As a full timer, I am sure sometimes you do not have full hook ups. Where do you go to fill your potable water tanks? Do State Parks allow you to fill up there? What about Flying J's, etc. And then how safe is the water???
Speedhitch said
07:25 PM May 7, 2007
We fill up at a campground before we leave to dry camp. Be sure that the water supply you use is certified for drinking. If it is not marked as such I would not use it. I assume you are talking about using your on board water for dry camping? We also carry gal. jugs of water to make coffee and tea with. This really makes better drinks than the water from a hose. Most of the places we have dry camped have a water supply close by. Our rig carries 75 gal. of fresh water and when that is all used up our tanks are ready to be flushed. So if you do not have a dump caddy, then you have to pull up stakes to dump and you can put on more fresh water at that time. Some folks carry extra water containers to fill up their fresh tank with. They have a hose and just fill it back up. They are able to let their gray water run out on the ground, however, so their tanks do not run over.
Joe and Sherrilyn
Luvglass said
12:45 AM May 8, 2007
We just fill our fresh water tank at the last campground we're at before boondocking.
We've never had a problem at even one of the over 70 campgrounds we'ver been in so far.
Fred
blijil said
07:56 AM May 8, 2007
We mainly dry camp in state parks or National Forest campgrounds but we have camped in Mexico which is a bit different.
Most have a reported potable water supply somewhere around the campground and so we fill up there unless we know for a fact that the water tastes different enough for it to bother us. On occasion the water supply may be a few miles away. In state parks and NF if it says potable it is tested just like a city supply. We us a 6 gallon jug or if we need more a 45 gallon water bladder (6#s empty) we put in the back of the pickup to transport water. We just pump it into the holding tank by rerouting the onboard water pump. Most don't like to run more than 15 minutes at a time without a 15 minute break so be careful if pumping a lot of water. This works in most cases and keeps us from towing the extra 400+#s of water even though we do usually travel about a 1/3 full. We can go a full 14 days for the two of us without having to dump if showers are available or if we can dump grey water. The farther east you go the more limited the grey water dumping is.
In Mexico most all hookup water is not potable. Okay for showers, heated for dishwashing and clothes but not for drinking. Even the smallest of community has a place to buy drinking water by the gallon or five. We hauled full tanks in for the first load but after we had to fill only bottled water is used for drinking. When we returned don't forget to sanitize your tanks and change your filters before you fill again.
All of this is a bit of a hassle but you get paid back with some of the prettiest camping spots.
Larry and Jacki
Judy said
01:10 PM May 8, 2007
I do not like drinking water from campgrounds, state pks or etc. So we buy our water in 3 gallons jugs that we refill and use in our water counter cooler (its for hot an cold). Bought it at Wally and we love it for hot tea, cold drinking water and such. We also try not to fill our tanks up all the way full extra weight to carry but do keep some in our tanks if we should need it and we are always on full hookups full timing. southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs
Old Snipe said
05:05 PM May 9, 2007
I have filled with water from campgrounds, Flying J's and dumpstations.
I keep a spray bottle of 50% water/50% bleach in my wet bay. Before I hook up my hose to the bibb to fill, I give it a good shot of the bleach mixture. I've seen too many RVer's rinse their dump hoses with the water bibb, sometimes putting the hose as far over the faucet as it can fit.
Even though we don't use the onboard water for drinking, you can't avoid injesting some while showering or washing dishes.
We fill up at a campground before we leave to dry camp. Be sure that the water supply you use is certified for drinking. If it is not marked as such I would not use it. I assume you are talking about using your on board water for dry camping? We also carry gal. jugs of water to make coffee and tea with. This really makes better drinks than the water from a hose. Most of the places we have dry camped have a water supply close by. Our rig carries 75 gal. of fresh water and when that is all used up our tanks are ready to be flushed. So if you do not have a dump caddy, then you have to pull up stakes to dump and you can put on more fresh water at that time. Some folks carry extra water containers to fill up their fresh tank with. They have a hose and just fill it back up. They are able to let their gray water run out on the ground, however, so their tanks do not run over.
Joe and Sherrilyn
We mainly dry camp in state parks or National Forest campgrounds but we have camped in Mexico which is a bit different.
Most have a reported potable water supply somewhere around the campground and so we fill up there unless we know for a fact that the water tastes different enough for it to bother us. On occasion the water supply may be a few miles away. In state parks and NF if it says potable it is tested just like a city supply. We us a 6 gallon jug or if we need more a 45 gallon water bladder (6#s empty) we put in the back of the pickup to transport water. We just pump it into the holding tank by rerouting the onboard water pump. Most don't like to run more than 15 minutes at a time without a 15 minute break so be careful if pumping a lot of water. This works in most cases and keeps us from towing the extra 400+#s of water even though we do usually travel about a 1/3 full. We can go a full 14 days for the two of us without having to dump if showers are available or if we can dump grey water. The farther east you go the more limited the grey water dumping is.
In Mexico most all hookup water is not potable. Okay for showers, heated for dishwashing and clothes but not for drinking. Even the smallest of community has a place to buy drinking water by the gallon or five. We hauled full tanks in for the first load but after we had to fill only bottled water is used for drinking. When we returned don't forget to sanitize your tanks and change your filters before you fill again.
All of this is a bit of a hassle but you get paid back with some of the prettiest camping spots.
Larry and Jacki
southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs
I keep a spray bottle of 50% water/50% bleach in my wet bay. Before I hook up my hose to the bibb to fill, I give it a good shot of the bleach mixture. I've seen too many RVer's rinse their dump hoses with the water bibb, sometimes putting the hose as far over the faucet as it can fit.
Even though we don't use the onboard water for drinking, you can't avoid injesting some while showering or washing dishes.
Bleach is cheap and I'm not taking any chances.
Best Regards!