Freshwater Tank Refilling - What Do You Do?

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.