I Built a Portable Off-Grid Water System

[g.hayduke]

I was looking for a way to replenish potable water in the wild so to speak. I researched the commercial offerings and found them deficient for various reasons and built my own. The 2 main commercial offerings are the Clearsource Nomad and the GuzzleH2O Stream products. I like the Nomad up to a point but have some issues with the design and components chosen. The GuzzleH2O just seems poorly designed all around and the marketing materials are misleading.

My initial design goals were to produce potable water in a single pass through the system from any reasonable surface water source to include desert cow tanks and western rivers. I wanted 2 GPM flow rate but had to settle for 1 GPM to accommodate the requirements for 1 of the components I used.

I ended up with 3 10" filter elements, a 12V pump, and a 12V LED UV purification component. I just had samples from before and after treatment tested for E. Coli/Total Coliform. The raw sample tested positive as expected and the treated sample tested clean!

Current filtration consists of a strainer on the pump intake, 30 micron, 10 micron, and 0.5 micron carbon block 10" elements followed by the UV component. Power comes from any 12V battery.

I'm going to get a more thorough post-treatment test done on a different source, probably some river water.

 

[TJ Jim]

What about reverse osmosis type filters. Sediment filters first then the r.o. filter and some kind of biological chemical such as chlorine? I’m thinking reverse osmosis pretty much eliminates everything except biological junk?

 

[g.hayduke]

Chlorine works great as a disinfectant. I don't care for the smell/taste. It's also very corrosive which can pose hazards. Chlorine also requires exposure time to work. I can fill my 7 gallon jugs with potable water in minutes. Works for me.

 

[TJ Jim]

Is that a well or spring your pulling water from? Probably cleaner than most municipal water sources

 

[freedom_in_4low]

This was literally my BSME senior capstone project. Of course the UV tube wasn't LED back in 2005-2006 but the design concept was very similar. We did ours to fit into a pelican case.

It's been a long time so I don't remember the details of testing the water but is it generally safe to assume that if it's effective against e. Coli that it should be similarly effective against other waterborne troublemakers like campylobacter? I would think if it can filter out bacteria it shouldn't have any problems with parasites giardia and cryptosporidium.

Some of this stuff is fresh on my mind because my 6 year old drank water out of the creek behind our house and I did some research on what he could have been exposed to and what to look for. So far so good on day 13.

 

[g.hayduke]

Is that a well or spring your pulling water from? Probably cleaner than most municipal water sources

I don't know if it's fed by a well or spring. There is a pipe feeding water into a tractor tire surrounded by piles of cow shit that you can see in the pics.

As mentioned in my 1st post, the untreated sample tested positive for E. Coli as I expected and hoped for being a cow tank and all. Personally, that is not what I would expect to find in "most municipal water sources". Is that not the norm in TN?

 

[g.hayduke]

This was literally my BSME senior capstone project. Of course the UV tube wasn't LED back in 2005-2006 but the design concept was very similar. We did ours to fit into a pelican case.

It's been a long time so I don't remember the details of testing the water but is it generally safe to assume that if it's effective against e. Coli that it should be similarly effective against other waterborne troublemakers like campylobacter? I would think if it can filter out bacteria it shouldn't have any problems with parasites giardia and cryptosporidium.

Some of this stuff is fresh on my mind because my 6 year old drank water out of the creek behind our house and I did some research on what he could have been exposed to and what to look for. So far so good on day 13.

Cryptosporidium and giardia cysts are smaller than bacteria like E. Coli and therefore more difficult to filter out. I'm counting on the UV to take care of anything pathogenic that's smaller than 0.5 micron. And I can always go to a different suite of filter elements if I decide it's warranted.

There are hundreds of different filter elements that fit these 10" housings. The elements I'm currently using are really inexpensive but the options are almost unlimited. With the current configuration, I'm getting 1 GPM with less than 5 PSI back pressure. It will take a lot to clog these filters.

There are still quite a few non-LED UV devices on the market but they have some drawbacks including faster degradation than LEDs and the quartz tubes appear to be quite fragile though I have no experience with them. I wish there was a 12V LED UV unit with a little higher output than the one I'm using. I could easily run at 2-3 GPM if I had more UV output.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Cryptosporidium and giardia cysts are smaller than bacteria like E. Coli and therefore more difficult to filter out. I'm counting on the UV to take care of anything pathogenic that's smaller than 0.5 micron.

Oh, dang, I didn't realize that.

And I can always go to a different suite of filter elements if I decide it's warranted.

There are hundreds of different filter elements that fit these 10" housings. The elements I'm currently using are really inexpensive but the options are almost unlimited. With the current configuration, I'm getting 1 GPM with less than 5 PSI back pressure. It will take a lot to clog these filters.

There are still quite a few non-LED UV devices on the market but they have some drawbacks including faster degradation than LEDs and the quartz tubes appear to be quite fragile though I have no experience with them. I wish there was a 12V LED UV unit with a little higher output than the one I'm using. I could easily run at 2-3 GPM if I had more UV output.

Looks like a solid design. Good work.

 

[StG58]

Very interested in this. My system is slightly different. I boondock in the PNW,, and this is a thing for me.

 

[g.hayduke]

Very interested in this. My system is slightly different. I boondock in the PNW,, and this is a thing for me.

What are you using?

 

[g.hayduke]

I should have mentioned that my final 0.5 micron filter stage is NSF/ANSI 53 certified for removal of cryptosporidium cysts. The UV should really just be a bit of insurance against anything that makes it through the filtration and probably is not needed but certainly can't hurt aside from keeping the flow rate down so it can do its thing. The UV component is certified to meet NSF/ANSI 55.

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam...c-sheets/310131-pentek-floplus-spec-sheet.pdf

 

[StG58]

What are you using?

Monday. Let me get someplace with enough bandwidth to use the laptop.

 

[StG58]

Alrighty then.

Nice system! My setup is very similar to yours. Two filters. One 1 micron solids filter and one 0.5 micron carbon block filter. One demineralizer, One 12 volt water pump as needed. Purogene as needed. Citric acid as needed.

The wife and I full time in an RV. The water system gets run all the time, as in, nothing goes into the water trailer without going through the filters and the demineralizer.

The particulate filter gets changed out every 30 days. The carbon block filter gets changed out every 60 days. Or as needed. I hooked up to a water system in a county park one time that totally blew my system up in less than an hour. One visit and all was good, next visit a couple of months later and the water was contaminated with very fine silt and organic matter. It was still potable, but it was horrible. I pull a glass from each and every source each and every time now. Lesson learned. I also change the filters out if they've sat for more than 48 hours without use. The demineralizer gets reverse flow flushed and regenerated every 30 days or so. The whole RV water system, tank, piping, water heater, and pump gets cleaned, flushed and sanitized with purolene and citric acid every 45 to 60 days depending on usage.

The water that goes into the tank (40 gallons, give or take) gets pumped through the system, and the chemically treated with purolene, I try to get water from a running source, if possible. I'll walk a creek 100 yards or so to check for dead critters and stuff in the creek before setting up and using it as a water source. I have four Scepter military water jugs that I use for transporting water if I need to lug water from someplace else. I have a collapsible bucket to dip water into the water jugs if needed.

I looked at RO and UV, but decided not to use them. The RO systems were bulky and very wasteful of water and energy at the time. The membranes were fragile expensive, and picky. That may have changed now. The UV systems were expensive and fragile when I looked at the. Both types of systems used a fair amount of energy. More than I was comfortable with.

Up here we have all the usual biological contaminates, plus mercury, lead, iron, calcium, and agricultural chemicals. But, luckily, water falls from the sky. Sometimes lots of it. The hydrology runs from rain forests in the west, through volcanoes and into high desert in the east. Hot springs are a thing out east. Some hot springs have lithium in them. That stuff will medicate your ass right in to a "peace, love, and understanding" mood. Instant hippy. Not really good for you. Well, except for a long hot soak after a hard days work. Just don't drink it.

So, in four years of constant use, I haven't killed anyone yet. It's been source selection, filtration and chemical treatment for the win.

I'm interested in what you and other folks are doing. Especially outside of the PNW.

 

[g.hayduke]

I try to avoid chemical treatment though I know many happily use it.

And I just don't like the idea of adding more toxic stuff to water because it already has stuff in it that will make me sick. If I can filter out all of the toxic crap (somewhat literally), and get to a safe, clear, beautiful result with no chemical smell or taste, that's my preferred approach.

I looked at the 2 commercial products that seem to advertise what I was looking for and my system has to outperform either of them. They both claim to produce potable water. The Clearsource Nomad has 2 10" filter stages and no UV. The GuzzleH2O Stream has a single 5" filter stage and UV. I read the manual for the GuzzleH2O product and for water sources like I plan to use, you have to pass the water through the system multiple times with different filter elements to get potable water.

I just prefer filtration as the primary water treatment in the wild. I have a super compact little filter/pump I use for hiking and wanted to get the same result as that on a larger scale. Hopefully, I'll get to use it some this season.

 

[StG58]

Well, there's always boiling. Filter it down to 0.5 micron, and bring it up to 210F. We're still stuck with naturally occurring heavy metals and herbicides / pesticides that the Forest Service / BLM / State Dept. of whatever like to spray around to control bugs, disease, and invasive species.

I'd love to see an RO system that worked and wasn't fragile. And didn't suck energy.

Your system is really cool. I like it a lot. I'd be interested in pictures and descriptions of water sources. Test results before and after would be very cool as well.

 

[srimes]

What about reverse osmosis type filters. Sediment filters first then the r.o. filter and some kind of biological chemical such as chlorine? I’m thinking reverse osmosis pretty much eliminates everything except biological junk?

That was my first thought. That's what boats use. But they are expensive and can require a bit of maintenance.

The system above is basically what I had in my house to treat water from a shallow well. It's the type of thing that's great for water that isn't too bad. But some wells require RO to be drinkable.

 

[g.hayduke]

Well, there's always boiling. Filter it down to 0.5 micron, and bring it up to 210F. We're still stuck with naturally occurring heavy metals and herbicides / pesticides that the Forest Service / BLM / State Dept. of whatever like to spray around to control bugs, disease, and invasive species.

I'd love to see an RO system that worked and wasn't fragile. And didn't suck energy.

Your system is really cool. I like it a lot. I'd be interested in pictures and descriptions of water sources. Test results before and after would be very cool as well.

Did you see the water source pictures in my first post?

Testing is expensive so I don't expect to do more before/after testing unless I change something. The 2 samples I had tested cost me somewhere around $120-130 for the pair.

The before/after testing I had done confirmed that no post-treatment boiling is needed. The untreated water was positive for E. Coli. The post-treatment sample was clean/potable. And as I'm sure you know, boiling doesn't do anything for heavy metals or most chemical pollutants. If anything, it may increase the concentration of some contaminants as the water evaporates.

I have purchased another test kit that will test for a over a hundred contaminants, including agricultural chemicals and heavy metals. That test is close to $300 plus overnight shipping for the samples. So at that price, I'm only going to test a post-treatment sample. For this test, I'm probably going to use river water from the Rio Grande. It is heavily used for irrigation especially this time of year and may contain unhealthy concentrations of some chemicals. The test will tell me how good or bad it is. Here's the website if you're interested. I bought the deluxe well test kit but don't actually have it yet.
https://watercheck.com/products/water-check-with-pesticide-option

Here is all the stuff they test for with that kit:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2352/5289/files/WaterCheck_Deluxe_CONSUMER.pdf?v=1629990392

 

[Wildman]

Thanks for sharing this. Since I hope to be boondocking a lot once my motorhome is running and the Jeep is trail ready this is interesting for me. I'd like to have something like this for my motorhome to refill the water tank when needed.

 

[g.hayduke]

Thanks for sharing this. Since I hope to be boondocking a lot once my motorhome is running and the Jeep is trail ready this is interesting for me. I'd like to have something like this for my motorhome to refill the water tank when needed.

If you decide you want details, I'm happy to provide as much as you want.

Your scenario is basically what I was going for but I will usually be filling jugs since getting an RV close to a water source is not always feasible. I have a small teardrop that has 2-15 gallon fresh water tanks that I can refill from 7 gallon jugs that I have. I just need to get close enough with a vehicle to connect to the battery while I'm filling jugs. Everything else (jugs, filter unit, hoses) can be carried to the water's edge pretty easily. I have at least 40' of power supply cable and can also employ the cables for my solar setup as extensions if needed. So the camper can stay parked while I drive to a cow tank/reservoir/river to fill jugs.

If I was designing a system purely for RV use, I might do something of a hybrid. Something like maybe a 2 stage filter with a high flow rate for filling tanks. Then you could go with a bigger pump with more pulling power to prime the pump from a greater distance/elevation. Then maybe a final microfilter/carbon stage and a UV unit installed in your RV water system.

My 1 GPM pump does not have a lot of pulling power for priming so I can't be too far from a water source. A bigger pump would prime easier but I would have to restrict it to 1 GPM anyway for my UV unit. And keep in mind that if you put let's say a 1 GPM restrictor on a 3 GPM pump for example, that 3 GPM pump will prime easier but it will be drawing a ton of current trying to push 3 GPM through a 1 GPM restrictor. I looked at performance data from 2 US pump manufacturers, Aquatec and Delavan. They have charts that show the current draw vs flow rate for the various pumps and a bigger pump than you need just wastes power and puts stress (heat/mechanical) on the pump when running at less than the rated flow rates. The pump I picked has a pretty consistent 1 GPM flow rate across a wide range of back pressure. And with fresh filter elements it's only seeing <5 PSI back pressure so it's hardly breaking a sweat and drawing very little current.

 

[Wildman]

If you decide you want details, I'm happy to provide as much as you want.

Your scenario is basically what I was going for but I will usually be filling jugs since getting an RV close to a water source is not always feasible. I have a small teardrop that has 2-15 gallon fresh water tanks that I can refill from 7 gallon jugs that I have. I just need to get close enough with a vehicle to connect to the battery while I'm filling jugs. Everything else (jugs, filter unit, hoses) can be carried to the water's edge pretty easily. I have at least 40' of power supply cable and can also employ the cables for my solar setup as extensions if needed. So the camper can stay parked while I drive to a cow tank/reservoir/river to fill jugs.

If I was designing a system purely for RV use, I might do something of a hybrid. Something like maybe a 2 stage filter with a high flow rate for filling tanks. Then you could go with a bigger pump with more pulling power to prime the pump from a greater distance/elevation. Then maybe a final microfilter/carbon stage and a UV unit installed in your RV water system.

My 1 GPM pump does not have a lot of pulling power for priming so I can't be too far from a water source. A bigger pump would prime easier but I would have to restrict it to 1 GPM anyway for my UV unit. And keep in mind that if you put let's say a 1 GPM restrictor on a 3 GPM pump for example, that 3 GPM pump will prime easier but it will be drawing a ton of current trying to push 3 GPM through a 1 GPM restrictor. I looked at performance data from 2 US pump manufacturers, Aquatec and Delavan. They have charts that show the current draw vs flow rate for the various pumps and a bigger pump than you need just wastes power and puts stress (heat/mechanical) on the pump when running at less than the rated flow rates. The pump I picked has a pretty consistent 1 GPM flow rate across a wide range of back pressure. And with fresh filter elements it's only seeing <5 PSI back pressure so it's hardly breaking a sweat and drawing very little current.

I could do the jug thing too if needed since I've got a pump on the coach that can fill my tank. And I for sure can't get my motorhome close enough to a water source. I'll always have bottled water for drinking but having clean water for other things would be nice.

When I get to that point I'll get in contact with you for more information.