Leave water on ?

1971duster340 wrote:
I use the water from the park faucet any time we're camping...same off policy as others stated when we're gone. I only use the pump when faucet water isn't available and I don't put well water in the freshwater tank.

X-2 I use tank water for travel purposes only.

OP wrote:
I know I am suppose to leave the black tank closed and the gray tank open.

This is incorrect. Don't leave the gray tank's valve open. Along with the sewer fly comment mentioned above, it is always good to have water in the gray tank when it is time to empty the black. You empty the black first, then the gray so it flushes particles from the hose.

Consider buying a waste water tote - Barker with pneumatic wheels comes to mind, when camping without a sewer connection. The gray tank fills a lot faster than the black. We can go for over a week without draining the black tank. That doesn't mean to skimp on water usage when flushing the toilet though, as solids can build up on the bottom, and you don't want that.

As far as leaving the water on when gone, if it gives you piece of mind, then go ahead and turn it off when leaving. When first turning it on, be sure that all faucets are turned off as you don't want a waterfall in the bathroom - don't ask me how I know this...

The pressure regulator is a good idea - get a good one from Lowes. I also use a inline water filter - Camoco I think. Purchased at Walmart.

Atlee wrote:
The best policy, IMO, is what's been mentioned already. If hooked to city water, cut it off at the outside faucet if leaving the RV. If you're using your fresh water tank, cut the pump off when ever water is no longer needed.

As for the waste tanks, I always keep both tanks closed. I want full, or nearly full tanks, when ever I dump. Let both acculumate as much as possible. When my black is full, I make sure the gray is at least 2/3 or more full. I then dump the black tank, and then dump the gray. I then leave both closed until I need to dump again.

X2

At a full hook up:
I never use the on board water tank.
I just use the city water hook up with the valve turned on.
If I were to leave the trailer overnight, I would shut the valve off.

I leave the black water tank valve closed and the gray open, but the day before departure I close the gray one, so that when I finish dumping the black at the dump station, I open the gray and that flushes my sewer hose

Jack L

I'm a pessimist by nature, so here's what works for me...
Start of trip;
Fresh water full
water pump on
Gray & Black water empty.

This way, DW & I can flush w/o problems.
We don't want to wander into a park only to find they are having water issues. (It has happened!)

In the park;
City (park)water hooked up with a 50lb pressure regulator.
(Learned the hard way on that one...)
water pump off.

Leaving CG
City water turned off.
Hope this helps! :)

It wasn't asked nor mentioned but you being the newbie I'll bring it up. Properly sanitize your fresh tank at least once a year if you're going to use it for anything other than flushing the toilet.

With that said, we only use ours to flush the toilet and I turn off the city water connection when leaving the camper. I'm still working on remembering to turn it back on when we return.

I keep both valves closed until I'm ready to dump.

The best policy, IMO, is what's been mentioned already. If hooked to city water, cut it off at the outside faucet if leaving the RV. If you're using your fresh water tank, cut the pump off when ever water is no longer needed.

As for the waste tanks, I always keep both tanks closed. I want full, or nearly full tanks, when ever I dump. Let both acculumate as much as possible. When my black is full, I make sure the gray is at least 2/3 or more full. I then dump the black tank, and then dump the gray. I then leave both closed until I need to dump again.

Depends in now long we stay at one place. We have to be somewhere for more than a few days to hook up the water hose. Usually we just use the pump and make sure to shut it off when we go away from the RV.

I use the water from the park faucet any time we're camping...same off policy as others stated when we're gone. I only use the pump when faucet water isn't available and I don't put well water in the freshwater tank.

I avoid leaving the water spigot turned on when I'm not around the RV (and likewise turn off the water pump). On the off chance that something starts leaking, I would prefer to be around rather than have many gallons of water flow unattended.

Whether you use city water or tank water to supply your needs is mostly a matter of personal preference. Of course, if you are somewhere that doesn't have a water hookup, the choice is rather obvious: you need to use the fresh water tank to supply your water, or you don't get any. One disadvantage of using the water tank is the noise of the pump.

Per Old-Biscuit's note about the occasional pump running when no water is being used: this does indicate a leak somewhere. Not infrequently, however, the leak is in the check valve built into the pump, and the water is just going back to the fresh water tank and not causing any problems. If that's the case, you can sometimes get it to stop by disassembling and cleaning the pump, or rebuilding it, or often it will just go away on its own when the particle of sand or whatever happens to get washed away. It's certainly also possible that the leak is elsewhere, and hence possibly more worrisome.