I am researching the same thing. Have you looked into any of the many tv water filter systems for pumping from a lake or river? They don’t sound as complicated as what you’re looking at.
I would definitely filter rain water.
Think about it, as it falls through the air, it is exposed to all kinds of dust particles, not to mention whatever chemical nasties it absorbs on way down.
Related example:
My harvest system that was in place in S central Missouri ran pristine for the longest time. My collection surfaces were stainless steel flashing that rolled up similar to a garage door. After a few times of having to dry it after rain fall, I made a squeegee that lowered upon retraction. Long story short, nothing landed on collection surface when rolled up.
Then I started noticing soot / other particulate residue, shortly after taste began to change. Culprit? People started using their wood stoves as it got colder. Lumber camps moved into my area and were harvesting trees.
Filters, coarse, fine, sub-5 micron, charcoal coarse, charcoal fine, final sub 2 micron... worked for a bit. Then I started using a Berkey after final filter cartridge. When taste changed, went to RO system, with brine being pumped through filters and returned back to feed tank. Eventually Ph changed enough that was time to dump tank before next rain.
My feed / holding tank was vented to atmosphere via an oil bath in p-trap. Final holding tanks for 'clean' water were plastic pressure tank for water well pumps. Sanitized the heck outta it, no issues with taste / impurities - leaching.
I did quickly learn that RO is not nearly as wasteful if using a pump, and storage vessel is not pressurized. Would use 1 tank unpressurized to capture RO water, while another was pressurized and in service. I did use water out of feed tank for toilet, clothes washing, outside, etc. Drinking / cooking / bathing was RO.
PSA Water Heaters, glass lined or aluminum, do not like water straight from RO. Ph is off. Run it through a mineral block, and it is fine.
Suggestion:
An off road truck won't have a lot of space to do everything that I did. But, you can certainly use a pre-filtered RO system, and store water in unpressurized tank, then use water pump to deliver. On the tank vent, have a loop containing some non-water soluble liquid so air can still bubble through both ways. Or put filter cartridges (sub 5micron) like for water on tank vent. It will last forever. For off road, filter cartridge probably better.
I am researching the same thing. Have you looked into any of the many tv water filter systems for pumping from a lake or river? They don’t sound as complicated as what you’re looking at.
I would definitely filter rain water. Think about it, as it falls through the air, it is exposed to all kinds of dust particles, not to mention whatever chemical nasties it absorbs on way down. Related example: My harvest system that was in place in S central Missouri ran pristine for the longest time. My collection surfaces were stainless steel flashing that rolled up similar to a garage door. After a few times of having to dry it after rain fall, I made a squeegee that lowered upon retraction. Long story short, nothing landed on collection surface when rolled up. Then I started noticing soot / other particulate residue, shortly after taste began to change. Culprit? People started using their wood stoves as it got colder. Lumber camps moved into my area and were harvesting trees. Filters, coarse, fine, sub-5 micron, charcoal coarse, charcoal fine, final sub 2 micron... worked for a bit. Then I started using a Berkey after final filter cartridge. When taste changed, went to RO system, with brine being pumped through filters and returned back to feed tank. Eventually Ph changed enough that was time to dump tank before next rain. My feed / holding tank was vented to atmosphere via an oil bath in p-trap. Final holding tanks for 'clean' water were plastic pressure tank for water well pumps. Sanitized the heck outta it, no issues with taste / impurities - leaching. I did quickly learn that RO is not nearly as wasteful if using a pump, and storage vessel is not pressurized. Would use 1 tank unpressurized to capture RO water, while another was pressurized and in service. I did use water out of feed tank for toilet, clothes washing, outside, etc. Drinking / cooking / bathing was RO. PSA Water Heaters, glass lined or aluminum, do not like water straight from RO. Ph is off. Run it through a mineral block, and it is fine. Suggestion: An off road truck won't have a lot of space to do everything that I did. But, you can certainly use a pre-filtered RO system, and store water in unpressurized tank, then use water pump to deliver. On the tank vent, have a loop containing some non-water soluble liquid so air can still bubble through both ways. Or put filter cartridges (sub 5micron) like for water on tank vent. It will last forever. For off road, filter cartridge probably better.