how do you make your tanks last so long?

[JimM68]

I read all these posts about people boondocking and having their tanks last 2 weeks or even more...

How the heck do you do that?

Even with navy showers, we are lucky to go 3 days...

Our motorhome is a Monaco knight. 100 gallon fresh, 60/40 gray /black.
It has one of those techma macerating toilets.

Rule is, guys P outside somewhere. Girls flush maybe every 4rth?
#2 always gets flushed right away.

We fill our black tank in maybe 3 days.

We did one nascar race, just me and #1 son, rain delay, 5 days total. Even with just 2 guys, we filled the black tank and ignored it, ran out of fresh water by day 4, had to call safety clean, a ben franklin to dump gray and black and fill the fresh water....

How do people last 2 weeks?
We never come close to that,
And camping with the DW, she MUST have a real shower (navy style) every day.

[JimM68]

The tough part is that damned electric toilet. I do love it. It's clean and very "houselike" where a conventional RV toilet is like "dumping" into the hole in an outhouse, with the bonus of a fresh water rinse.

But dayum that thing will fill the black tank.

[dewey02]

Lots of suggestions and solutions have been posted.
Some are extreme, others more practical.
But that's the great thing about the knowledge and opinions on this forum.
We can take what will work for us, and ignore what will not, or we can't bring ourselves to do. We personally enjoy the challenge of stretching our water supply, after all we're camping and that is just part of the fun. But I wouldn't go so far as to #1 in a bottle. And no, we don't forgo bathing for an entire trip.

With a 100 gallon FW tank and 60/40 GW/BW tanks, going a week without running out of space should not be too difficult, even if following only some of the options suggested in this thread.

When boondocking, there is no magic. Decide what you are willing to do and do without. And then plan or adjust your camping stay accordingly. If you are unwilling to do without some home habits, that's fine too. Just plan 3 day trips, or plan a dump and refill. Or only camp where you have water/sewer hookups.

RVing is about what makes you happy and comfortable.

[MiRV]

Turn off the the H20 pump when not being used. When you flush (unless #2) let the gravity do the work. Every time you flush with water, you are using excessive fresh water.

As others have said, catch all water while waiting for the hot water to reach to the faucet/shower…every drop is vital to making it last the loungest.

[billkaufmann]

JimM68 wrote:
I read all these posts about people boondocking and having their tanks last 2 weeks or even more...

How the heck do you do that?

Even with navy showers, we are lucky to go 3 days...

Our motorhome is a Monaco knight. 100 gallon fresh, 60/40 gray /black.
It has one of those techma macerating toilets.

Rule is, guys P outside somewhere. Girls flush maybe every 4rth?
#2 always gets flushed right away.

We fill our black tank in maybe 3 days.

We did one nascar race, just me and #1 son, rain delay, 5 days total. Even with just 2 guys, we filled the black tank and ignored it, ran out of fresh water by day 4, had to call safety clean, a ben franklin to dump gray and black and fill the fresh water....

How do people last 2 weeks?
We never come close to that,
And camping with the DW, she MUST have a real shower (navy style) every day.

If we are boondocking, I hook up a garden hose to the drain and slow water trees from my gray tank. Legal where we have been so far. Put a tiny bit of aquachem in kitchen sink to eliminate smell.

[camperpaul]

I use two plastic "dish pans" and about a gallon of water for dishes. When I'm done with the dishes, I pour the wash water into the bucket, use rinse water to clean the wash pan, then dump it into the bucket.

About once per week I take the bucket to the campground shower building and dump it into a toilet.

[roamermatt]

camperpaul wrote:
I haven't dumped my black tank since December and my grey water goes into a five gallon bucket which is dumped about once every four or five days.

Paul - Just wondering how you collect the gray water. 😄 Do you have the drain lines diverted to fill the bucket, or what? And where do you dump the bucket when it's full? :@

[was_butnotnow]

We boondock and since the black tank is larger than the gray we take the gray dish water and dump it down the stool. We never dump gray on the ground anywhere BTW. Gray water is full of dish soap, food scraps, etc. Now saying that Black water is more natural (bears do it the woods) so if you think about it black would be more natural to dump... But please don't dump either one. Conserve and look at my article.
Also we use this method. Water and Boondocking 101 Dumping Gary and Black water
Take a look and see if this could work for you esp in a 5th wheel.

[murphy38]

Ours seem to last 6 to 7 days most of the time. We do use campground when ever we can. Guess every setup is a little different. Just keep trying you will find what works for you best

[Jfet]

We are building our flatbed camper with a internal 37 gallon fresh 37 gallon gray tanks. Those are in the heated living area under the sink. We don't have a black tank but instead will use a Thetford cassette toilet that has a removable 6 gallon tank. I will buy an extra cassette and make a place under the flatbed to store it.

We have an outdoor shower but only a sink indoors. The sink drains to the gray tank. The outdoor shower drains...outdoors. I plan on sponge baths and washing hair in the inside sink (large deep sink) which should conserve water to about a gallon a wash. The outdoor shower will probably only have limited use.

I am thinking of putting a large fresh water tank under the flatbed truck...it certainly can carry it as there will be 5000 pounds or so of leftover GVWR after the camper is on the truck. Maybe 100 gallons.

Reading this thread I am a bit worried about the amount of black water tank capacity you guys use. Perhaps we will carry our WAG bag toilet for emergency extended stays. The bags are expensive at $2 a pop, but you a few uses from each. You can toss them in any garbage can legally as they contain powders and seal up. We currently use them on our small sailboat.

[JimM68]

As for me, I'm a navy vet and very familiar with "navy showers"
The others, well, I explained the procedure, but am not in there with them.
Listening to the pump could work, tho ours is very quiet.

[rockhillmanor]

First of all it would be a cold day in hell that I would buy an RV and then pee in a bottle. :R

My guess is maybe your family IS taking 'short' showers but they are NOT turning the water off while scrubbing or shampooing their hair.

Short showers are one thing, turning the water off DURING the shower is what is needed. Short shower and not turning it off while you do what you need to do with the soap is a water hog and tank filler.

That is a real hard sticks and brick habit to break but it is why the rest of us get longer times out of our tanks.

If you are without hookups and running off your water pump you should be able to "hear" if they are shutting the water off and on during their showers. If you do not hear the pump clicking on and off while they are showering, bang on the shower door and tell them they are banned until they get it!!!:B

[BarbaraOK]

When we don't have full hookups, I use a pan in the shower to catch water until it is hot. Then use that water to flush the toilet. Also, everyone once in a while use the left over water from washington dishes (hopefully you're using paper plates, etc., when not on FHU) and dump down the toilet to help keep sensors clean. Just make sure no spoons, etc., are left in the pan.

As to having a shower every day - a correctly done sponge bath will negate needing to have a full navy shower every other day. And if you are in the desert southwest, a little less full showers will help with the dry skin - - when humidity is 10% or so, the skin itches and flakes like mad.

Barb

[Geocritter]

As far as hot water. It takes forever to get hot water to my kitchen sink. However, I have hot water almost instantly in my bathroom. That being the case, when I need a hot water, such as to boil for pasta or coffee I fill the pot in my bathroom. Heck it's an RV and everything in it is only a few steps away!

Steve

[mpierce]

"2-3 cups?
that is not even 1/4 of what it takes just to get hot water out of the shower head!"

You need to catch that water! It is clean, drinkable water. Catch it in a pan, while waiting for it to get hot. Then, use that water for other purposes. Wash dishes, etc.

Same at sink. Catch the water, waiting for hot. Or, better, when ready to wash dishes, run cold water into a pan, minimum amount, and heat that on the stove. Now, use that pan to wash dishes.

Remember, you need to use AT LEAST ONE TIME, ALL water. Do not let any go down a drain unused.