Water and Hand Washing in a Food Truck: GHP

In a food truck, water is an important topic at approval and at inspection. You do not have a mains connection like a restaurant - you carry water with you. The inspector may check whether you have drinking water, facilities for washing hands, a way of disposing of wastewater and a working basin. This article sorts out the GHP (Good Hygiene Practice) requirements for water and hand hygiene in the vehicle and separates what follows from the regulations (Chapter III of Annex II to Regulation 852/2004 for mobile and temporary premises) from the practice of vehicle approval.

If you are preparing to go to a fair, also see the article food trucks at fairs and events - there water is the bottleneck in the field. Here we break it down into parts.

The key points in brief

• Two tanks: clean drinking water and wastewater. The regulations require an adequate supply of drinking water and hygienic disposal of liquid waste, but they do not give tank proportions - the rule "wastewater at least as much as clean water" is practice.
• Warm water for hand washing - the rules for vehicles speak of "hot and/or cold" drinking water and facilities for hygienic hand washing; hot and cold running water at the basin is directly required in fixed premises. At vehicle approval assume that the PPIS (the county sanitary inspector) will expect it.
• A separate hand-washing basin, kept apart from the sink for products (where necessary), stocked with materials for washing and hygienically drying hands - in practice soap and disposable towels.
• Drinking water - from a reliable source; the tank kept clean (you set the frequency of cleaning and disinfection in your documentation).

Clean water and wastewater - two tanks

The basic rule: the water you use for food must be drinking water (Annex II, Chapter VII, point 1(a) of Regulation 852/2004), and liquid waste must be disposed of hygienically (Chapter III, point 2(f)). In practice this means two tanks:

• The clean water tank - drinking water for washing hands, products and dishes. Match the capacity to your menu and the length of the working day - with a reserve.
• The wastewater tank - it is assumed that it should be at least as large as the clean water tank; we did not find such a proportion in the regulations, so confirm it with your PPIS. Collect wastewater in a tank, not "on the ground next to you" - that conflicts with the requirement of hygienic disposal of liquid waste (we did not check environmental rules and local regulations).

The inspector may also pay attention to the condition of the tanks: a clean drinking water tank is a safety element, not a detail - and the schedule for cleaning and disinfecting it (the frequency does not follow from the regulations) should follow from your HACCP documentation.

Warm water for hand washing

A typical fault: there is a tank, but the heater does not work or was never connected. Chapter III of Annex II to Regulation 852/2004 requires "an adequate supply of hot and/or cold drinking water" and facilities for hygienic hand washing and drying, while hot and cold running water at the basin is directly named in Chapter I (for premises other than mobile ones). In the practice of vehicle approval it is worth treating warm water as a necessity - we did not check the PPIS's written guidelines on this. Before every trip, check that the heating works, and not only that it "should".

The basin and hand hygiene

The rules on hand and staff hygiene (Chapter VIII of Annex II to Regulation 852/2004) are the same as in a fixed kitchen; the equipment requirements differ (Chapter III instead of I and II), and so does the space. Good practice:

• a separate hand-washing basin - kept apart from the sink for washing products and dishes,
• hand-washing materials (for example soap in a dispenser) and hygienic drying (for example disposable towels) - always restocked; the specific solutions are practice, not a rule,
• a clear procedure for when to wash hands - for example after touching raw meat, after using the till, after a break (you set the scope in the instruction).

We describe the hand-washing technique and requirements in the article hand-washing procedure in foodservice - in a food truck it applies in the same way.

How to choose the tank capacity

There is no single "magic" number of litres - capacity depends on your menu, the number of portions and the length of the day. The logic of choosing:

1. Estimate the water use per day (washing hands, products, dishes, equipment).
2. Add a reserve for the peak of traffic and for a hot day.
3. Choose the wastewater tank - in line with the popular practice, at least equal to the clean water tank (to be confirmed with the PPIS).
4. Plan where you will top up water and empty wastewater during a long event.

What to enter in registers and procedures

• Cleaning and disinfecting the water tank - the schedule and confirmation.
• The source of drinking water - where you top up from, whether it is water fit to drink.
• The hand hygiene procedure - when and how, in the workstation instruction.

The most common mistakes

1. No warm water for hand washing. There is a tank, the heater does not work - a risk of a remark at approval or inspection.
2. A clean water tank that is too small. It runs out in the middle of the day, work stops.
3. No wastewater tank, or one that is too small. Wastewater "on the ground" conflicts with the requirement of hygienic disposal of liquid waste.
4. One sink for everything. Washing hands in the sink for products breaks the rule of separating the basin from the food-washing area (where necessary).
5. A dirty drinking water tank. Without cleaning and disinfection the tank itself becomes a hazard.

FAQ - frequently asked questions

Does a food truck have to have warm water?

Chapter III of Annex II to Regulation 852/2004 speaks of "an adequate supply of hot and/or cold drinking water" and hand-washing facilities, so literally it does not require warm water in a vehicle (the requirement for hot and cold running water at the basin applies to fixed premises - Chapter I, point 4). Approval of a vehicle, however, belongs to the PPIS, and in practice warm water is usually regarded as necessary - ask your PPIS and assume that it will be needed.

How big must the wastewater tank be?

The regulations do not give a required capacity. The accepted practice is a wastewater tank at least as large as the clean water tank - we did not find this in the regulations, so confirm it with your PPIS. Liquid waste must be disposed of hygienically (Chapter III, point 2(f)), that is, collected in a tank and not poured on the ground.

Can I have one basin for hands and for products?

You should not. The regulations speak of facilities for hygienic hand washing and drying, and for fixed premises directly of separating food-washing areas from hand-washing basins (where necessary). In a vehicle the safest thing is to have a separate hand-washing basin with water, a washing agent and hygienic drying - confirm the scope of the requirements with your PPIS.

Ready-made GHP procedures for a food truck

Water, wastewater and hand hygiene are elements that must be described specifically for your vehicle, not copied from a restaurant. The Foundation package from GastroReady gives you ready-made GHP procedures and registers for a food truck, taking mobile specifics into account - you adapt them to your vehicle.

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Legal status as of: 4 October 2026
Legal basis: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (consolidated version of 24.03.2021): Annex II Chapter I point 4 (basins in fixed premises), Chapter III points 1-2 (mobile and temporary premises), Chapter VII point 1(a) (drinking water), Chapter VIII point 1 (personal hygiene). Not checked: the written guidelines of individual PPIS on warm water and wastewater tank capacity (the rules given in the text are practice), rules on wastewater disposal (the Water Law, municipal regulations), rules on water quality (the Minister of Health's regulation on the quality of water intended for human consumption).
Last review: 4 October 2026