Drinking water in Quartzsite and on the road [split] Quartzite question

[Sofisintown]

But being a injanear, I always endeavor to do some proactive research ahead of time (speaking of redundant repetitions). ..

Being injanear and such, I d' say get a Berkey and make your own drinking water, from any source whatsoever. You can load up from a stream, lake, a hose at the gas station or fresh white snow.  It ends up being better than the sometimes debatable Glacier machines.

 

[MrNoodly]

When I was at RTR last year, I had a pop-up tent set up next to my van with a porta-potty in it. But I dreaded going inside the tent for you-know-what during the mid-day when the sun was out cuz it was cooking in there!

The poop tent goes on the shady side of the van. In other words, park aligned east-west and put the tent on the north side.

 

[Qxxx]

Being injanear and such, I d' say get a Berkey and make your own drinking water, from any source whatsoever. You can load up from a stream, lake, a hose at the gas station or fresh white snow.  It ends up being better than the sometimes debatable Glacier machines.

It's all pretty debatable, isn't it. Do I want to listen to a company like Apex, who is selling filters so expensive they can offer a $420 discount. Do I want to go across the street to the gas station and get water from the hose meant to fill car radiators, rather than get water from the Glacier machine. The link off Apex says 1/3 of bottled water is contaminated too. Good thing I'm not a soccer mom with a 4-yo, cause I'd be paranoid as hell and be spending $10,000 on a home filtration system. No way out.

 

[bullfrog]

What if you lived in rural America with bad water, or Flint Michigan? If environmental concerns are not addressed you are just putting off the inevitable buying of a filter. Last Berkey I bought was less than $500 but you can DIY one and just buy the filter pieces for less. Course you could just sponge condensation off the ceiling in your van. Lol!!!

 

[highdesertranger]

I also recommend a Berkey. those Glacier machines are a rip off. the RV pit Stop in Quartzsite has a much better value. highdesertranger

 

[nature lover]

I would rather drink the “rural” well water than any city water you can provide. Right now I buy spring water and There are several brands I trust to be 100% spring water. But they come in plastic and that has its issues including disposal. It saddens me to know that when I was a young boy scout we could still drink from a stream Near a spring. What saddens me is that I am in the last generation that can say that It’s not safe to do anywhere these days. Has anyone here priced out ultraviolet treatment of small quantities of water like we would use in van dwelling. God bless the nomads and quench their thirst.

 

[PineyCruisin]

Bagabum, securing a rubber tarp as a temporary shower pan to catch water and also shower curtain due to a very small space is simplicity genius. 

I love simple and multi-use. Heck, our entire plumbing system consists of a weed sprayer and basin.

 

[Qxxx]

I love simple and multi-use. Heck, our entire plumbing system consists of a weed sprayer and basin.

Cruisin, I also do minimalism. I do have a weed sprayer, but only ever tried it out in the bathroom. Works fine if not over-filled, but the water cools off very fast. 

I have pretty much decided, if I do go to the low desert this year, I'll likely just do the wash basin thing rather than laundromat showers, and use some water in a bucket, plus this electric pump, I bought last year for rinsing hair after shampooing (which, being a long-hair of note is my biggest logistical problem). Twas only $35 a year ago, duh.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IFHFJXI

 

[Qxxx]

I also recommend a Berkey.  those Glacier machines are a rip off.  the RV pit Stop in Quartzsite has a much better value.  highdesertranger

Yeah, I'm not sure I'm paranoid enough to buy a $400 water filter, especially as I don't get water from ponds and creeks.

After weighing what everyone has said, this dumb injanear has decided his chosen way to go is to: (1) avoid the Quartzsite area completely due to the mobs, (2) get water supplies at one of the 7,000 outdoor Glacier machines in Cal (as opposed to gas station or park faucets, hoses, or streams), (3) to totally avoid any "indoor" public-access shower facilities, such as found in Q, E, P, and LHC, and (4) to use a wash basin for body cleansing (you don't "really" need hot water). Although some people tout kim wipes or whatever they're called, actual water works a bazillion times better.

Due to an endless string of bad policy mistakes, covid just isn't gonna go away in this country in the near future. If anyone got it, and are in the 50% or so who don't show any symptoms, then they're blessed. Unlike 1,000,000 other americans who either died or have serious long term problems.

 

[bullfrog]

Sounds like a plan, still depending on where you are the brain eating amoeba are still glad to get in through water in your nose so be careful swimming if passing through those areas. Many places in the remote southwest didn’t get much rain this year so maybe we should look at what impact the humans are having on the planet as well, maybe we are the planet’s pandemic! Even living as remote as possible and staying away from people you still need water to begin with no matter who filters it!

 

[Qxxx]

Yeah those amoebas are real basterds (good thing I don't swim or snort pond water), not to mention hantavirus, flu, and Valley Fever (of House MD fame, the 17-yo, not the 10-yo), all found in the desert. Also, scorpions in fire rings (know of 2 examples, one biting), rattlesnakes (likely sleeping), and guys with guns. Of all those, the only one I'm at all worried about this winter is covid.

https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/features/valley-fever.html
http://www.housemd-guide.com/season3/304lines.php
"She's dangerous!"
"She's not dangerous."
"She's pretty."
"She's pretty."
"Men are stupid."
"I'm with you so far."

 

[bullfrog]

Got my old man double dose flu shot free from the county health department the other day. Nice to know they care about me. Girls giving the shots could not believe how far from “civilization” they had to come.

 

[Qxxx]

I found this. Primo owns Glacier water. Indicates multi-level filtering: carbon, reverse osmosis, UV. Click to find locations. Eg, several dozen spots in LHC, P, E, and Q.

https://blog.primowater.com/difference-between-glacier-water-and-primo-water

 

[PineyCruisin]

Qx, I think we will have to do the same about showering...although I would have to put vanity aside and cut off my hair to be able to wash it without using 20+ gallons of water. We are bringing hubby's electric beard/mustache trimmer with attachments that will be used to give him a buzzcut every once in awhile, so if I had the nerve could do the same. If Kate from We Are The Russos can do it, maybe I can too.  

And thanks so much for the other info about where to camp!! I almost missed that earlier post. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it because we are incredibly uncertain about where to go during the winter months.  

Also glad to read all the info by everyone on water sources. Camping exclusively on the east coast has totally spoiled us regarding water where it is in abundance pretty much everywhere.

 

[Qxxx]

PC, my hair's not really "all" that long, lol. Washing the body from the wash basin every night doesn't take all that much water, and I usually would do shampooing once a week in the laundromat showers. The main waste of water there is rinsing, but I think using that pump with the nozzle will be more efficient than pouring a bucket over my head. When on the road, I mainly use an electric razor plugged into my inverter.

The reason far western AZ is popular is because there places all over for boondocking, similar for Yuma, plus Southern California around the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego areas. Quartzsite is easy, then branch out from there to Ehrenberg, on and on. Pretty soon you'll have a  bunch of favorite areas. My favorite place near Quartzsite is the "hosted" Roadrunner BLM area 6 miles south on 95. There are also 2 of these a few miles north of Q, but those tend to be packed.

On this thread, I listed some areas around Q.
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=38858&pid=477717#pid477717

 

[bagabum]

Bagabum, securing a rubber tarp as a temporary shower pan to catch water and also shower curtain due to a very small space is simplicity genius. 

I love simple and multi-use. Heck, our entire plumbing system consists of a weed sprayer and basin.

Thanks PineyCusion   . I am definitely going to add the pump up sprayer to my cleaning tools. I like simple!

 

[rm.w/aview]

The blue inline water filters are a poor filter and remind me of the thought that if you can smell a fart from someone wearing jeans, is that mask really going to stop a virus. X2 on the pump sprayer shower, a one gallon weed sprayer from Walmart gives me a complete shower with water still in the jug, maybe about a pint. I just let it warm up outside if I want a warm shower, but generally I don't care. I do care about drinking water though so I bought a real filter from https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/rv-water-filters-and-systems-rv-water-filter-store although Clearsource is another choice in a smaller package. There is the cost in buying something of this nature and I've seen folks here throw money into solar systems, so when you get what you want and it works splendidly for you, yodelay hee whoo. With diversified camping opportunities, a good water source hasn't been hard to find, and through the filters, tastes great.

 

[shadowmoss]

Look into backpacking gravity fed filters. They are designed to filter stream water to drinking water levels. MSR is one manufacturer. Couple of Platypus bags and an infinitly reusable filter and you are good to go. It is what I used when I lived in Honduras.

There are also pump filters available that guarantee to make any water drinkable. They are for use when traveling to so called third world countries. I also have one of those but never felt the need to use it since I had the gravity fed filter setup.

Check REI for the main options, then look around for food deals online.

 

[bullfrog]

I use the blue filters on all water just to keep the big stuff out of my tank. I use the Berkey with the black filter to filter that water before drinking. I use the black and white filter when I am concerned about heavy metals content.

 

[NctryBen]

I’m bringing my Bria filter. I use it here at the cabin as I run a everything through two canister filters I change frequently. I’m a back country camper also so I’ll bring my sawyer filter (gravity) set up for streams and such. The tv filter is a good idea too. When the source is unknown, investigate! At least some... we all have our tastes...