Freshwater Tank Refilling - What Do You Do?

CloudDriver wrote:
With two people, we are able to dry camp for 6-7 days with our 33 gallon fresh water tank....e navy showers - get wet, shut off water, soap up, turn on water and rinse off. We don't shower every day.We only add water to the toilet for #2, even then minimal water. We also use minimal water when flushing.

Although these suggestions are excellent for saving water, they are not a comfortable way to live. And using minimal toilet water is the main reason for black tank problems.

I'll spend my effort and money on carrying more water. To each his own.

I thought the "thrust" was where to find water....not how to conserve it.

pianotuna wrote:
I thought the "thrust" was where to find water....not how to conserve it.

From the OP: what do you do to manage your water use and/or refill your freshwater tank as needed?


Bolding added.

katet78 wrote:
When in a campground without potable water (either none at all or the spigots aren't turned on yet for the summer) what do you do to manage your water use and/or refill your freshwater tank as needed?

We only dry-camp on the way to somewhere else where there *are* hookups. But we have learned to scrounge water by using Truckstop showers or taking brief "Navy" showers, using little water. You're camping and don't have to smell like a rose. There are also those products called No-Rinse-Body-Bath made for the handicapped and bed-ridden. You use only a few qts of water and they do an excellent job. :)

Pots and pans - one of you stand there outside and tip the water container so the other can quickly wash/rinse the stuff. Use disposable plastic silverware, plates and bowls. Use and throw them away. Try to make food that can be made in one pot or pan or use the BBQ grill to cook on - no pans and pots to wash. Get a few more 5g containers for extra water.

We have a travel trailer with a 20 gallon freshwater tank. We find that with "normal" use (dish washing, toilet flushing, filling the coffee pot, etc.) it lasts about 24 hours.

Try less flushing. Flush only after a few uses or after a BM.

We carry bottled water and a rubbermaid jug (I think it's a 5 gallon) for drinking and dog water (a giant St. Bernard need lots of water). If we conserve by using paper plates we can maybe go about 1.5 days. We carry along a 7 gallon potable water jerry can to refill our freshwater tank and it has a wonderful spout that makes it easy to pour directly into our freshwater tank. We'd like to purchase a few more but haven't been able to find them in stock. We have some of the basic plastic jugs that you would find at say a Wal-Mart, but those aren't as easy to pour into the camper and they tend to crack pretty easily. We'd love to find a solution to lugging along 10 jugs or being worried about running out of our water when there isn't a spigot to refill from at the campground. If you have a solution to using less water, or have found great products for hauling water from home, I'd love to know.

Thanks!

We just use those 5g containers from WM and haven't had one crack or split yet, plus as many washed milk containers of clean water as we think we'll need. Watch the balance on your RV as water is heavy. Don't store it all in the back or the front. You may be better off camping where there are full hookups if possible or you know they have the water turned on.

katet78 wrote:
Thanks all! These are some great suggestions. I think our biggest strategy will just be conserving, which will take practice.

Taking a cross country trip in a van-conversion with nothing but large containers of water and no toilet, I really learned how to conserve water. Especially important in the desert where there was nothing for miles around but cactus and lizards. :) All we had was a bed, fridge and tiny stove. Showers were taken every few days at truck stops with sponge baths in-between. We never ran short of water.

To conserve the most water you can do all or most of your cooking on those grills we all have with us. We only used a pot or pan when there was no choice. Use as much disposable kitchen stuff as possible, from plastic silverware to those cheap plastic or paper soda cups. You can even use those disposable Styrofoam cups for your coffee. We had cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch - which left nothing to wash but our hands. :)

If you want to live as you do at home and use water as you do at home (or close to it) with everyone showering daily etc, you will need to find full-hookup places to camp because everything that goes down the drain will end up in your black water tank which will have to be hauled to the dump-station, another PIA. Not all places allow gray water from dish washing to be dumped on the ground which means everything used and washed ends up in the GWT.

As for refilling the fresh water tank... most truckstops have water taps as well as state, federal and COE campgrounds.

2oldman wrote:
Although these suggestions are excellent for saving water, they are not a comfortable way to live. And using minimal toilet water is the main reason for black tank problems.

I'll spend my effort and money on carrying more water. To each his own.

Even though we don't need to scrounge water and use plenty to flush, we still need to use that "tank flush" gizmo that came with our RV. And if we stick a hose down the commode itself, even more "gunk" comes out. This goes for all 3 RVs we've owned. Using loads of water alone to flush doesn't do the job completely.

for "remote" filling I mounted and wired a RV water pump in the pass through near the fresh water fill. Output of the pump is plumbed into the fresh water fill hose. Input to the pump goes to a length of plastic tubing and a SS dip tube.

for carrying water we use the 7 gallon blue water jugs. Fill the jug, stick the dip tube into the jug vent, turn on pump, repeat as necessary. If we don't know if water is available I carry 4 of these jugs in the truck bed, gives us about another 30 gallons of water.

I have a 25 gal plastic tank that I put into the back of the pickup and just drain it into the fresh water fill using only gravity. Works fine.

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
I have a 25 gal plastic tank that I put into the back of the pickup and just drain it into the fresh water fill using only gravity. Works fine.

I've heard of other folks doing this, but I can't. Our fill location is above the floor of the bed of my truck therefore I have to use a pump.

You'll learn the first time you have to drive 60 miles RT to get water. We have enough water for 3 days if we take a shower the second day only. Otherwise with 2 it supplies all our needs. The greywater tank fills up first.