housetruck construction questions

[kouka]

Hello everyone

I'm another kiwi building a housetruck, and wondering if I could run some questions past you all.

The house is being built on an 8 metre steel framed curtainsider with a wooden deck, with a corrugated metal roof (called coloursteel here because the paint is bonded on). I want to collect rainwater and am trying to figure out if I can design guttering in that optionally feeds into the water storage tank (this is for washing water not drinking water).

I was thinking of running guttering along each side and having down pipes on four corners (because there is no way to control the drop on the guttering with parking and driving).

My concern at the moment is what happens when I'm parked on a hill or even driving on a hill, in heavy rain. Will the water just overflow the end of the guttering because there is too much drop and too much water for the downpipe to manage.

Is guttering a good idea on a moving truck? Does anyone know of any trucks I can look at online that have guttering? I've only seen one truck with guttering and it looks like a permanent parkup.

Any ideas much appreciated, including other ways of collecting rainwater while travelling.

many thanks,
kouka

[stuartcnz]

I've seen water catching systems on buses, but can't remember the details unfortunately. I wouldn't think that guttering would last to well, with driving though.

If you were to do the roof in fibreglass coated plywood instead of coloursteel, it would be quite easy to use a small toe rail along each side to act as a gutter though.

[kouka]

Hi Stuart,

I was thinking of coloursteel guttering. Do you think the steel would hold up if well attached?

I'm also thinking now of doing more of a drip rail like on a caravan, as I don't really need to collect the amount of water a full gutter would (will probably have a 200L or so tank).

[Dusty]

I guess it depends on yer budget.

I saw a H/t with 40mm gray plastic pipe, sawn in half down its length, screwed onto the side of the truck as a rain water catch.

Seemed to work fine.

[kouka]

How did they run the water off the gutter though?

[Dusty]

Here are a couple of pics I have taken , I never focused on the water collection bit , but if you look closely , they all have some gutter and down pipe system.







Having posted this , I have to add , I have MANY pics of NZ house trucks and I had to look very hard to find ones with roof water collection.
Most don't bother. With careful use 200L should last 2 people over a week , maybe 10 days , I know my 255L can go 2 weeks If I choose not to shower EVERY day . That option doesnt apply to my wife

[Dusty]

PS, in my humble opinion , the housetrucker should be moving the motorhome every 2 weeks or so to keep the brakes working , keep the engine start battery working , keep the oil circulating and making the COF easier to obtain. Keeps the rodents guessing too

Its easy to do, just take the vehicle shopping for example , and use the trip to dump waste and get fresh water.

It gives the locals something to stare at too.

[Sharkey]

I'd agree with Dusty about the trouble of collecting roof water being marginally worth the effort, particularly if you are moving often. If you are stationary, having an awning, or even just a slanted framework covered with sheet plastic might be a better method of collecting rainwater.

I've always had the problem that the wood stove flue is usually gunked up with all manner of creosote, and therefore the water from the roof is tainted. That and having a flat roof means never being quite sure where the water will spill off from.

Rob Gray installed a collection system on WORT2, but then, he spends entire months in the outback away from spigots and water supplies. Scroll down to the "Wed 23 Jan" entry: http://www.robgray.com/graynomad/wothah ... /index.php This is mostly about the connections to the tanks and how to keep the first dirty flow of water from a rain storm out of the tanks rather than a how-to on getting the water off the roof and into a pipe, but maybe it will be useful.