I have a cabin at my property but no electricity or water. I am looking for ideas for a portable water tank for the cabin. Any ideas, photos etc would be greatly appreciated. It needs to be portable as I would need to be able to take it to town to get water.

Those plastic totes that are food grade will work very well for the price. You could put 2 of them on a trailer and that will give you 600 gallons more or less of water. You could put one in your truck and gravity flow to fill the other one also with 2 of them. 12 volt bilge pump on a battery can supply your water into cabin.

500 gallon tank on a trailer, or a couple of those water totes. Get a small water pump ac or DC and you should be gTG. If you have an elevated tank (for gravity feed) outside the cabin, that could suffice, then just haul water and use the little pump to re-fill it.

agree with the others on the totes ... I would recommend getting an RV 12vdc type pump that cuts off when valves/facets are closed ... on demand water pressure.

Yes on the totes, yes on the pump, but we've used the RV ones and had better luck with the agricultural ones. Essentially the same components, similar PSI, but triple the GPM. Cost is only about a third more, well worth the extra.

LIKE THIS

Being that they're intermittent use, you could easily run one of these all weekend without worrying about killing the battery in your truck.

plastic totes are all not "Food Grade"
Food grade is more of a certification of some of the products that can be stored in a tote or any container for that matter.
I would be suspect of a used tote.
you need to be VERY careful if you use one of these for drinking water.

lots of people are selling these things and they have no idea what has been stored in it.
things like lube oil, Diesel Exhaust Fluid and other chemicals can leech into the poly.

If you use a plastic tote, you can buy a brand new one for a little more.
Check with the company you buy it from.

Myself, I would buy a new poly tank from Tractor Supply. You can get them in smaller sizes like 200 or 300 gallons. Get a dark one to prevent algae from growing in your water

also remember water weighs over 8 lbs per gallon so a 300 gallon tank is going to weigh 2500 pounds

^^Bingo^^

We get by with a 55 gallon plastic barrel in the back of the pick up. It provides water to wash your hands and clean up dishes, the pots and pans. It has a spigot on the barrel and the other opening has a RV pump for a little pressure when we need it. It is a crude system, but it is a cabin, if they want the comforts of home, they can stay at a motel.

The first few times you may run out of water, but everyone learns real fast how precious water is and after that it will last for a week.

Have you thought about a rain collection system?

I use a 40 gal I bought from northern power and tool. Easier to move around, and to carry water from home.

we have a winner








idea's are like good women, one comes along every so often

What ever you decide Sawyer makes a very inexpensive filter you can put on the end of a faucet that will make water safe to drink.

Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate the information. It will be a couple of weeks, but I will let you know what I finally do.

those blue plastic aquatainers are like $7.00
each at wally world. i have 6 of those and leave
four full there, and carry home 2 empty to bring
back full next trip. (or 1 empty or what ever)
they're easy to handle by myself and ride in the
back of the truck easy. i can make coffee and wash
dishes and bathe and do what ever i need to do with
that supply. i wash them out with hot bleach water
once a year j.f.g. i have broke one spigot in all
the years i've had 'em. a replacement was a few
dollars from campmor mail order.

I will second the advice on a dark tank as the clear ones will promote algae growth. We ended up chlorinating the water which works fine for showering or cleaning dishes but I would not drink it.