Fresh water tank-is it needed?

Alabama Jim wrote:
The fresh water tank is only needed if you boondock or stay in a Walmart Lot, etc.

Also handy if doing a quick stop for lunch. It allows you to wash your hands and use the bathroom.

As someone else said, what happens when the park water goes out? We've had several parks where water was shut down for a few hours for work on the system. A failure could be days.

Also as someone suggested, if your plumbing springs a leak (city water is usually at higher pressure so more likely to fail), it will keep pumping water into your RV until you realize what is happening. If you use the pump and there is a small leak, you will hear the pump kick on periodically when no one is using water and it will let you know something is wrong sooner.

Finally, resale is going to take a big hit as I'm going to assume the worst when an RV is missing key systems.

Another reason for keeping the fresh tank that I did not see mentioned.

Went to a full hook up park in late Sept. Everything was fine and working with my full hook up but a cold front moved in. Temps got down to the low 20s and city water connection froze. I had to deal with that situation by disconnecting the city water connection and filling my fresh tank as temps were going to be down in the 20s again the next night. With my fresh tank filled, I was able to use water as needed even with my full hook ups at the RV park.

This may not be a common occurrence, but I'm very glad I had the ability to still have water with those cold low temps.

Tvov wrote:
You say you are newbies... are you sure you will always have hookups? The more you camp, the more you may very well want to explore different campgrounds. Every year we go to at least one campground that does not have hookups. Especially now that our kids no long camp with us, I prefer rustic, no hookup campgrounds.

My favorite campground in my state is a small, heavily wooded, rustic (for water you really have to use an old fashioned hand operated well pump) state park campground that is gorgeous and quiet. We never would have found this state park if we limited ourselves to full hookup only campsites.

That's very true - thank you for that insight. I never thought about it like that - longer term after the kids are grown.

Super glad to have this community and everyone's feedback. :)

ktnluvl wrote:

drenjoey wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
Don't need waste holding tanks either

If you use city water, you will need both of those tanks if you're gonna wash dishes, have showers and go bathroom.

Thank you. Definitely don't plan on dropping those. The freshwater tank is in our dinette inside, so I would like to take that out to have extra storage if possible is the only reason I'm asking.

If the tank is in there you may want to compromise.
Put a 5-7 gallon can there instead, You would then have most of the extra space, but would still be able to carry a small amount of water to use for toilet or sink in a pinch.

Alabama Jim wrote:
The fresh water tank is only needed if you boondock or stay in a Walmart Lot, etc.

or want to use the bathroom while on the road, etc. I would suggest leaving tank in and not use it for a few trips and see how foolish an idea it would be.
bumpy

You say you are newbies... are you sure you will always have hookups? The more you camp, the more you may very well want to explore different campgrounds. Every year we go to at least one campground that does not have hookups. Especially now that our kids no long camp with us, I prefer rustic, no hookup campgrounds.

My favorite campground in my state is a small, heavily wooded, rustic (for water you really have to use an old fashioned hand operated well pump) state park campground that is gorgeous and quiet. We never would have found this state park if we limited ourselves to full hookup only campsites.

ktnluvl wrote:

drenjoey wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
Don't need waste holding tanks either

If you use city water, you will need both of those tanks if you're gonna wash dishes, have showers and go bathroom.

Thank you. Definitely don't plan on dropping those. The freshwater tank is in our dinette inside, so I would like to take that out to have extra storage if possible is the only reason I'm asking.

Sounded like you wanted a park model, aren't most of those are just plumbed right into the sites sewer line?

I was a Scout and try to always be prepared. A fresh water tank is very handy. Why limit the kinds of places you can camp? Since it's apparently easy to install, why not just do it?

Rover_Bill wrote:
If the fresh water tank is located ahead of the axles, having some water in it can help balance the trailer to avoid sway. A full tank can help steady the trailer in a strong crosswind. Just my 2 cents.

Thank you! I never thought about that!

drenjoey wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
Don't need waste holding tanks either

If you use city water, you will need both of those tanks if you're gonna wash dishes, have showers and go bathroom.

Thank you. Definitely don't plan on dropping those. The freshwater tank is in our dinette inside, so I would like to take that out to have extra storage if possible is the only reason I'm asking.