Fresh water is necessary if you want your van life to be a comfortable one. This means building a water system to. The simplest water system of all utilises gravity instead of expensive pumps and parts. Bill of The Backwards Van says “The water system in our converted FWD Promaster is absolutely faultless. A large capacity stainless steel tank mounted in the bulkhead and the taps (and the shower) are gravity fed. Best of all, the tank fills from the outside, making it easy to top up with a hose pipe and involves no drama or dragging containers in and out. We carry an underslung grey water tank which empties via a little tap by the drivers wheel. There are no pump parts to breakdown nor electricity required to run the system and we are never without water for a cup of tea!” 

Van life should be simple and uncomplicated, you’re free to spend time wherever you like while carrying everything you need in one place. Therefore, our advice is simple too: don’t over complicate things. Rigs and RVs with too many electrical components are risking more problems. If you are building a toilet system with an electric flush, ask yourself what happens when the power is drained? Will your toilet refuse to flush if your battery is dead? Why put yourself in that position? Instead, install simple, standard standalone systems which function well and don’t need a lot of power to operate. @NomadRoams told us his first conversion had a cool electrical step that zipped in and out on a little motor which sounds great until the motor has failed with the step extended. The RVs engine wouldn’t start without the step being tucked away, leaving NomadRoams stranded. He says he regrets the step design and hasn’t included one in his second build!

Depending on your location, potable water is relatively easy to source. Therefore, there is little point in driving around with a full tank of the stuff. The extra weight will decrease your MPG and makes your route a more expensive one. Instead of carrying water or installing a huge tank, consider the kinds of routes you’ll be taking and research the availability of H2O along the way. You may be pleasantly surprised. Van life will act to reduce your water consumption regardless. House-people can use 150 litres of water a day each, on baths and dishwashers, clothes and hot water. Vanners need so much less. Assume you’ll use drinking water, a little for washing up, a little more for cooking and lastly, washing yourself. Nomads are resourceful and you’ll learn the water saving tips as you go.

Whether a campervan needs a shower is another hotly contested opinion. Before you embark on van life you may think you need a shower every day. During your van life, the expected frequency of showers might change as water becomes scarce and the means to heat it too. Many vanners decide to forgo the shower in exchange for the extra space. Warm, endless showers can be easy to find, in gyms, by the beach, the pier, not to mention the facilities at family and friends houses. Truthfully, a shower will pull a lot of power from your battery, it may involve installing complicated plumbing and may use a lot more water than you’d like. If a shower is deemed essential, the plumbing system will be a little more complicated. Take advice from the expert builders in our tutorial section!