Shipping, hauling, water options

BURNING GIRL · Post by **BURNING GIRL** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 10:41 am

If you check the preperation guide on the web site, they list a few good ideas. Crystal springs offers water at 35 cents per gallon. Another good idea is to make friends with people in Reno. I sure wouldn't mind lending a hose for a fellow burner.

enthropic · Post by **enthropic** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 2:35 am

You know, I stoped at a little town in bfe. I tolded the gas station clerk of my journey. I asked about water and offerd a nice sum of $ and was received rather well. A good attitude and a

face can get you far in the desert. The clerk wouldn't take the $ however. So I droped a five in the give a penny take a penny. I did read all the preperation guides and other documentation and do recommend Following them..

nick · Post by **nick** » Fri Dec 26, 2003 10:14 pm

Hiya folks,

> #1 What is the best way to get all the crap to the playa?
> #2 How does one arrange for potable water delivery on the playa?

As one of the coordinators of a >20 person theme camp this year, I thought I would throw in my 2 cents on shipping and water.

This year, we had a majority of folks coming from the East Coast, with another chunk coming from northern and southern California.

We rented a 24' Box Truck from Budget in San Francisco (the biggest size you can drive w/o a special license). It gives you 11,000 lb capacity and 1380 sq ft of storage for about $50 per day plus mileage and other fees. Note that not all rental companies are happy to rent to Burners and rather than lie, I think it's better to be upfront and call around.

The 24' truck allowed us to bring 2 domes, 2 shade structures, a shower, a generator, a half-dozen bikes and personal gear for 5 people. If we had packed more tightly, we easily could have moved two camps of our size, but we opted for the bigger size because of weight. What was so dang heavy? Our water, of course!

The heaviest thing in our truck: Four 30-gallon food-grade water containers full of water, which we used for showering (yes, this was a luxury, but such a nice one!). We also brought about eight 7-gallon "Aquatainers" available in most large camping stores, again for washing water and back-up (they were all filled with tap water, which in a worst case scenario can be boiled or sanitized with iodine).

For drinking water we had each camper haul their own using the standard 2.5 gallon containers. One tip on these: If you contact a large supermarket beforehand (or go to a warehouse store) you can get them pre-boxed in 5-gallon units, which are much easier to ship and stack. One other note: If you live in a city with a lot of Burners (like San Francisco), you would be advised to buy your water several weeks ahead of time as it can get hard to find in late August! ;>

The downsides to doing it this way: Cost (figure about $600-$800 or more for your truck depending on how long you go, what size, etc), and as III mentioned at the top -- the hard work of packing, unpacking and then cleaning the truck! Another downside: The weight of the water made driving Donner Pass extra exciting ;>

There are other solutions -- I talked to one camp coordinator who had rented a water buffalo, which is a mini-tanker you can tow behind an SUV, and gives you about 500 gallons of potable water! I'm also interested in the shipping container thing and thank the Sealspace folks for the links.

Whatever happens, see you on the playa in '04!

-nick-

http://www.pufendorf.com/tribe

loukent · Post by **loukent** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:27 am

First of all, there were trucks on the Playa selling potable water.... Two different companies, at least out of Reno, recharging RV's.... So when I asked one of the guys, he said that arrangements had been made well in advance...

We were a group of about 25, and we chose to bring the inimitable 5 Gallon containers for drinking water, and we used 30 gallon drums for other water purposes... tap water is fairly inexpensive.... We had nice showers going and the 30 gal drums were moveable... We pumped water out of the 30g for the showers and cleanup.

Going out, we filled the drums with the grey water, and interestingly, wound up with more than we came in with.... Other people using our showers.

The weight of the water was a problem for the rental ruck , which finally blew out a tire causing a day delay in getting back and requiring a CDW filining with the Rental truck company. He was kind and chose to ignore the overloading...

Next year.... we want to have the water delivered, and most of the waste water pumped out by Johnny on the Spot, or that other guy in Reno... or if BM has something else going.

Just have to schedule it.

PantzookaHQ · Post by **PantzookaHQ** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 3:37 pm

actiongrl wrote:> alot of people at BRC arent't happy with the fact that you can get ice.
_________________

Hmm. I don't get that at all (being that I'm behind the jackrabbit alias to whom a great many such complaints are addressed.) And the amount of ice sold seems to represent that it's a pretty necessary commodity. Do we really want to eat jerky all week?

I was going to post the document relating how the NY group did their container but I see someone already did, so...I'll just hush up now! :

If you will feed it too me you hottie you Ill eat jerky all week. Mmm comere baby!

poprokz · Post by **poprokz** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 10:16 am

If ice is a problem maybe the fact that we can bring water in should be evaluated too... WTF?? I don't think being in BRC for more than a week without something more than dried or non-perishable food and lukwarm to hot drinks would make the experience very pleasant. But hey, for all those really die-hard survivalists out there - you don't have to buy ice if you don't want to.

III · Post by **III** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 11:10 pm

>>you don't have to buy ice if you don't want to

ayup.

i'm pretty sure i've never bought ice there.

oleg8888 · Post by **oleg8888** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 10:00 am

Found a good way of hauling water to playa: Air Matress
Regular (queen) size fits a lot of it (I havn't tried it yet, but it should work)
There are a few things one should consider:
Storing the mattress during the trip
Waight of the mattress

precipitate · Post by **precipitate** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:41 pm

Uh, most every air mattress I've ever owned started leaking fairly early in
its life, from normal wear and tear. I'm quite certain the pressure of
filling it with water would cause it to leak profusely. They're not
constructed for that.

Also, it'd be a bitch to pack. Can't put anything on top of it, too heavy to
put on top of other stuff.

And have you considered how much it would weigh?

80"x60"x10" = 48,000 cu in ~28 cu ft
At about 5 gallons per cubic foot, that's 140 gallons, or just over half a
ton. My math may be a little off on this, but it'd be one heavy mofo
regardless.

precipitate · Post by **precipitate** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:44 pm

Yep, my math is off. It's 7.4 gallons per cubic foot, or about 1700 pounds.

oleg8888 · Post by **oleg8888** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:46 pm

You are right, it could leak and it's heavy BUT>>....
You can patch the leaks, since they should be highly visible once you see water comeout.
Also, you sdon't have to fill the mattress, go for 1/2 or 3/4.
And final, I've thought about transporting it.
The simplest solution is a suitable plywood on top of a car/van/track.Naturally, you mount it first, then fill with water, then attach some kinf of foset and don't touch it till the end of the burn.
Just need to keep in mind to apply a tilt to full mattress, so water can flow when it gets low

precipitate · Post by **precipitate** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:56 pm

You know, I'm all for ingenuity and creative problem solving, but it seems
to me that sometimes it's best to use tried-and-true materials. Especially
for something as important as water.

I'd be reluctant to put that much weight on top of a vehicle. Remember
that it's gonna slosh around, most roofs won't support half a ton of load,
and it'll throw the balance way off.

One other thing: if you do this, I recommend you not drink the water that
comes out. Air mattresses are not made of food-grade materials, and
while it may not leach anything dangerous, it's probably not going to
taste very good.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 3:25 pm

I second the idea about water on the roof.

A good number of accidnets that have occurred with people arriving/leaving the event have had to do with cars going slightly off the shoulder and then over-correcting. It's bad enough when your vehicle is packed to its load limit. It can (and has been) disasterous when the vehicle was hauling substantial weight on a trailer or using roof mounted methods. Rememebr, unless your water is secured in a strong rigid container that it can shift.

A lot.

Several hundred gallons (1 gal = appx. 8lbs) can make all the difference between a bad day and a really bad day.

Tiara · Post by **Tiara** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:20 pm

First of all, there were trucks on the Playa selling potable water.... Two different companies, at least out of Reno, recharging RV's.... Next year.... we want to have the water delivered, and most of the waste water pumped out by Johnny on the Spot, or that other guy in Reno... or if BM has something else going.

The suggestion above that it is possible for individuals and/or camps to purchase potable water on the playa is not good advice. The Survival Guide clearly states that you must bring your own water to the event.

Participants at Burning Man must bring all necessities to the desert: food, shelter, water, fuel.

There is no guarantee that potable water will be available on the playa--the trucks making those deliveries are contracted well in advance to supply resources for staff and volunteer crews. Also, grey water is your responsibility. The JOS trucks are already working at capacity to service the portapotties.

Radical Self Reliance is just one of many art forms that is celebrated in Black Rock City. But it is arguably the most necessary.

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:03 pm

http://www.realgoods.com on page 9 of the current catalogue sells various size drinking water grade nylon tanks that are designed to fit into the rear of a pickup bed 525 gal costs $558. enough to fill a 6x3 hottub for 4 adults...I'm thinking about this.......

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:05 pm

http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/pro ... 2Da%2Dtank

here's the right link

Shipping, hauling, water options

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