On a ground based system you cannot reasonably expect the parties using the water recycling system to stay inside of the controlled atmosphere of the recycling center, so any water lost outside of this environment(sweating out in the fields for instance) could be accounted for by just lowering the efficiency of the water reclamation system. Really the system is near 100%, but that is only for the water it is allowed to reclaim.
The size does seem a little small though. Wikipedia: > Large trucks typically have capacities ranging from 5,500 to 9,000 US gallons. It also suggests that large trucks are commonly used for water, milk, fuel, and chemicals. I would think the combination of needing to off-road and not needing to conform to road sizes would allow larger volumes and different shapes for better stability and efficiency.(standard water trucks have a relatively high center of balance, but two of them side by side would be much more stable due to the wider base) On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 7:28 PM, David Scheidt <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 12:23 AM, Onno Meyer <[email protected]> wrote: >> David replied to Clinton: >>>> Any particular reason why this vehicle has such a small payload? Even >>>> fairly small industrial water trucks today have a payload of about 3 >>> times >>>> this, and big ones almost 9 times this. >> >> Hello Clinton, >> >> this is the classic size for a Traveller ATV -- 7 dtons, 35 stons. >> Countless spacecraft hangars are sized to hold it. >> > > Actual economics drives tankers to the maximum practical size. 15 tons might > make sense for a flying tanker; it makes no sense for land. (if the terrain > is so awful you can't drive bigger vehicles through, air traffic will take > over.) > >>> Figure 100 litres a day per person. (not just for drinking, but for >>> agriculture, industrial use, firefighting, etc.) That's 150 person >>> days. Not a whole lot; even a small settlement would see one a >>> week. Seems more likely you'd haul a couple month supply. Or build a >>> pipeline. >> >> Hello David, >> >> the ATV combines a full life system and an air-breathing engine. >> The reason is water recycling, not a tainted atmosphere. I assume >> that settlements are similar, only less efficient than the >> starship-grade recycler in the ATV. Call it 95% or 99% efficient >> recycling, and the endurance looks much better. > > Ground based systems are unlikley to be less efficient than a vehicle system. > Fewer restrictions on space, weight and power requirements. > > -- > David Scheidt > [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> > http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
