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Power & Water Unit

How we handle water in general

You can survive burning man without power, but you definitely can't survive without water. The welcome staff will reject you at the entrance if you do not have an adequate amount of water with you (which the org sets at 1.5 gallons per day). We bring a bunch of 5 gallon jugs of water with us in our camp van when we enter BRC, but that's just backup (self reliance baby!). What we actually do is purchase water from a water vendor. They show up and drop a large 500 gallon water tank at our camp at the beginning of the event, and fill it with drinkable water. We then drop a pump into the container which pumps water to our kitchen, an outside sink for general refill of water bottles, and to our showers.

For 75 campers for 7 days, we need this much water:

75 people x 1.5 gallons x 7 days = ~787 gallons of water

A 500 gallon tank will last:

500 gallon / (75 people x 1.5 gal/day) = ~4.5 days

This means we would need to refill our 500 gallon tank on the 4th day of the event.

Proposed layout

Once deployed, this layout offers:

  • Hookups to the water tanks (potable water tank & gray water tank)
  • 2 showers & a sink
  • A privacy curtain for the people showering
  • Secured Shelving for propane, gasoline & tools
  • Secured Shelving for generators
  • The power distribution board / breakers
  • The main generator ready to go for emergencies (with exhaust vent)
  • An A/C unit + An insulating curtain to maintain the inside temperature

Before / After being deployed, this will also house the solar panels, as well as some camp furniture.