flexible Watertank or bladder for vanlife and overlanding

To be able to easy carry enough water for drinking, washing and showering is important for us travellers who likes to be able to stay off grid some days. Easy to fill, easy to store, easy to use. This is less important if you stay at campgrounds with facilityes each night.

A view days ago I did detect some great ideas for water storage in our van, 4x4 or rv vehicle. An australian company did sell them over ebay. Also when the shipping from australia will cost additional cash it it should be considered for us travellers. The water bladder!

Those flexible watertanks or bladder are very good for a temporary installation, it need just a minute to install or remove them. I was able to interview some people who use them since severall years.

flexible Watertank or bladders for vanlife and overlanding

flexible Watertank or bladders for vanlife and an Tank for overlanding

As always there are some pro and cons about such a product compared to an watertank with solid walls like I showed below.

A flexible bladder tank will makes less noise, there will not water noise during driving. He is also easyer to install and remove, it is a perfect temporary storage solution. It is less easy to clean and maintain. The owners report that there is always a fine taste of plastic, but it is ok for washing and showering. Other report that they did use a waterfilter and even use it as drinking water.

With a normal watertank there is no taste - so there are pros and cons.

If I would have to rebuild my travel vehicle, I would go that way today.

I did find those bladders on ebay only for online shopping. Here is a youtube movie about this water bladder, there are severall reviews online, with happy customers. Here is also a link to the manufacture: https://australianmade.com.au/licensees/fleximake/flexible-bladder-tanks

Please always look that your watertank is mounted well - in case of an accident it is a heavy piece who can do serious damage! The shape of the tank linked above helps it to sit firmly between the first and second row of seats.

I have a custom made water tank (with solid walls) since 9 years, where I can carry 85 liters, what is enough for 14 days with 2 persons. About the hot shower and the water filtration system I will write a separate article, here we will concentrate about different kind of watertanks. I did use a tree stage waterfilter with uv and active coil to fill water in the tank. In the tank I did use silvertex. The Silvernet ensures that fresh water is automatically preserved every time you refill your water tank. Pure silver ions provide effective protection against contamination for water and the fresh water system. The product is suitable for all container and tank sizes and only needs to be replaced once a year. So you can use the water as drinking water, even if it is 6 months old.