BajaNomad - Off grid water

Off grid water

juandesiles - 11-18-2015 at 03:40 PM

Hi,
we are going of grid for a month, around Punta San Carlos, 3hrs drive from El Rosario in North Baja.

how meny gallons of water do i need for 2 persons a week?

thanx

Howard - 11-18-2015 at 04:33 PM

Assuming you are going in the Winter months I would figure 1 gallon per day for 2 people for personal drinking. It will vary depending on your activity level.

Then you have showers and doing dishes, say at least another gallon per person per day.

Can you use paper plates and paper/plastic cups, forks and knifes? (To you tree huggers, my apologies)

Add more water to the list for coffee and if you cook or bringing a pet.

[Edited on 11-18-2015 by Howard]

woody with a view - 11-18-2015 at 04:44 PM

depends how thirsty you get.

mtgoat666 - 11-18-2015 at 05:02 PM

Quote: Originally posted by juandesiles

Hi,
we are going of grid for a month, around Punta San Carlos, 3hrs drive from El Rosario in North Baja.

how meny gallons of water do i need for 2 persons a week?

thanx

It really depends on how you camp. Bathe and wash dishes with salt water and you just need drinking/cooking water.

woody with a view - 11-18-2015 at 06:03 PM

Prell shampoo lathers in ocean water. rinse with fresh or not. Goat won't approve since it's not green, but he smells funny anyway so don't pay him no attention!

mojo_norte - 11-18-2015 at 06:21 PM

we'd go through 35 gallons - 2 people - 3 weeks - so bout 1 gallon per person per day - drinking and cooking only - if it it rains and chances are it probably will this time of year rig up a tarp to collect rain water

juandesiles - 11-18-2015 at 10:24 PM

First we will go on fevruary march april.
there is going to be a lot of biking and surfing.

i have a 30galons om my trailer
and i was thinking to bring 50 moore.

hoping to do 3 weeks whit out going back to get more!!

juan

Hook - 11-19-2015 at 02:26 PM

I think you can make that work but consider getting two, 3 gallon solar showers. You can probably EACH get two latherings total (or four latherings) from one-3 gallon solar shower filled with ocean water. But you will probably only get 2-3 fresh water rinses, total. I cant stand rinsing in salt water.

With a solar shower, you can visually see how much you are using, unlike a trailer shower.

But maybe you can train yourself you use about 1 gallon per rinse from your trailer. It can be hard to tell.

Other tips: bring body powder, like J and J or Shower to Shower to extend shower days out to 3 days or more. I can go a while without showering my body, IF I have body powder. But I really have to shampoo every 3-4 days (I have long hair, so I gets dirty faster). The powder keeps the odor down, absorbs some perspiration and keeps your skin "feeling" smooth (especially around armpits and crotch region) instead of that clammy feeling from dried sweat.

Avoid wearing hats if possible. They trap head moisture and oil and that attracts more dirt.

Also, make friends with neighbors and let them know to give you any excess water if they are heading back home.

[Edited on 11-19-2015 by Hook]

Sombrero = Shade

AKgringo - 11-19-2015 at 03:17 PM

I agree with Lencho, particularly if you have thinning hair, and a family history of skin cancer.

Another water saving tip; Get used to doing shots, as use of your solar powered ice maker, and blender will stress your water supply!

Udo - 11-19-2015 at 03:28 PM

I have used the solar shower many times, and two gallons is about the minimum per person you will use. They do sell 5 gallon solar showers. Plus they sell propane powered hot water heaters with a pump for showering.

We were doing a similar math for off-grid water while living in a trailer/RV. We worked it out to about 11 gallons per day for everything, including flush toilets.

Quote: Originally posted by Howard

Assuming you are going in the Winter months I would figure 1 gallon per day for 2 people for personal drinking. It will vary depending on your activity level.

Then you have showers and doing dishes, say at least another gallon per person per day.

Can you use paper plates and paper/plastic cups, forks and knifes? (To you tree huggers, my apologies)

Add more water to the list for coffee and if you cook or bringing a pet.

[Edited on 11-18-2015 by Howard]

cliffh - 11-19-2015 at 03:41 PM

Udo right on, we use 10 to 11 gal. per day when we dry camp. We do 2 to 3 trips during the winter to the pacific side for 7 to 10 days.

cliffh - 11-19-2015 at 03:42 PM

Udo right on, we use 10 to 11 gal. per day when we dry camp. We do 2 to 3 trips during the winter to the pacific side for 7 to 10 days.

Hook - 11-19-2015 at 04:10 PM

Quote: Originally posted by lencho

Quote: Originally posted by Hook

Avoid wearing hats if possible. They trap head moisture and oil and that attracts more dirt.

I have lost two friends to skin cancer, which might have been avoided with hats. How do you deal with solar exposure?

I considered the area he was going to. I would expect lots of overcast days in those months.

But visors work for the other days.

Dont know what to say about a bald pate. Except that if you're bald, then you wont have much hair to get dirty, anyway.

Chupacabra - 11-19-2015 at 06:22 PM

Quote: Originally posted by juandesiles

Hi,
Punta San Carlos

Considering that there is a major windsurfing camp there run by Solosports, you may be able to make some kind of arrangement with them to re-up on water as needed.

http://solosports.net/

MMc - 11-19-2015 at 09:12 PM

Following Chupacabra's lead there is a small town just south of the camp, there maybe water there also. If you need to drive back to town maybe stay a night and clean-up and refill.

mojo_norte - 11-20-2015 at 06:31 AM

There's no water source out there. All water's brought in from El Rosario over the bad road.

woody with a view - 11-20-2015 at 08:30 AM

does the OP know the THE WIND BLOWS out there? that would imply dust stuck to every exposed piece of skin and therefore, more water to remove.

would it be too difficult to bring ten additional 5 gallon jugs (think Sparklett's jugs) that would double his time on the point.

or he could contact SoloSports and ask what the cost would be to glom onto a refill for the entire area...... just sayin'.

[Edited on 11-20-2015 by woody with a view]

bajabuddha - 11-20-2015 at 08:34 AM

Quote: Originally posted by juandesiles

Hi,
we are going of grid for a month, around Punta San Carlos, 3hrs drive from El Rosario in North Baja.

how meny gallons of water do i need for 2 persons a week?

thanx

After many a year river guiding, basic rule was one gallon per day per person. If the river was muddy or the weather hot we'd up it to two per day.

My basic math suggestion to your direct question is: 2 people, 15 gallons/week. Joy dish soap is bathable in the ocean as well.

Cooler management is a good gig also; if you have food or beverage coolers, drain the water off each morning into a bucket, and use for rinsing dishes/silverware with a few drops of Clorox. Draining excess water makes your ice last longer as well.

Added: If you're at all worried and want to play safe, make it 20 gal's/week and you'll be stylin'. :cool:

[Edited on 11-20-2015 by bajabuddha]

carlosg - 11-20-2015 at 11:32 AM

...you can always DISTILL your own...

follow the link to youtube:
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=78365&got...

...just adapt it to what ever you have laying around and buy what you need at the hardware store and shazam...!!! you got fresh distilled water from sea water...!!!

[Edited on 11-20-2015 by carlosg]

satmike - 11-20-2015 at 08:32 PM

Solo is closed in the winter. Just a caretaker and he has basically no extra supply's. When they are open it's still bring your own
My wife and I spend the winters there,we go through about 180 gal. in six weeks.We shower in fresh water and have a dog
I go to town about every week on my moto for fruits and veggies, tortillas and what ever I can fit on my back.
the truck goes in every 6 weeks for water and propane.
the fishermen aren't into hauling water so I don't ask and I am a pretty good friend with a lot of them.

[Edited on 11-22-2015 by satmike]

Alm - 11-21-2015 at 06:50 PM

Quote: Originally posted by juandesiles

First we will go on fevruary march april.
there is going to be a lot of biking and surfing.

i have a 30galons om my trailer
and i was thinking to bring 50 moore.

hoping to do 3 weeks whit out going back to get more!!

juan

1.5 gallons a day for 2 people. This includes drinking/cooking water, washing your face and brushing teeth. Assuming, you don't wash your face and brush teeth with water running from the tap as if it were a shore home. Instead, you fill a small cup and splash small amounts as needed.

Freshwater for dishwashing is optional, you can eat from small pots that you cook in - though with 2 people this is more difficult. Rinse pots in seawater, just let it sit with water for an hour and splash away. There is not much need to rinse them in freshwater afterwards.

Shower amount varies a lot. At least 3 gallons a person for a quick shower with washing your hair, with relatively short haircut. And you have to be quick. 6 gallons for 2 people.

Total 1.5 drinking/cooking + 6 shower = 7.5 gallons. This is a bare minimum.

Most people don't drink water from the tank. I don't even use it for cooking. This is what purified water in 5-gal garafones is for. 1 garafon lasts me one week, so - yes, 0.7 gallon a day per person for cooking/drinking.

No matter - tank or garafones, you need at least 7.5 gallons a day or 21*7.5=158 gallons for 3 weeks. You could get by on 80 or 100, but only in a cold weather and if you don't do much physical activity.

Keep in mind that true wilderness in coastal Baja is almost nonexistent. You will camp on somebody's land and at times will stay on a camp with shower and toilet. Shower might be cold and toilet ugly, but you will have it sometimes, and won't have to spend your water on this.

[Edited on 11-22-2015 by Alm]

satmike - 11-21-2015 at 07:14 PM

Outhouses only at San Carlos.
We can shower at 1.5 gal per person.2 if my wife washes her hair. We do dishes in fresh water.
We have been doing this for many years so we are pretty good at saving water.
We do not drink out of our tank. But we do fill it with potable water. We go about 3 days on a garafone. I think the purificado tastes great.

[Edited on 11-24-2015 by satmike]

David K - 11-21-2015 at 07:16 PM

When you camp on the beach, sea water is available for cleaning... heat some for pots and pans to clean. We keep it real simple and easy when camping. Paper plates and bowls, then burn in camp fire. A 7 gallon water jug lasts us both a week +. We drink bottled water and beer... OJ in the morning. Coffee and cooking and minor cleaning from the jug.

Alm - 11-21-2015 at 08:51 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

We keep it real simple and easy when camping. Paper plates and bowls,

No plates!
If one must have eat his meal off something other than a pot that it came in - use a small bowl. About 6" opening. One size fits all.

Besides, disposables ain't cool. They are not paper but styrofoam, a lot of black smoke.

mojo_norte - 11-22-2015 at 09:56 AM

Listen to Satmike - he's spent the bulk of the past 20 winters at PSC .

Alm - 11-22-2015 at 11:41 AM

Individual experiences vary wildly, accurate estimates are impossible. At best, 30-50% accuracy. Err on the higher side - i.e. carry more water - if you can.

A lot depends on weather and lifestyle. At times, 1 garafon may last a week for 2 people. Other times you'll use 2 garafones per week for 2 people. Also, depends on level of physical activity and diet/kitchen habits. With surfing and cycling, for 2 people, I would say - a lot of showers. And it would have to be fresh water shower 'cause with either activity you end up being covered with salt.

David K - 11-22-2015 at 01:02 PM

No styrofoam, paper.

freediverbrian - 11-23-2015 at 09:14 PM

Have never heard of the term garafon what dose that equal in liters or gallons ? Is that a mainland or central america word ?

bkbend - 11-23-2015 at 09:47 PM

Five gallon clear plastic plastic jug filled at any water store. Don't know the word origin.

freediverbrian - 11-23-2015 at 10:16 PM

Thanks bkbend, I have Spanglish it to cinco gallons

mtgoat666 - 11-23-2015 at 11:18 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Alm

Quote: Originally posted by David K

We keep it real simple and easy when camping. Paper plates and bowls,

KeeP it simple. One bowl per person. You eat every meal out of same bowl..leave the 7 piece China setting at home where you left your dish washer.
And for christs sake, don't be wasteful and take 4000 paper plates!

motoged - 11-24-2015 at 01:04 AM

Garrafon....Spanish for "large decanter" or a "carboy"