How to camp with electric only

Thermoguy wrote:

TomG2 wrote:
Several have suggested traveling wigrth a full water tank. Have you all looked at how some of these tanks are supported? Usually just some strips of plumber's tape. You "might" not have a problem, but if water is available in the campground, I prefer to not haul an extra 300-400 pounds with me. Good ideas about recycling grey water.

I guess this might be an issue with some trailers. I fortunately have not had this problem and have traveled with a full water tank many times. I guess it all depends on where you are going.

It all depends on the engineering and workmanship involved, that is why I said to check yours out. I have only had one tank fall to the ground in twenty years of travel trailering, but once was enough. The people that throw these things together put all their effort into what shows on a quick walk through. Getting ready for a 4,000 mile trip and I will only carry enough fresh water for an occasional pit stop, preferring to fill when I am parked for a few days.

TomG2 wrote:
Several have suggested traveling with a full water tank. Have you all looked at how some of these tanks are supported? Usually just some strips of plumber's tape. You "might" not have a problem, but if water is available in the campground, I prefer to not haul an extra 300-400 pounds with me. Good ideas about recycling grey water.

I guess this might be an issue with some trailers. I fortunately have not had this problem and have traveled with a full water tank many times. I guess it all depends on where you are going. If I am going somewhere I will have water I fill it 1/3 - 1/2 full as I have found out you need water at some point during the trip when you are not connected to a source.

I have never gone anywhere where I had electric but no water, but it is possible. We have boondocked a few times where we have no water. I guess it depends on how many days and how many people are in the trailer. I carry 2 5 gallon containers that I can fill and have started the trip with them full knowing I would need more water. In one area, we have to drive to a state campground to fill the 5 gallon jugs, in another area they have water as some have mentioned with no way to connect a hose. Just fill the jugs, and poor them into the water inlet, this requires a funnel for me, but I could get a better spout for my jugs. I have done this on a few trips without issue. When the water tank gets down just put 10 or 15 gallons in. It's not that hard.

As some have mentioned, if your fresh water is getting low, you probably have a full grey tank. I have one area we can just attach a hose and let the grey tank out on the grass, this is not recommended by many and not allowed in a state park or typical campground. But, the grey tank is mostly just shower water, so it's soap and water. I have also done this at my house when I had people staying in the trailer for multiple days. The grey tank can fill up fast. It is a little stinky, but really not that big of deal. One way to not get a full grey tank is to not take showers, limit to a navy shower, or shower a different way. If you are boondocking, there is no reason to take a complete shower every day. However, my son, usually needs to wash dirt off by the end of a great camp trip day.

Enjoy the trip and don't be so concerned about water. What would you do if you were camping in a tent?

A water bandit or water thief is a good thing to have. It will let you use a hose on a spigot without threads. Can make life much easier and is cheap and small enough to take along just in case. A cheap 5 gallon camping water jug can be used to shuttle water.

If the campground has a dump station, a waste tote may be a worthwhile investment, especially now when staying clear of the public showers and bathrooms may be more important. Worrying about every drop of water can take a lot of fun out of the trip, especially if you have kids along.

It all depends on the size of your group and your personal activities and wants.

A few things I have learned while using Forest Service campgrounds and State Parks here in Montana:
1. Fill the fresh water tank while at home.
2. Be sure the waste tanks are empty.
4. Fill the propane, if needed. It might get cold in the mountains, even in June and July!
5. There is no electricity available, and generator use is limited. Some State Parks have recently been electrified. Most Forest service campgrounds are not.
6. There is probably no shower house. There are vault or pit toilets, though.
7. There will be water available, one spigot for each 5 or so campsites. There probably will not be a threaded outlet to hook up a hose, and some are designed so a "water thief" will not fit.
8. Many campgrounds (most) are "Pack it in, Pack it out!". There is no garbage pickup, and no dump station. Be cautious about using a dumpster in the first town you come to. It might be considered "Theft of Service" and you could get a ticket. Be sure it is for public use.
9. "grey water" may not be dumped on the ground anywhere in the state!
10. It is against the rules to dump waste water into the vault or pit toilets.
11. "Water conservation" is a learned skill. The methods vary. If you want to spend a week in a "Primitive Campground", you need to learn how.
12. DO NOT, EVER, flush "Flushable Wipes" down the toilet! No matter what the advertising says, they are NOT "flushable"! Not in the RV, not in the vault toilets, not at home. They go in the garbage, not the sewer system.
13. Leave your campsite cleaner than it was when you got there! Make sure there are no hot ashes (or trash) in the fire pit.

theoldwizard1 wrote:

bikendan wrote:
We use a 6 gallon FW plastic jug and a 15 gallon tote tank for gray water.

Where do you dispose the gray water ?

I take the blue tote tank to the dump station. in 20 years of RVing, never needed to use the blue boy for black water.

Dutch_12078 wrote:
We carry a 7 gallon potable water jug that we use to supplement our 65 gallon onboard tank as needed. When the jug is empty, we take it to the nearest community source and refill it. If we need more water in the onboard tank, we just use the winterization suction hose on our pump to refill the onboard tank from the portable jug.

Could you explain this a bit. Do you just open both valves and it flows into, instead of out of, the tank?

We frequently boondock, which means no electric either. Our rules of thumb:
Have a full fresh water tank
Have empty waste tanks
Use EXTREME water rationing (showers every 4 days instead of every 2 days)
Nothing goes down toilet except human waste. (TP goes in a sack to the dump. We don't do this unless boondocking.)
We have a 45 gallon water bladder. We run out of fresh water in about 1/2 the time it takes to fill the waste tanks, so I put the water bladder in the truck bed and go fill it up. I have a (spare) water pump with hose connectors. I use it to pump the water from the bladder into the fresh water tank.

We carry a 7 gallon potable water jug that we use to supplement our 65 gallon onboard tank as needed. When the jug is empty, we take it to the nearest community source and refill it. If we need more water in the onboard tank, we just use the winterization suction hose on our pump to refill the onboard tank from the portable jug.

Several have suggested traveling with a full water tank. Have you all looked at how some of these tanks are supported? Usually just some strips of plumber's tape. You "might" not have a problem, but if water is available in the campground, I prefer to not haul an extra 300-400 pounds with me. Good ideas about recycling grey water.

mdcamping wrote:

DallasSteve wrote:
Newbie question here.

I have a reservation at a campground with electric hookup only and no water hookup. It was the best I could do over the Memorial Day weekend. At least it's cheap. How do you normally stretch your water in that situation? Can I drive to some station in the park (it's a government park) and fill my fresh water tank? Maybe at the dump station? I know you're not supposed to use the typical water at a dump station, but maybe at these semi-rustic campgrounds they also provide potable water?

If your worried about running short of water for the holiday weekend, most camping stores sell inclosed 5 gallon pails that come with a water spigot at the base. The pails fit nicely on your picnic table. Just fill it when coming into the campground.

here somthing similar to what I have, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OUTDOOR-CAMPING-WATER-CONTAINER-CARRIER-BOTTLE-PLASTIC-JERRY-CAN-WITH-WATER-TAP-/163334887324

Mike

x2 on this. I have one of the round orange water containers that one can get at any home improvement store for about $10-$20 or so. Works fine for drinking, cooking and washing cookware water, use the on board only for showers.