City water or On-board tank?

[ricks99]

Can anyone provide specific reasons why one is better than another?

I see a lot of folks who fill/use their tanks even at a site with city water hookup.

I understand that you may want to have some water while traveling (e.g., to use the sink, toilet, etc) but when camping, why? I had assumed that using city water would always be preferable (less wear/tear on the pump, one less thing to break, etc), to using my on-board, fresh water tank, but I'm not sure.

When camping at a site with city water, do you use your fresh-water tank? Why or why not?

[myredracer]

Filters!

You have no idea what sh#t can be in city water. Even city water that is supplied by a municipal gov't agency can have undesirable stuff in it even though it has to comply with federal regulations. Below is a photo of some kind of biological material we found on our filter screen after a weekend outing early in the season. Not really the kinda stuff I want to ingest. In cold climates with few or no users in a CG, water in piping stagnates, chlorine concentration dissipates over time, and biological "stuff" can grow in the piping system. A CG should flush all their lines at the beginning of the season and I would guess most probably don't.

I called the manager of the local water district and he said the material was a non-toxic "biomass" due to failure of the CG to flush their lines. He contacted the CG to do some flushing and said it wasn't the first time.

City water can have many types of undesirable stuff in - chemicals, bacteria, viruses, organisms, sediment, heavy metals, and more plus sediment that can plug up your RV's plumbing system. You may not know where the CG gets its supply from and if it is treated and monitored.

Unless you are confident in the water quality at a particular CG or anywhere else, you may want to use your FW tank and fill up at a known good source. Or use some decent filtration. After I found the sh#t on our filter screen, I installed 4 stage filtration inside our TT that goes down to 0.2 microns (which is very small). We never dry camp and always use the water at CGs and have never had a problem. We have never used our FW even once.

BTW, some organisms are chlorine resistant such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia which can make you very sick. Don't think you can just put some chlorine in your tank and you'll always be safe. Even when using a FW tank, filtering the water could be a good idea.

The occasional CG can have really low pressure and the way around that is to use your FW tank.

[mgirardo]

ricks99 wrote:
When camping at a site with city water, do you use your fresh-water tank? Why or why not?

We almost always traveled with at least 1/2 a tank of fresh water. If we were going somewhere without hookups, we'd leave with a full tank.
We always use city water when available. I can't think of any campground that we've ever been to that the water from the campground wasn't acceptable.

We started camping seasonally a few years ago. We usually keep the fresh water tank full in case of power failure, but use the campground's water for normal use. Our seasonal campground has wells, so no power means no water. For extended outages, they use generators to power the wells, but not for short term. We've lost power every year that we've been there except one year.

-Michael

[goducks10]

My house has a some PEX and some original water pipe. Never had a leak.
My 5er is PEX. Only leaked when new due to the goofball using the wrong fitting at the manifold. I use city water thats filtered when it's there to use. I use my fresh water tank when no city water is available. I also use bottled water when I'm not certain about whats in my tank from filling out of my normal area. I sanitize my tank every year and fill from home if I'm dry camping.
Never had any water illness in 65 years.

[Veebyes]

My pump has delivered tens of thousands of gallons over the past 10 years & some 1500 nights travelling. I have no problem hearing it run. It is just an operational noise, no more irritating than anything else.

Every drop we use has come from the tank after it has first gone through a water softener as the tank is filled. We have a 100gal capacity which means that tank filling only happens once a week. One less thing to connect at a CG if only staying a night. Hook up power. That is it.

[ctilsie242]

daveengstrand wrote:
This comment is not meant to be smart, simply an honest question. When you leave your S&B to go to the store, the movie or?, do you shut off your water main? Except for the RVs with the gray polybutylene plumbing, they use the same plumbing as a S&B. Some are CPVC and most, if not all, newer ones are PEX. To be fair, movement from driving down the road can obviously play a part. That will have minimal effect on PEX tho. After 30 years, the ones that concerned me the most were the gray stuff, it is not good and had some recalls to be replaced. Next would be CPVC as it gets brittle with age so movement from traveling could cause an issue. PEX is a very durable product. It is tough, flexible and allows for the elimination of a lot of the fittings needed with hard piping such as copper or CPVC.

My S&B uses copper. My RV uses PEX with crimp fittings. My S&B pipes don't see much movement other than heating/cooling, and some slight movement as water goes through them. My RV's piping sees a lot more vibration as it goes down the road.

The reason I turn off the water and use the tank is that my S&B was built to building codes, with someone inspecting them, as well as the city inspecting things as well. My travel trailer... well, it was built to get it out the door, and I have zero clue if it even was near someone who had any plumbing licensing.

With this in mind, if something leaked in my TT, I have 50-ish gallons of water to deal with. If hooked to city water, I have a lot more.

Plus, I like carrying some water. Who knows if I might need to pull over and take a shower or hose something off.

[joanne0012]

Put me in the "Always out of the tank, never hook up" category, partly to avoid risk of flooding but also because it's just simpler when you do it the same way all the time whether boondocking or in a campground with hookups. I rarely stay in a campground more than a couple of days, so sometimes I don't use the on-site water at all. It's simpler to take out the hose and fill the tank when needed, and immediately put the hose away.

Also, if it's raining or cold or buggy or late on departure day, there's one less thing you have to mess around with when preparing for departure.

[Atlee]

Plus 1 on the water hose freezing at night.

In Feb 2014, we had stopped at a Ameristar Casino CG Vicksburg, MS. The lady who checked us in, said we probably shouldn't hook up the water hose as it was going to freeze that night. Freeze isn't the half of it. Vicksburg set a record low of 17 that night. Fortunately, no water lines froze in the TT.

Later, while in San Antonio, TX, I did have my hose hooked up, and it froze overnight. Disconnected that morning and it thawed out during the day.

K3WE wrote:
How about this for an answer: IT DEPENDS! and maybe 'enjoy the choice'.

If you aren't staying particularly long, hooking up the hose is one less thing to do. Also, if things get a little cold at night, your hose can freeze while your tank probably will not. On a recent trip- we were worried about a water leak. Filling the water tank and working the on-off switch was a pretty convenient way to address the situation. Dittos that sometimes campground water might have a 'local flavor'...again, the choice to 'carry your own' is just that- a nice choice.

[K3WE]

How about this for an answer: IT DEPENDS! and maybe 'enjoy the choice'.

If you aren't staying particularly long, hooking up the hose is one less thing to do. Also, if things get a little cold at night, your hose can freeze while your tank probably will not. On a recent trip- we were worried about a water leak. Filling the water tank and working the on-off switch was a pretty convenient way to address the situation. Dittos that sometimes campground water might have a 'local flavor'...again, the choice to 'carry your own' is just that- a nice choice.

[CharlesinGA]

Matt_Colie wrote:
Nobody here has mentioned a real big issue.

If your RV has a problem and there is a virtually unlimited supply of water, it can all end up on your floor. And, that will be after the black and gray tanks overflow. So, unless you leave the dumps open all the time, that is a real risk.

Matt

Very true. The only time I have hooked up to campsite water was my four nite stay at Spearfish City Campground SD, and even then I shut off the faucet/spigot/whatever you call it, every day before I left to go touring in the rental car.

I don't even leave my pump on when I am not using the water.

Charles

[drsteve]

midnightsadie wrote:
changing water source in your diet can ruin a vacation.

If that happens, you're not drinking clean water.

[chuckbear]

Bobbo wrote:

ricks99 wrote:
It sounds like the main reason that folks advocate using the fresh water tank instead of city water is the eliminate the possibility of a leak or other water intrusion when you're away from the site.

But wouldn't you have to turn off your water pump when you leave, to avoid the same issue?

Seems like the same difference to me -- turning off the city water nozzle or turning off the pump.

Or am I missing something obvious?

If we are not actively using water, the water pump is off even when we are there. Our routine:

Turn on pump, wash hands, turn off pump.
Turn on pump, brush teeth, turn off pump.
Turn on pump, flush toilet, turn off pump.
Turn on pump, shower, turn off pump.

I think you see a pattern starting to emerge. We don't have to remember to turn the pump off when leaving or sleeping because the pump is already off. It isn't that hard to turn the pump on every time you want to use water. If you forget, the faucet reminds you quite quickly.

We use the same technique when no water is available. If city water is available we use it. Chuck

[Bobbo]

daveengstrand wrote:
To be fair, movement from driving down the road can obviously play a part.

This is the most important part of this post.

daveengstrand wrote:
That will have minimal effect on PEX tho.

There may technically be minimal effect on PEX, but the CONNECTIONS on the PEX are as susceptible to movement and jarring as any other connection.

There is absolutely no correlation between the risk of water leaks in a S&B house and the risk of water leaks in an RV. (Unless you want to talk about the risk of water leaks in a S&B house after a major earthquake, and I warrant that those risks are VERY high.)

[SoundGuy]

daveengstrand wrote:
This comment is not meant to be smart, simply an honest question. When you leave your S&B to go to the store, the movie or?, do you shut off your water main? Except for the RVs with the gray polybutylene plumbing, they use the same plumbing as a S&B.

Nope, and nope. My S&B is all copper, trailer is PEX. Trailer moves down the road but the last time I checked the house is still where it was when built 31 yrs ago. 😉 House insurance requires that if we're away for any length of time that it be checked every 48 hrs, water leaks being one reason.

[time2roll]

I don't hook up just to hook up. If I need it I use it but probably not for one night. If the water has been in the tank a while then I use it up before refill. Don't need much water unless the RV shower is to be used and then I need sewer too.

Same goes for electric. I frequently don't even plug in until I need it.

Not really going to list every possibility.