Water cost?

Forgot to mention water cost at the rv park, is there a charge fee on usage?


Thanks!

Nope, not in my experience...ever.

Thank you!

Should I be concern about pressure of the water, I have read some camp sites have very low pressure, not sure how that works or is there a way to boost up the pressure yourself?

Sunsets67 said:

Thank you!

Should I be concern about pressure of the water, I have read some camp sites have very low pressure, not sure how that works or is there a way to boost up the pressure yourself?

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if its low  then use your 12V on board pump system.if its high carry the commen RV in line pressure reducer valve. 

I have not found low pressure to be a problem, you will need a pressure reducing device, I use this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YJLAIK/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you, great advice!

Most campgrounds maintain 35-55 psi for water pressure, either via their own well system of connection to a city water supply. Parks in mountain areas may have very high pressure from a supply well above the park altitude, so a pressure regulator in a wise thing to use. Regulator s are usually factory preset to around 45 psi, which is also what your RV's internal pump produces by default.

City water supplies are typically in the 45-55 psi range.

The "low pressure" complaints you hear from RVers are almost always low water flow volume rather than low pressure, and caused by a variety of factors involving their water hose, choice or regulator, clogged debris screens in the inlet or faucets, or the newer "water saving" shower heads. Only rarely will it be a park supply issue.

Some parks charge a "utility fee". More specifically the Can-Am parks near Phoenix. On monthly stays it's another $28 or so for "water, sewer and garbage service", electricity is metered and in addition to the other utility charge.

Ken

Many of us are more concerned with high pressure than low because too much pressure can "blow" the lines and then you have a mess to clean up and repair.  Always use a pressure regulator at the campground faucet for that reason.  Many parks with high pressure will have signs in the office or state when you check in that you NEED a water pressure regulator.

Gary is right about water volume which varies all over the place.  If a lot of people on the same water pipe are taking showers at the same time then water volume ("pressure") will be reduced.  This variation can occur in the same site at different times of the day.  Aside from the high pressure issue, the more water you have coming out of the faucet the faster you will fill your gray tank.  Most showers have an on/off button or handle so you can turn off the flow without changing the temperature as would happen if you use the main shower handle.

ArdraF

Sunsets67 said:

Thank you!

Should I be concern about pressure of the water, I have read some camp sites have very low pressure, not sure how that works or is there a way to boost up the pressure yourself?

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High pressure CG water is fairly common in the West.  Low water pressure is rare.  RV plumbing is designed for 45 psi.    I have seen pressure in Utah exceed 100 psi.  My stick and stucco home in the Los Angeles Basin has a water pressure 85 psi.  The use of inline water pressure regulators on RV water lines is standard operating procedure out here.  Do a search on water pressure  or pressure regulator and you should dig up a raft of topics on the subject.

Of course, all CG water pressure problems are solved by simply not hooking up, but rather operating on your water tank and its pump. 

Of course, all CG water pressure problems are solved by simply not hooking up, but rather operating on your water tank and its pump.

Carl....that's what we always do,  even when we stayed for 6 weeks in Santa Cruz this spring.

Carl....that's what we always do,  even when we stayed for 6 weeks in Santa Cruz this spring

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Okay, I have to ask.  Why would you do that for such a long period of time?  We do that occasionally but usually hook up the hose and use campground water (e.g. "city" water).

ArdraF

  RV plumbing is designed for 45 psi.

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The NFPA 1192 standard, which is incorporated in the RVIA RV building code (ANSI 119.5) calls for a test pressure of 80 psi for 10 minutes. I think therefore it is fair to say that Rv's are "designed for" 80 psi rather than 45 psi.

The factory default setting for RV water pumps is 45 psi.

ArdraF said:

Okay, I have to ask.  Why would you do that for such a long period of time?  We do that occasionally but usually hook up the hose and use campground water (e.g. "city" water).

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I'm a fulltimer and haven't hooked up to city water in years.  I fill it with city water. 

I also don't ever leave my gray tank open.  (In fact, I just read about someone whose trailer was flooded with sewage, and it turned out to have been a blockage in the campground's system, and it backed up through this person's sewer connection, up the hose, out the shower drain and overflowed the shower; the question was in the context of whether the trailer should be totaled by the insurance company.)

But back to the fresh water, using the tank all the time means that water is continuously cycling through there, so it doesn't get stale and might be less likely to start growing stuff in there.  Plus doing this for so long has made me very familiar with how long a tank lasts, which comes in very handy when I'm boondocking.  And it's always the same flow coming out of my faucets.

By using the tank, I don't have to leave my hose outside, exposed to UV or whatever and baking the water that sits in it and possibly growing stuff in the hose.  Or freezing the hose in the winter.  I never have to do anything different if I'm in hot weather or cold weather or whatever.

Plus it makes for a spiffier looking campsite not to have it lying around.  And finally, the sight of bulging water hoses at RV sites always makes me a little nervous, and way too many of them leak at the connection, which hurts my conscience.

I'll note that I have a 100-gallon tank, so it lasts a long time.  Refilling it once a week or so, and emptying the gray at the same time, isn't much of an inconvenience. 

ArdraF said:

Okay, I have to ask.  Why would you do that for such a long period of time?  We do that occasionally but usually hook up the hose and use campground water (e.g. "city" water).

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I have done that in the past because one time I went on vacation and came back to a stick and brick flooded with water  because the water heater broke while I was away. It is safer not to hook up to city water.

SeilerBird said:

I have done that in the past because one time I went on vacation and came back to a stick and brick flooded with water  because the water heater broke while I was away. It is safer not to hook up to city water.

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Most anyone I know or have known shut the outside tap off when leaving the MH sit when their gone same as u shut off the main water in your house
then u don't have to worry about the rusty old water tank leaking while one is away.Using CS prevents these unlikely events

A lot of folks shut off the water tap when leaving the rig for a few days, but not many do it when going to the Walmart of a few hours. At some point the risk is so low that convenience wins out. Each of us makes his own call on just when that point is reached.

Gary RV Roamer said:

A lot of folks shut off the water tap when leaving the rig for a few days, but not many do it when going to the Walmart of a few hours. At some point the risk is so low that convenience wins out. Each of us makes his own call on just when that point is reached.

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yes agreed actually if iam gone  more than one day I shut the tap  off takes all od 30 seconds

At a prior stick and brick house, we were at work and our son was working in the yard for a couple of hours. He came in and found the hot water hose to the washing machine has had burst. Fortunately, most of the water went down an air duct in the floor, and I replaced the duct in the crawl space. But, I also had to replace the linoleum in the laundry room (the only room that didn't have tile, marble, or carpet). Also, some of the hot water seeped into the small hallway and 'around the corner', into the underlay beneath the family room carpet; The result was that different color dyes in the underlay bled "up" through the very light colored carpet.

Since then, we have a dual shutoff (single lever) on the hot/cold feed to the washing machine, and it gets shut off after every use.

Bottom line is that it's not the length of time you're away, because it doesn't take long to cause damage.

It could just as easily have happened during a wash cycle and you wouldn't realize it unless you happened to be standing by the machine.