1997 East Mojave

What's a Guzzler?

A Guzzler is a watermaker. The Roughwheelers IV club is responsible for maintaining a number of these in the east Mojave Desert. When there is the occasional rain, or even morning dew, water collects on the big round, flat part of the concrete. It then rolls down the tilt and into an underground holding tank. The tanks frequently have 20 gallons of water in them and sometimes more. Amazing! Especially considering that this is the Mojave Desert. We try to visit each one every 5 years. The maintenance is usually repairing the cracks that develop in the concrete. Cracks prevent the water from flowing down into the covered underground tank. We're also taking notes of what types of materials work better. Several years ago someone tried fiberglass strips and tar to repair the cracks. Yuk! We have almost finished removing all of that mess. In 1996 we started using "Lifetime" silicone sealer. We'll see how it does baking in the sun! That's Montego stamping the maintenance date on the metal plate. These Guzzlers are not easy to find, and that's on purpose, so they are left undisturbed.