Dumping fresh water in freezing temperatures

[Mountain high]

Was boondocking with a 25' travel trailer towing it from Virginia via Wyoming to Colorado. Yesterday I stopped at a Flying J's truck stop in Nebraska to dump the gray and black before I winterized for the colder temperatures which lied ahead. No problem.

The trailer tanks are insulated with plumbing heat wraps down to 0F. Being 17F outside I couldn't dump my 100 gallon fresh water tank which was 3/4 full plus the 10 gallon water heater due to it would make an 85 gallon ice rink of the truck stop. It also dumps it out onto the surface from the center of the trailer and the water heater on the side. Had to find a dirt lot away from I-80 traffic so that someone wouldn't report me for dumping 85 gallons of plain drinkable fresh water. That wasn't an easy place to find.

Home in Western Colorado at last.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

That bumper pull has a 100gal water tank? Lesson I've learned with both fresh and wastewater below freezing is to start with warm hoses. Once things are flowing you'll be fine but it's that initial flow you'll be in trouble if your hoses have sat outside.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Mountain high]

Yes, a 100 gallon fresh water tank on the Outdoors RV Backcountry 20BD. I didn't have any issues with the tank freezing with the furnace on.

 

[Rene T]

You could have opened the drain valve and just let it run out going down the road. You could have drained the water heater in the Flying J parking lot. Not that much water

 

[CityGuy]

You could have opened the drain valve and just let it run out going down the road. You could have drained the water heater in the Flying J parking lot. Not that much water

Occam's razor.

 

[Mountain high]

You could have opened the drain valve and just let it run out going down the road. You could have drained the water heater in the Flying J parking lot. Not that much water

Yes, I thought about doing both. Dry road and dry parking lot with cold temperatures. Didn't want to be liable for creating a black ice situation especially in their parking lot given the fact that they had my information and I assume that I was on video. If it wasn't cold there we be no issues.

 

[Rene T]

Traveling 50 MPH the water turns into a very fine mist. You’d probably never see anything on a road. The same thing would have happened with the water heater water. It would babe emptied within a half mile

 

[Mountain high]

This is what I was thinking would happen on I-80 if I had drained the water on it. The traffic was approximately 90% trucks through the Nebraska Panhandle and Wyoming yesterday due to I-70 over the Rockies had winter conditions. After 4 days on the road from the east coast we just wanted to get back home.

 

[Oldgator73]

Nah, not gonna happen With a hundred gallons of water. At Highway speed it’s going to spray and spread little droplets that won’t affect anybody on the road. If your still apprehensive then pull into a rest stop and open the valve and let it run till empty.