So RV’s are amazing in that they can offer us all of the amenities of a sticks and Bricks house while maintaining the mobility that all of us desire. One thing that is always an issue is water storage. Now water storage will vary greatly depending on the RV you have. Some have 100gal or 378.liter storage tanks or better but these large tanks are typically found on the big Class “A”’s or fifth Wheels. For the rest of us we have to deal with storage tanks that are considerably smaller and therefor water management is important to consider. In our Class “C” we have a 40 Gal or 151.5 liter storage tank with equal size waste water tanks on both the grey and black tanks. This gives us a fair amount of water in which to play with on our trips, but it is not unlimited. Even with 151 liters we still have to worry about water management and be conscious of how we use, and when we use our onboard water. The biggest users of water are the kitchen, toilet, and shower. Now there are many tips on how to manage your water effectively just search online, but I believe that it also depends on how long your trip will be. For us our average trip is 7 to 8 days long before we break camp and go find a dump facility that has fresh water. We have found that our onboard water system can provide us with water and waste water storage for this period of time; but of course it also depends on how many showers we want in that period of time. If we are taking at least two showers in a seven day period then we typically will run out of water, and need to replenish our tank. That is where having portable water containers come in handy.
When we travel we try to only carry enough water to run the toilet and sinks while on the road, then we fill up the water tank if not at our destination, then close to our destination. When filling the onboard tank I will also fill portable containers as well, this gives me the option then to refill my onboard tank if we go through all of our water. So what do we use for portable water storage? Well we use Aqua Packs, these are the blue containers that you find in Canadian Tire stores or any camping store that sell for about $20/container. These containers will hold about 5 gal or 20 Liters of water. Now where to put them will depend on your rig, but in ours we can fit five of these containers nicely in our shower for transport and the total weight is only about 205 lbs or 92.9 kg. That then gives us about 100 liters of extra water that we can then use to refill our onboard tank if needed. Now we don’t always use the extra water but it is sure nice to have the option.
One issue you will have to watch if you do refill you onboard water tank is your waste water tanks. Now typically waste water tanks are the same volume as the onboard water tank, evenly splitting the fresh water capacity between the two waste tanks; but this is not always the case. So it is important to know and verify what your waste tanks can hold. That is where a water flow meter can come in handy. This great little device attaches to a hose end and then counts how many liters or gallons pass thorough it on its way into your tanks. Once you know your waste water capacity then you can judge how much more water you can put in them when you refill your onboard water tank. Typically water will be split 50/50 between your grey and black tanks. So for us I have found that once I have gone through my onboard water tank I have about 40% capacity left in my waste tanks. This fits nicely with how much extra water I carry to refill with; but once full I then need to dump. Due to the type of camping and the areas we like to go to, using a honey Wagon (External Waste container) to relieve the waste tanks is not an option for us, but if you like to sit in RV parks then this may be an option for you that would allow you to dump without having to pull up stakes and drive to the dumping station.
Happy Trails
The Glampurs