5l per person per day. That accounts for cups of tea/coffee, the two litres of water we each drink per day and a bit spare

If you mean for use then we use 10l per person per day which covers dish washing and personal hygiene

Our Uttimate's 110l tank lasts us around 14 days and we carry at least another 40L in JC. That 110l is consumed for cooking,washing up, the thermos and the breakfast cups of tea

The 40L is used for personal drinking and the inevitable hand washing

Of course it all depends on your activity levels and the temperature as well. In summer with day temperatures around 40C we tend to double our consumption figure for personal use

Regards

RobA

How much water to take on a trip?

Quite an open ended question really

As answered above, between 2litres and 5 litres per person per day, fine, but how much do you take?

Well it also depends on the trip itself! are you alone then take 2-5 l x many days
If you are in a group, then take for less days than when alone.

The CSR is very very remote but there is lots of water in the wells, the Simpson is far shorter but with no water.

no fixed answer to your question, too many variables

The Outback Trail...

Late in the afternoon we reached the foot of the cliff and all hands lay down. The only drink we had was of the stinking water two days before. Byrne, one of the old hands, lay close to me. I told him that from now on I would not stop with the rest of the party but would go ahead on my own. He said: "Luck, I am with you."

I had taken a tin of jam before leaving: everything else had been left in the camp. As soon as it was dusk we sneaked off at a steady pace. We were used to walking. We kept going till just after daylight and then we sat down to have a spell. In the distance we could see Moondini Bluff standing out from the cliff. I opened the tin of jam which I had tied to myself with a strip of shirt. We would stick our fingers into the jam and suck them.

We decided that we would not have another spell until we reached the bluff. The day came out hot. Even at an early hour the sun seemed to be exerting all its force as we walked along, dipping fingers now and again into the jam to moisten our lips. We gave up talking to each other. Long before we got to the bluff we both sat down several times quite unconsciously and then looking up we would come to our senses and set off again. But we stuck together.

Now came the time when our clothes became to much. Off came our boots and on again we went through the sand. That became to hot and off came our shirts.

Thirst does strange things to a man's mind. I had heard many a time how a perishing man invariably pulled his clothes off and now I found out why. Wherever the clothes touch the skin it seems to burn like fire. The skin is hot and dry, lips are swollen and there is no flow of saliva. Everything before the eyes turns black and down one goes.

In the beginning the falls are only momentary and then you look up, gather your sense and off you go again. Let me impress on you the agony, if I can. The feeling is almost intolerable. ONly one who has gone through it has any idea of the agony. Many a time I have longed for a drink, but they were nought compared with this experience.

On we stumbled beneath the pitiless, scorching sun. There was not a ripple of wind. There was a pain burning inside us and we were not able to speak. Our only strength seemed to be in tearing our clothes to get some relief. But it was all useless. Our knees just doubled up and down we would go for a second, although it seemed longer, then up and on again. There was no conscious thought about our actions. Only sheer will-power drove us on, although all power over our legs had gone. One object we had in view - Madura. We stumbled on - occasionally helping each other up. We never tried to speak - we could not. So we went on, mile after mile......

Gus Luck 1888.

"So the question is, how much water should you be taking with you on your adventure?"

Well... I've given this some considerable thought and I think you should take quite a lot.

NM

(God Almighty; can this site get any worse!?)

Talking to a retired SAS instructor a few years back and he told me that when they are doing their desert exercises, they are only issued with half a litre a day to survive on. This is to wash, cook, drink, etc.
After 20 odd years of doing this, he now has kidney problems.

I'm not saying this is all you need. Just relaying what can be done., but probably shouldn't.

Thanks for the comments. Did a bit of digging around and found a good post about this topic. Covers walking, cycling & 4x4 too.

Find out how much water to carry

Depends on how much exercise you are doing and temperature
I'm just back from another week hike in the West Mac ranges carrying 20-25kg pack, covering 20-25km per day, involving a lot of hill climbing with day time maximums of 30C

We would go through 6-8L per day for everything, drinking and cooking.
No washing clothes, no hand washing (using a special antiseptic hand gel)
If you are in a vehicle and take a food scraper and paper towels, you can easily wash up in less than 2L.

So if you are sitting on your arse in an air conditioned vehicle, 3L should be adequate provided you don't waste any on washing up, clothes etc.

The problem with skimping on what you drink, is that by the time you realise you are dehydrated, it will take you hours to get properly hydrated again in all your body cells, I've experienced that a couple of times, think i would have learnt by now wouldn't you.
You should not wait until you get thirsty.

2 of us use 15L per day for drinking, cooking and washing up.

We have a 45 litre tank on the Troopy plus carry supermarket casks of water that fold down flat when empty and are easy to store when full.

We have not and do not intend trying to reduce this but carry more water than we really need and use the cask stuff first.

None of our trips are longer than 4 or 5 days without replenishing our water so far.

Stevesub1

How much water you need is like asking how long is a piece of string.
Some previous posts mention very low volumes of water but don't mention the volumes of other fluids they are consuming. They are obviously travelling through very cool periods with low levels of physical exertion with very full drinks fridges.
The hotter it gets or the more physical exertion you do the more water you are going to need.
Up here in NQ my water consumption, while out riding my push-bike, can vary from half a litre per hour in winter to over 2 litres per hour in summer. On days in the mid forties when I am drinking 2 litres an hour I still end up dehydrated.
I did a 100 k ride on Sunday on about 3 litres & never got dehydrated. Last Sunday was nice & cool. 14 degrees when we set out & 28 on the way home. I will use at least double that for the same ride come December & come home dehydrated.
Some much fitter people I ride with will drink less, but still end up dehydrated.
The figures you see people throwing around for recommended water consumption that are rated in glasses per day are a joke up this way. It is not uncommon to talk to blokes that will drink 10 litres in an 8 hour shift working hard out in the sun.
So if you are asking me how much water do you take?
I say, "as much as you can carry".

Hi,

This suggestion may have already been made so apologies if it is a repeat I just skimmed through the thread.

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious .....regardless of how much you take, don't have it all in one container.

We have 120 litres in our camper trailer tank but it would only take one small leak to end up in the desert with nothing. We take an extra jerrycan if ever going anywhere even slightly remote, plus a few backup liquid supplies in handy 375ml cold aluminium containers.

Nick

I have a 70ltr tank in my D40 and had this full at Mt Dare. 4days in the Simpson with 2 people and drinking, cooking and washing (albeit sparingly) and we still had 40 ltrs left when we got to Birdsville