WATER?!

[organizedchaos]

Virgin burner here! Ok so I know that i have read everywhere to bring 1.5 gallons of water per day. But more specifically, what does this amount usually cover? Drinking and what else? If I wanted to take a shower every day, and cook with water as well will this be enough? I really want to do my best to do burning man (almost) right the first time and any imput on this would be very much appreciated!!

[rodiponer]

1.5 gallons a day is enough to drink and cook with. It is not enough to shower.

When you have all of your )*( stuff together, I suggest that you go camping for a few days and see how much water you use. And make sure you like your tent, sleeping bag, flashlights, stove, and all that other camping stuff.

[phil]

Louise and I cook three full meals a day, wash the dishes after, and I drink more water than most people. We do spit baths, too. If we shower, too, the two of us go through about three gallons a day.

Your mileage will vary. You won't know how much you'll use till you've been a few times and refined your camping experience.

[Loricybin]

1.5 gallons per day?? that is nowhere near enough for me.



better to bring extra and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[TomServo]

Remember, your skin drinks too, so bathe! Bulk up your water supply, but also keep your coolers clean, and reuse that melted ice.

[Ranger Genius]

And bear in mind that if you shower every day, you have to dispose of all that greywater somehow. Usually this means evaporation systems. You can't just dump it out.

[organizedchaos]

thank you so much for your advice! i am definitely going to bring an evap pond, and try to encourage my friends not to shower every day! i myself am a huge unscented baby wipe user, and could probably go with just one the whole time.

[Ranger Genius]

Inefficient evap systems are also just mud puddles. Search the eplaya and you'll find some good designs.

[TomServo]

Buy a $5 kiddie pool and a watering can. The sun will do most of the work for you. You NEED to bathe! Its not rocket science.

[organizedchaos]

a kiddie pool was exactly what i was thinking of! one of those plastic ones should be cheap, and i figured it would be easier than building a frame and covering it with tarp

:) how many more days left?? its getting hard to wait and its only february

[Loricybin]

You NEED to bathe! Its not rocket science.

i don't mean to be a stinker, but i didn't bathe beyond baby wiping once a day at sun-down. it comes down to personal preference, IMO

[Ranger Genius]

Buy a $5 kiddie pool and a watering can. The sun will do most of the work for you. You NEED to bathe! Its not rocket science.

Two or three people showering every day + cooking/dishwashing water + kiddie pool evap system = foul-smelling pit of disgusting sludge at the end of the week.

[TomServo]

Just get an inflateable one, and use unopened water jugs to weigh it down. I bought a cheap watering can at the dollar store, and used that as my shower. Waters probably the heaviest gear you'll haul, but the most important. Like I said, keep your coolers clean and reuse the melted ice....it will lighten your load. Its comforting to see that your asking questions about water soo early. Too many don't even think about it. If you want a test run, go out there for the 4th of July.

[epic_elite]

Remember, your skin drinks too, so bathe! Bulk up your water supply, but also keep your coolers clean, and reuse that melted ice.

i really dig the water in a spray bottle thing.... feels sooo good out there.


in terms of baitheing... i showered once on day 4 via one of those solar shower things. felt great, but i didn't really feel like i needed another right away.

ive been camping and hiking since i was young. bottle baths are second nature to me. ill probly skip the solar shower next time and go for the bottle bath.

i usually designate 1 gallon milk jug for a wash and rinse both. and half that is just for my hair. if water is sparse ill skip the hair and just use half gallon for the body.

[epic_elite]

hmmmm...


should we talk about grey water yet? or should we save that for later?

[TomServo]

Remember, your skin drinks too, so bathe! Bulk up your water supply, but also keep your coolers clean, and reuse that melted ice.

i really dig the water in a spray bottle thing.... feels sooo good out there.


in terms of baitheing... i showered once on day 4 via one of those solar shower things. felt great, but i didn't really feel like i needed another right away.

ive been camping and hiking since i was young. bottle baths are second nature to me. ill probly skip the solar shower next time and go for the bottle bath.

i usually designate 1 gallon milk jug for a wash and rinse both. and half that is just for my hair. if water is sparse ill skip the hair and just use half gallon for the body.

I love the spray bottle too. But for a week in the desert, one bath a day makes a world of difference. And if you have multiple campers, buy multiple kiddie pools. Name them! Make them your own! Again, not rocket science.

Soo, I guess bathing is optional, but in my experience, it makes the event a little more fun.

[C.f.M.]

Buy a $5 kiddie pool and a watering can. The sun will do most of the work for you. You NEED to bathe! Its not rocket science.

Two or three people showering every day + cooking/dishwashing water + kiddie pool evap system = foul-smelling pit of disgusting sludge at the end of the week.

It worked quite well at our camp - though it was primarily bathing water.

Spend however long you'll be on the playa using water to see how much you'll need.

Erm, as in, buy some water, and then start using it for whatever you'd use it for out there.

I had it well worked out, having already done that at burns - still ended up bringing some home. Currently watering my cats with it.

[Fire_Moose]

you don't even get dirty out there, just dusty. Bathes/showers are overrated

[Bling]

Unless you're trying to humidify the desert, why bother evaporating it? Use a funnel, pour it back into the empty container it came from, and haul back out. Shouldn't be any heavier than what you hauled in.

[mudpuppy000]

you don't even get dirty out there, just dusty. Bathes/showers are overrated

Yeah, I felt like the dust and dry air kept me feeling pretty clean. I also took squirt bottle "showers" and did the baby wipe thing a few times as well, and felt great.

[AntiM]

Unless you're trying to humidify the desert, why bother evaporating it? Use a funnel, pour it back into the empty container it came from, and haul back out. Shouldn't be any heavier than what you hauled in.

Unless you don't want to contaminate the fresh water still in the container....

[Bling]

Well, duh.

We're bringing 1-gallons. We thought about larger ones, but water is so heavy, and containers for it can get pricey. So, as we empty one, it's available for grey water. We'll bring Sharpies to mark them so we don't drink it.

[ygmir]

Well, duh.

We're bringing 1-gallons. We thought about larger ones, but water is so heavy, and containers for it can get pricey. So, as we empty one, it's available for grey water. We'll bring Sharpies to mark them so we don't drink it.

good call:

my first year, I was in a camp/bar, can't remember which one, but, I overheard, one of the bartenders telling the other, that, he had mistakenly poured water from the greywater jug, into the drink mix.........

egad.

the guy freaked. The perpetrator, said, as soon as he realized it, he poured it out, of course, but, some drinks had been served........


mark your grey water well........
just sayin'........

[Captain Goddammit]

Unless you're trying to humidify the desert, why bother evaporating it? Use a funnel, pour it back into the empty container it came from, and haul back out. Shouldn't be any heavier than what you hauled in.

Winner! Winner!

Why (other than this one other brilliant soul) do I seem to be the only one who can figure this out?!!
You do not have to set up a pain-in-the-ass smelly mud pit evap pond. You do not have to figure out how to dispose of your grey water on the playa.

[ygmir]

Unless you're trying to humidify the desert, why bother evaporating it? Use a funnel, pour it back into the empty container it came from, and haul back out. Shouldn't be any heavier than what you hauled in.

Winner! Winner!

Why (other than this one other brilliant soul) do I seem to be the only one who can figure this out?!!
You do not have to set up a pain-in-the-ass smelly mud pit evap pond. You do not have to figure out how to dispose of your grey water on the playa.

I bring an extra empty 30 gal. bbl. for, if, my grey water tank on the trailer gets full........

[PavementBlues]

Unless you're trying to humidify the desert, why bother evaporating it? Use a funnel, pour it back into the empty container it came from, and haul back out. Shouldn't be any heavier than what you hauled in.

Winner! Winner!

Why (other than this one other brilliant soul) do I seem to be the only one who can figure this out?!!
You do not have to set up a pain-in-the-ass smelly mud pit evap pond. You do not have to figure out how to dispose of your grey water on the playa.

I don't know how other people make their evap ponds, but mine takes about five minutes to set up and evaporates water very quickly (black tarp), meaning that I don't have to worry about funneling my grey water into a container and hauling it around. No muss, no fuss, and when brushing my teeth all I have to do is stand on the tarp and spit. Not THAT much more convenient, but enough.

[TomServo]

I guess everyones free to be a dirty hippie if they want to. My old camp used the black plastic evaporation pad. The water was gone within hours, and it didn't smell. If it does, you might have bigger problems than dirt or dehydration.

[CapSmashy]

A 5 gallon misting can works well too. Treat it with a little bleach to kill off any nasties and use it for dust abatement in camp.

Another process would be to do a little filtering, a little bleach and run it though an evap cooler.

[epic_elite]

I guess everyones free to be a dirty hippie if they want to. My old camp used the black plastic evaporation pad. The water was gone within hours, and it didn't smell. If it does, you might have bigger problems than dirt or dehydration.

haha. that's too funny.

i think the pool situation seems a little bulky. i like to travel light so i can bring my Honda.

i use rolls of black plastic that you get from home depot that painters use to catch paint droppings.

the water evaps plenty quick and when your done, so long as it's dry, you just roll it up and the sludge is contained inside.

you can either discard the whole mess... or if you have a house or the proper resources you could just roll it out in the yard and hose it off and re-use next year.... or for your next painting project.

what was the general rule of thumb? something like 1 sq foot of space can evap 1 gallon in 1 day as long as the water isn't deeper than 1 inch???

we also had black concrete mixing tubs that we used to wash dishes... then just let the discard water sit in the sun and they take care of themselves. just scrape of the nasties into the gray water evaporator.

[CapSmashy]

Don'y know if we'll get to it, but one of our ideas last year was to make a burn barrel with copper line wrapped around it and feed grey water into it and cap it off with a steam whistle.