Hydropneumatic Tanks

[rseagle]

Do any of you use Hydropneumatic tanks to provide pressurized water while "Boondocking".

I talked to a guy this summer who always carries two 50 gallon plastic water tanks in his pick-up truck. After he fills them with water, he pressurizes them to 20 psi with a portable DC air compressor. He connects the tanks to his city connection on his trailer and has plenty of water. That sure beats hauling many 6 gallon Jerry cans.

I'm thinking about this idea for next camping season, but wanted to see if any of you have already used it.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by rseagle

Do any of you use Hydropneumatic tanks to provide pressurized water while "Boondocking".

I talked to a guy this summer who always carries two 50 gallon plastic water tanks in his pick-up truck. After he fills them with water, he pressurizes them to 20 psi with a portable DC air compressor. He connects the tanks to his city connection on his trailer and has plenty of water. That sure beats hauling many 6 gallon Jerry cans.

I'm thinking about this idea for next camping season, but wanted to see if any of you have already used it.

My '63 came from the factory with this feature. It has since been removed.
If you don't want to pressurize the tanks, you can also siphon the tanks into the fresh water holding tank in your coach. You may have to siphon water a few times, but you won't have to do any modifications to anything, and still have plenty of extra water.
If you don't want to do that, you can use a fluid transfer pump to do the same thing, only electrically. After all, we do have on-board water storage and pressurization systems in our coaches, why make things more complicated? I am a firm believer in the KISS principle.

[markdoane]

I still have the parts for my pneumoelectohydrodynamical system from 1959. I haven't decided whether I will reinstall it or go to a more modern demand system and plastic tank. They work ok.

I'm not sure I would want to put 20 psi in any kind of plastic tank though.

[azflycaster]

This does not sound like something I would want to do.
First of all most RV water pumps push out 30+ PSI. If you pressureise the water tank to 20, remember you are only compressing the air, not the water. As the water drops in the tank, so does the pressure. Let's do some rough math: The tank is 4 feet tall and you put 3 ft of water in it and 20 PSI of air. When you use up the first foot of water or 1/3 you now have only 10 PSI. When the tank is almost empty you are down to 5 PSI. You would have to keep pumping air to maintain the pressure you desire.
Second, two 50 gallon tanks of water would weight 800+ pounds plus the wieght of the tanks.
Third (my favorite), "No flushing, washing etc. today, I am going to the lake with the truck".

Just my opinion......

[uwe]

I agree with your logic. I would prefer to simply fill the coach tank and pump out of that.
I could see the advantage of pumping into the city water inlet, if noise was an issue. A truck mounted water pump won't rattle the trailer at night when it's really quiet and one has to run water. Plus, it will draw fro the truck battery instead of the coach battery.
Same goes for on-board pressure systems. The air pump can be disabled, and the system will still deliver water for a few flushes without any noise from the pump. That would be the only upside to pressurized water systems.