The San Hima 24L is a portable water tank with a rechargeable pump built in: press a button and you’ve got pressurised water through a 6 m hose and a spray gun, without hand pumping or a 12V socket. We’ve taken it on a few trips in the back of our Prado, and overall it’s a good tank: very stable and easy to tie down. I paid $250 for it from Vic Offroad.
What’s in the box
A 24 litre tank in black, roto-moulded, BPA-free food-grade polyethylene with a matte finish. One side is slanted so it tucks against a ute’s wheel arch, there are threaded inserts to screw it down, and the screw cap sits in a recess on top over a wide fill opening. In the box are a 6 m coiled hose, a 0.5 m extension hose, a spray gun with 10 settings, a connector, a battery charger and the manual. The tank weighs 5.5 kg empty, or 6.4 kg with all the accessories.
What we like
- Push-button pressure, no hand pump
- 24 L tank with the pump built in
- 6 m hose and 10 spray settings
- One charge runs about four tanks
- Wide base, very stable in the car
- Food-grade, safe for drinking water
What we don’t
- About 30 kg when full
- Takes up more room in the car
- Jet setting is more of a stream
Quick Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | San Hima |
| Capacity | 24 L |
| Material | BPA-freeFood-grade PE |
| Colour | Black |
| Weight | 5.5 kgempty, 6.4 kg with the accessories |
| Packed size | 61 × 28.5 × 30.5 cm |
| Battery | 12V 2AhAbout 4 h to charge |
| Pressure | 50 PSI |
| Max pressure | 80 PSI |
| Flow rate | 8 L/min |
| Hose | 6 m coiledPlus 0.5 m extension |
| Modes | 10 spray settings |
| Warranty | 1 year |
Push-button pressure
The pump is what sets this apart from a plain water container. A 12V 2Ah battery inside runs it: press the button and it pressurises the tank to about 50 PSI, then tops the pressure up as you use the water, with a flow of up to 8 litres a minute. A full charge takes about 4 hours and is enough for up to four tanks, so close to 100 litres between charges.
The 6 m coiled hose reaches well away from the car, and the spray gun turns through 10 settings, from a soft shower to a narrow jet for rinsing sand and mud off gear. The jet setting is more of a concentrated stream than a spray, and depending on what you connect, the outlet fittings may need an adapter, such as a female-to-female tap adapter.
In the car
Full, the tank weighs around 30 kg, so it’s not one to carry around camp: it stays in the back of the car or the ute and the hose comes to you. Because it’s long and low, with a wide base, it’s far more stable in the back of the car than a tall jerry can. It’s also easy to anchor: we clipped carabiners to the top and fixed it down to our Titan drawers. On a ute, the slanted side is made for the wheel arch, and the threaded inserts let you screw it down.
Filling and cleaning it
Filling it is easy. The cap unscrews from a recess on top, below the level of the lid, and the opening is wide enough to fill from a tap or a jerry can without spilling, and to get a hand or a brush in to clean it. Because the tank is food-grade polyethylene, it can carry drinking water as well as water for washing.
Why we switched to the ONTAP
The downside of that wide base is that it takes up more floor space. With a fridge and a Kings Batblock in the back of the Prado as well, we were pushed for room, so in the end we bought the ONTAP Portable Camping Shower instead. It’s a slimmer 22 L jerry can that we can store behind the front seat, and it works really well for us. If your car or ute has the space, the San Hima is the steadier tank and needs no 12V socket.
Pressurised water tanks comparedWater tanks compared
We’ve tested two other water tanks with a pump. The ONTAP Portable Camping Shower cost the same and has a seven-setting spray gun and a separate shower head, but it runs from a 12V socket and its hose isn’t food-grade. The Upwoigh 19L is a drinking-water container with a small USB pump on top, not a pressure washer. The San Hima holds the most and has its own battery. Our camping showers guide and water containers guide have more on choosing.
This one San Hima 24L | 12V shower ONTAP Shower | Touch pump Upwoigh 19L | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spray gun | Yes | Yes | No |
| Food-grade hose | Yes | No | Yes |
| Power | Battery | 12V socket | USB battery |
| Hose | 6 m | 2.4 m | – |
| Capacity | 24 L | 22 L | 19 L |
| Weight | 5.5 kg | 2.9 kg | 1.07 kg |
| Price paid | $250 | $249 | $115 |
| Our score | 8.6 | 9.2 | 9.3 |
Conclusion: San Hima 24L Portable Water TankConclusion
The San Hima 24L Portable Water Tank is a tough, food-grade 24 litre tank with a rechargeable pump built in: press the button and the 6 m hose and 10-setting spray gun give you pressurised water for rinsing gear, the dishes or a quick shower, with about four tanks per charge. Its wide base makes it very stable and easy to anchor in the back of the car, but it takes up more room: short on space with a fridge and a Batblock, we switched to the slimmer ONTAP. It’s heavy when full, around 30 kg, and the jet setting is more of a stream. I paid $250, and it suits 4WD and ute tourers with the room who want running water at the back of the vehicle without a 12V socket.
A good, stable water tank, if you have the room.
Press the button and the built-in pump drives a 6 m hose and 10-setting spray gun, and the wide base was easy to anchor to our drawers with carabiners. It's about 30 kg full and takes up floor space, so short on room we switched to the ONTAP.
- 4WD tourers
- Caravanners
- Beach & picnics
If you have the room, yes. I paid $250, the same as the ONTAP, for a bigger food-grade tank with its own battery, so it needs no 12V socket. Short on space, we chose the ONTAP.
