where 2 get water for RV before you reach your destination?

[bacabunch]

Hey guys,

I really would not like to pull anymore weight than I need to, but who does! Is there a way to know if you can fill up close to your destination? There must be way to find out before you get there?

Thanks,
Ben

[SDcampowneroper]

The cost of providing safe drinking water is a few pennies per gallon, city or private . . . Initial cost of drilling wells, coupled with power , EPA quality testing, and other costs amortized over 20 years works out to a very minor cost.
The cost comes in the disposal of the wastewater and refuse. Wheather city or private waste treatment and disposal by far exceeds the cost of quality water production.
OP asked a valid question to which they have recieved many valid answers, however the topic does not address the larger issue of wastewater disposal.
Filling fresh water is limited in many places due to the fewer places to dispose of the wastewater.
Consider Custer State Park SD . 5 camps scattered over 20 miles each with a entry water fill tap power but 0nly 1 wastewater dumpstation , 450 sites total There is 1 dump station at the Game Lodge camp ground. This is by design and necessity as other Black Hills soils are difficult to absorption.
Its a simple question to ask about quality drinking water. A much more costly and difficult one to consider the waste treatment.
Educate yourselves about the transport and proper disposal of waste. Theres the cost and difficulty.

[Super_Dave]

I was talking to the campground owner at our KOA this week and he said that many boondockers come in the middle of the night to steal water. He lets non camp people fill for $12 but most want to steal it. They have had to put locks on all their hose bibbs.

[memtb]

bacabunch wrote:
Hey guys,

I really would not like to pull anymore weight than I need to, but who does! Is there a way to know if you can fill up close to your destination? There must be way to find out before you get there?

Thanks,
Ben

The “only” negative with carrying your fresh tank full.....is the “slight” increase in braking distance! The additional weight will have little to no effect on fuel mileage. Having water onboard when traveling has many more benefits than negatives!

I see several posts indicating that only the rich can afford an RV with greater CCC! To many of those folks I suggest that a quality used RV, is often far less money than a low quality low CCC “new” unit! We’ve owned / used RV’s far above our “pay grade” for over 30+ years.....because we bought used (preowned)! It simple “boils down” to do I prefer “new” over quality! I just wish our kids would listen to and follow that advice....they would be owning much nicer units and not be taking the huge depreciation losses on their “new” purchases! Our present 5th wheel “new” would have set us back $160 K....we purchased it 8 years old for under $35K. Hey.....it’s only money! memtb

[campigloo]

Back to the original question, there are several places if no flying j or something is available. We travel for months at a time and sometimes boondock in one spot for weeks. I carry 4
Jerry cans and have a pump mounted in my storage bin. When we go to some store I ask at the register if I can have 20 gal of water. Rarely am I denied. Same with mom and pop gas stations. Churches are a great place to ask if some one is on the premises. Moral of the story,
people are usually really nice and will do their best to accommodate you if you just ask.

[mowermech]

For those advocating the use of a "water thief", keep in mind that many USFS and State Park campgrounds have water hand pump or faucets that such a gadget can not be used on. They are specifically designed to prevent that.
I tried the "1/4 tank of fresh water for the trip, fill at destination" scenario once years ago. I found no benefit from doing so; the handling over the mountain pass wasn't any better, the fuel economy didn't show a significant improvement, and the hassle of filling the water tank at the destination wasn't worth the trouble, IMO
Of course, YMMV. We each have to do what makes us happy.
Good luck.

[mdcamping]

Generally will fill at the campground. I do check online or call, only been a problem once. That happened to be last year at a provincial park in Ontario where they decided to close the fill station for repairs unexpectedly... ended up driving 7 miles out of the way down a poorly maintained dirt road for water.

Mike

[CharlesinGA]

Many fuel stations such as Loves and Pilot have faucets in the pump islands, but they are almost always marked "non-potable water" to prevent or discourage use. I have read (no personal experience) that out west, most Maverick stations have free dump and free potable water.

Some state rest stops or welcome stations may have water or dumps or both.

Allstays, Sanidumps, and other apps are good to use for finding water and dump stations.

Lwiddis wrote:
You sanitized at home? No fun to find water once you arrive at a campground. What if closest water point is closed, contaminated or otherwise unavailable? No stopping to dry camp or boondock...no water. Your choice. If 400 pounds of water makes that much of difference to you, you need a better TV.

It may not have anything to do with tow vehicle, but everything to do with water tank location on the trailer. I have a trailer with the water tank at the very rear, under the bed. Yes, it should have been put under the floor, forward of the axles but it was not. It was located inside to make the trailer a "four season" trailer, but in the process put water where it should not have been.

wing_zealot wrote:
I have never seen an established campground that didn't have water available somewhere on the property. If you're rustic camping or boondocking all bets are off.

Was just at one earlier this week that had water for shower and commodes and I wondered why the commodes seemed to fill very slowly. Then walking the campground I spied a large round poly tank of 1500 or so gallons up on the highest spot on the campground. There is no power at all in the campground save for a large generator near the office, so either the tank is refilled by tank truck every so often or it could be pumped from a well by the generator when they needed to refill it. It was on top of a mountain at 5400 ft ASL.

Charles

[CavemanCharlie]

Thermoguy wrote:
Now on Page 4 - was the question should I fill up at home or on the road? I don't think it was...

I have a similar question. Next month traveling from the Seattle area to Whitefish MT. The first 4 days we are boondocking at a venue with no services. Have to use Generator to recharge my batteries, and need water. Don't want to travel all that way will a full tank. Will most likely plan to leave with it 1/2 full. I am on well water and just so you know, we don't drink our water at home, have bottled water delivered. So, I'm OK showering, brushing teeth, washing dishes, but don't drink it. So, where to get water before we get to our destination? Might be asking some unsuspecting home owner if I can hook up to a faucet outside their house.

It depends on where you are going when you get there. Many parks in MN have a place to fill your tank once you get to the park. Call ahead and ask the places you are staying at if they have a way to fill and,,, ask them where they get their water from. Most public water supplies will be OK, some wells maybe not.

[Lantley]

Thermoguy wrote:
Now on Page 4 - was the question should I fill up at home or on the road? I don't think it was...

I have a similar question. Next month traveling from the Seattle area to Whitefish MT. The first 4 days we are boondocking at a venue with no services. Have to use Generator to recharge my batteries, and need water. Don't want to travel all that way will a full tank. Will most likely plan to leave with it 1/2 full. I am on well water and just so you know, we don't drink our water at home, have bottled water delivered. So, I'm OK showering, brushing teeth, washing dishes, but don't drink it. So, where to get water before we get to our destination? Might be asking some unsuspecting home owner if I can hook up to a faucet outside their house.

Why do you not want to travel with a full tank? Do you believe the tank is not made for traveling? Does the rig tow poorly with a full tank?
What size is your tank?
The simple answer is it will always be easier to fill at home vs. the unsuspecting homeowners house. If you need the water simply bring it from home.

[Thermoguy]

Now on Page 4 - was the question should I fill up at home or on the road? I don't think it was...

I have a similar question. Next month traveling from the Seattle area to Whitefish MT. The first 4 days we are boondocking at a venue with no services. Have to use Generator to recharge my batteries, and need water. Don't want to travel all that way will a full tank. Will most likely plan to leave with it 1/2 full. I am on well water and just so you know, we don't drink our water at home, have bottled water delivered. So, I'm OK showering, brushing teeth, washing dishes, but don't drink it. So, where to get water before we get to our destination? Might be asking some unsuspecting home owner if I can hook up to a faucet outside their house.

[ktmrfs]

fill at home:

1) when we get to the campground I then have at least several days before I need to hook up water. No rush to get water hooked up.
2) more than once I've been at a campground where either they had plumbing problems or power problems and no water for anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

worrying about the extra weight is like worring about the weight of an extra bag of groceries in the car. Seriously 50 gallons of water =400 lbs. out of somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 total pounds. it's insignficant.

[CavemanCharlie]

MitchF150 wrote:
I'm not at the stage where I go 'weeks' at a time on the road, so I always take a load of water from home, even if going to a full hookup site..

My old TT only had a 30 gallon fresh water tank, but my new Rockwood has a 55 gallon fresh water tank... I have found, I don't really use all that much fresh water from the tank on a long 4 day weekend.

No kids, no need to take a 10 minute shower every day while "camping"... It's my time to be dirty, so a good sponge bath before bed is more than refreshing while out in the 'woods'.. ha, ha..

In the end, do what you need to do that works best for you.. All of us other goofs out there are just doing the same thing and proud of it! That's why we post what we do and think it's all anyone else needs to do to enjoy their time in the "woods".. 🙂

Good luck! Mitch

This is my attitude too.

But,,, since I started dating Lyla things have changed. I've been trying to educate her on my camping style and, I have gained some! But I have a long ways to go.

Sometimes I sneak off and camp without here so I don't have to worry about all the girly things that women get upset about. ( And most of the men these days too)

Heck, I only wash my swimsuit a couple of times a year. Why would I need to wash it ? It was just in the water !

I fill my tank at home and then I don't have to worry about filling it when I get someplace. When I get there I'm wanting to set up and see what is going on, not spending time filling the tank. I admit, that I am just a weekend camper that stays close to home.

[afidel]

kellem wrote:
I did post that prefer filling at home but agree.....weight could become an issue.

Why? Because of axle ratings.
You'd be surprised how many trailers with say, 7700 GVWR come equipped with 2 axles rated at 3500 lbs.....2 X 3500=7000.

If the tank sits forward of axles, quite a bit on some trailers then your dealing with what could be, significant tounge weight.

NOW,this additional weight attacks your payload. Lol

Why can't it be simple.

I have the opposite problem, 3,600 GVWR, 26 gallons of water all sitting well behind the axle drops the tongue weight a bunch making it tow much worse.

[1320Fastback]

I always fill up at home where I know the water is safe and agrees with us. Hate to get sick on the road over something so preventable. When on the road I only fill up at a campground spigot and use my own fresh water hose and filter.

If your tanks fall out because they are full you've got some assembly issues and god knows what other short cuts they took.