Any ideas on how to increase your fresh water?

[diceygirl]

Other than bringing 5 gallon jugs?  I'm looking at the toy haulers and am not finding anything 'lite' that also has a decent size fresh water tank (other than the Weekend Warrior).  Since I'm planning on trips to Mojave etc. I'll need a lot of water. 

I found a nice Skyline Rampage 217 but it is over my towing capacity by 800lbs.  (fully loaded incl. 118 gallons of water).  Their lite series only has a 60 gallon tank  :-(

Thank you ! ! !

 

[gotjackson]

A couple of years ago I purchased the portable 45-gallon water tank from Camping World.  It works great.  It's made out of heavy guage PVC material and sets up on top of your tow vehicle or trailer (make sure your roof can handle the weight).  Just fill it up when you arrive at the campground and you've instantly added 45 gallons of fresh water!

 

[Lou Schneider]

Remember that water weighs 8 1/2 pounds per gallon, so carrying an additional 100 gallons will add 850 lbs to your rig's weight.

If your rig can handle the weight, you can get really creative.  Almost anything will hold water. Coleman coolers hold from 14 to 40 gallons each.  Fill it up, lock the lid and you've got water storage.  If you store it higher than your tank inlet you can siphon the water out, or make an adapter to let you attach a hose to their drain.  Food products like cooking oil, soft drink syrup, etc. are shipped in 30 or 55 gallon white plastic barrels.  Get one that contained a food grade product, clean it out and you're set.  Rubbermaid storage bins are available with up to 50 gallons internal volume.  Secure the top, add a hose spigot and you have an auxiliary tank.

 

[John From Detroit]

Another consideration is indeed weight, but from another viewpoint.

Every pound of water you add to the RV is one more pound you need to carry up hill and down, across miles of road

And that means MORE FUEL will be needed for the trip

Better to get the smaller tank and use a Portable bottle or tank such as the 40 gallon one spoken of up-thread to cart additional water to the rig in time of drought (when the tank is less than half full)  Since you won't be carrying the extra water as far, you won't burn as much fuel carrying it.

40 gallons times 8.5 lbs is  340  Which comes out to one very full size adult or 2 standard size ones and a child) so most any car, truck or mini or maxi van can haul the load w/o complaint.

I'm going to have to find one of those tanks

I did Quartzsite with a six gallon bottle and the occasional drive to the refill/dump station

 

[Kenneth]

Anybody ever use a waterbed bladder ? ??? Cheap, stores well when not in use and fairly durable ?

 

[Carl L]

How many people are you taking?.  For two people on a 3 day weekend, 40 gallons should do for discplined washing, sanitary, and drinking use.  It is easy to beef up the drinking water using 5-gallon industrial water coolers in the tow vehicle.  Are you intending to do the Mojave in the summer?  For drinking purposes then, 3 gallons per person, per day for drinking only, is the minimum

 

[gregbridwell]

Has anyone ever used a 5 gallon plastic gas can (new and unused) for the purposes of carrying freshwater?? I was thinking of using two to "top off" my fresh water tank ever other day but I was wondering whether there were any safety issues?

 

[woodartist]

Wal Mart has 6 gallon water containers, similar to a gas "can." They are a different color than red or blue....maybe gray or green?? Food grade and all that. We use them because it is easier to carry small containers than wrestling with the larger.............

 

[gregbridwell]

Good Idea!? Thanks!? ;D

 

[Wendy]

We have a 5-gallon jug that we use as a weight for the satellite....also doubles as extra water. And we typically fill up 4 or 5 gallon bottles to take with (mostly cause it's easier to fill the dog's bowl or pour a glug into the toilet when used). We can carry those to the nearest spigot if we need to top off.....one gallon jug in each hand are easier to carry than a 5-gallon jug. Got kids? Use them to haul water !!

There are lots of ways to go longer without using up all your water. Don't shower every day....did you really do something that needs a full shower? Think back to Scout days and use sponge baths. Make every bit of water do double duty.....wash the dishes in a dishpan then use the water to flush the toilet. You are not in your house with limitless water. Make due with what you've got.

And enjoy !

 

[ai guy]

We (two of us) spent a week at a campground in northern MN, never showered in the trailer, used the toilet fairly often, and were pretty liberal with water for washing dishes and such and 40 gallons was plenty.  I think we even ended up dumping some out when we left (because I refuse to haul any water - fresh, gray, or black - when fuel is so high).  Also, we cut down on drinking water needs by having plenty of beer along (heh, heh, heh).  That's a joke.  But also true.

Elliot

 

[John From Detroit]

I'm thinking of getting one of those 40 gallon "Watter bed" bags that go on the roof myself, however cost IS an isssue.

When I'm dry camping I pass a hydrant of water source often enough that if I just keep an empty 5-gallon container in the towed.. I can keep the RV from runing out of water (or so I suspect) without haveing to make a special trip

 

[Shayne]

We carry 2 5gal construction water coolers with us at all times and use that for our drinking water. Been doing that for 40 yrs or so

 

[JerArdra]

When we drycamp we buy 6 or more of the 2-1/2 gallon bottled water contaioers at a grocery store and use them exclusevly for drinking water. 

JerryF

 

[Wendy]

When we drycamp we buy 6 or more of the 2-1/2 gallon bottled water contaioers at a grocery store and use them exclusevly for drinking water.?

We fill 6 or more gallon bottles (old bleach, RV antifreeze, milk, etc.) before leaving home and use those for drinking water for us and the hairy child. They ride nicely in the shower and are available for refilling when we're somewhere with handy water spigots. Oh, and you can you them to weight the dish tripods.

 

[hankpac]

Dear Wendy: Do NOT use old bleach bottles or Antifreeze bottles for DRINKING water.
Drinking water should be carried in food grade plastics, that have never had anything else in them.
Food Storage forums have information regarding this issue, and the basic standard of storage for 72 hour kits, disater preparedness etc, all call for never ever using belach or RV antifreeze bottles for drinking water.
Non-toxic by the way, usually means it won'tkill you in the trace amounts found in pipes, etc after using the proper amounts (concentrations) and thorough flushing.
Ask the manufacturer if they would use the now empty bottle to provide drinking water for THEIR own kids....

 

[Wendy]

Hi Hankpac,

Mike and I've been drinking out of old bleach bottles for longer than I can remember as have mom & dad who are in their 70s. Hasn't killed any of us yet. We rinse them out very well and usually use them several times for filling the holding tank, flushing the john, washing dishes, etc, before using them for drinking water. And we have a couple marked "non-potable" that we fill from, well, non-potable sources and only use for flushing, etc. The water from those bottles is probably safer than the water in our holding tank.

As for asking manufacturers, I have a friend who works for a bottled water company and he doesn't think you should drink any water that you comes out of any kind of tap.

 

[Shayne]

Whoa     Wendy   We're in our 70's     LOL

 

[Wendy]

Whoa? ? ? endy? ?We're in our 70's? ? ?LOL

Makes you old enough to be my Dad, then, huh? Hmmm, "Old, Stubborn, Opinionated, Set in my Ways, and Independent"....describes my Dad, too. Scary.

 

[redramsse]

I'm thinking of adding an additional 30 gallon fresh water tank and plumbing it together with the existing one. That is if I can figure out the proper way to do it!