Easy Trick to Boost Your RV?s Freshwater Tank Capacity

[d_eggman2]

I juts saw this on another site and thought someone may benefit from it. This has probably already been posted but couldn't find it.

http://www.doityourselfrv.com/1-easy-trick-boost-rvs-freshwater-tank-capacity/

http://youtu.be/4i71iDM8XH0

 

[Big Bad Allis]

This is what I have and works great.  45 gallon bag fills my tank in one trip.  Well close anyways since I have a 60 gallon tank.  I also bought a 12v pump from amazon to pump right into my tank since I don't have the gravity fill like my old TT.  This pump is fast and empties the bag within minutes.  Most places I go have full hook up or water/electric.  When I go to State Parks they usually only have electric.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/portable-rv-fresh-water-tank-45-gallon/1605

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CPZTEK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Jason

 

[d_eggman2]

I like the pump idea.
I have a food grade barrel I cleaned and sanitized to be used for this purpose.
I was thinking about using a 12V bilge pump. But the pump you posted looks much easier.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

I've already got a similar idea going. I've got the winterize bypass system already so what I did is extend the tubing long enough to place into my spare 5 gallon water containers. I've got two water containers. So it more or less a reserve system for fall back.

I like this idea posted above where you can pump the water into the tank to fill. Not a bad idea.  8)

 

[PJ Stough]

I've already got a similar idea going. I've got the winterize bypass system already so what I did is extend the tubing long enough to place into my spare 5 gallon water containers. I've got two water containers. So it more or less a reserve system for fall back.

I like this idea posted above where you can pump the water into the tank to fill. Not a bad idea.  8)

We used the water bypass system a couple of years ago when we had a leak in the fresh water system, and we were at a state park, and the closest water spigot couldnt be reached with our hose.

Paul

 

[NY_Dutch]

We frequently use and appreciate the built in "WaterWorks" panel included in our '95 Coachmen Catalina coach. The panel allows us to pump water directly into the tank or to the whole plumbing system from portable containers as needed, with just a couple of valve twists. I highly recommend the above mod.

 

[Rancher Will]

We have always used a system that does increase our water supply. We have never used it to increase the fresh water tank capacity but I guess you can say it extends the supply.

Since we live on our ranch we have our own, private, well. Our water is clean and pure and has no additives, such as cholorine, etc., that is in city water. We like our coffee without the Chlorine, etc., taste that is always in water in restraurants, RV Parks, city  homes, etc. So we always bring a couple of gallons, or more, depending on the trip length, of our own pure water from our ranch well when we travel in the RV. We also fill our Fresh water tank with pure well water but when we camp in an Rv Park we hook to the park's water system. We use the park water system for washing dishes, showers, toilet, etc., and use our pure well water from our fresh water tank and/or the gallon can(s) for cooking, coffee, and drinking.

On extended trips when our fresh water tank gets low, and we refill it in a RV Park, we use the water in the gallon containers for coffee, cooking etc. and the water in the fresh water tank for all other. In these situations when we get back hom I always completely drain the fresh water tank and rinse it out with our well water before our next trip.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

We have always used a system that does increase our water supply. We have never used it to increase the fresh water tank capacity but I guess you can say it extends the supply.

Since we live on our ranch we have our own, private, well. Our water is clean and pure and has no additives, such as cholorine, etc., that is in city water. We like our coffee without the Chlorine, etc., taste that is always in water in restraurants, RV Parks, city  homes, etc. So we always bring a couple of gallons, or more, depending on the trip length, of our own pure water from our ranch well when we travel in the RV. We also fill our Fresh water tank with pure well water but when we camp in an Rv Park we hook to the park's water system. We use the park water system for washing dishes, showers, toilet, etc., and use our pure well water from our fresh water tank and/or the gallon can(s) for cooking, coffee, and drinking.

On extended trips when our fresh water tank gets low, and we refill it in a RV Park, we use the water in the gallon containers for coffee, cooking etc. and the water in the fresh water tank for all other. In these situations when we get back hom I always completely drain the fresh water tank and rinse it out with our well water before our next trip.

^^^^ Exactly what I do. I'm also a well water family that doesn't have chlorine / fluoride.

 

[John From Detroit]

Being alone a tank of water can last me up to 2 weeks if I very slightly extend it (I have around 12 gallons of "Jugs" as it were) had my wife survived I'd own about a 40 gallon "Bladder" I could use to trasport. that is half a tank.  But alas.... She did not.

Since I almost never spend more than 2 weeks without turning the key.. No tribble.

Of course I was chatting with staff at the last park I was at.. Ask if they had been doing water repairs again (They had) I noticed the pump came on when I went to refill the cat's dish...  No pressure from the park will do that. (I have the regulator set at the pump cut off point so the pump never comes on when I use city water)

Nice "Automatic change over system" (Plumbing "T" is all it is)

 

[cymro]

Thank you for this one! I was looking for something like this.

 

[Getinaway]

Seems like a lot of trouble to me. Why not just get a siphon pump and run it in your freshwater fill? Or am I missing something?

 

[Wavery]

Seems like a lot of trouble to me. Why not just get a siphon pump and run it in your freshwater fill? Or am I missing something?

Yep........ gravity....

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

Seems like a lot of trouble to me. Why not just get a siphon pump and run it in your freshwater fill? Or am I missing something?

There are many RVs that don't have a gravity freshwater fill. The only way you can fill the freshwater holding tank is with a pressurized supply.

 

[Getinaway]

There are many RVs that don't have a gravity freshwater fill. The only way you can fill the freshwater holding tank is with a pressurized supply.

Did not know that. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[MEL T]

what I have used in the past was this 12 volt pump I transferred water from drums to rv when boondocking to replenish my tank.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-marine-utility-water-pump-94639.html
it has male garden hose connections on the inlet and outlet

 

[Wavery]

Yep........ gravity....

I guess that I should explain my smart a$$ remark.... :-[

When I said, "Yep........ gravity.... ", I meant that one would have to raise the container higher than the water fill opening (or at least the water tank) so that gravity would work for siphoning to work....  ;D....... thus all of the suggestions for a pump.

 

[SCVJeff]

I have an external tank that I simply bring up to the storage bay where the winter anti freeze hose is. I drop the hose in the tank, then plug in a small hose I built between the outdoor shower valve (I put in a quick disconnect on the shower hose and the jumper). The other side of the hose goes into the city water spigot. Switch the valve to Fill, turn on the pump, and water flows from the external tank, out the shower valve, and into the on board tank. Done..

 

[Kevin Means]

This topic dealt an issue that we?ve been struggling with for some time and it inspired me to come up with a slightly different solution. Hopefully, it?ll help others who have the same problem.

We boondock a lot and we?ve had to address all the off-grid issues associated with it. Our motorhome has fairly large black and grey water tanks, with 53 and 105 gallons respectively. Those capacities have proven to be adequate but we did end up installing a fairly large solar array to deal with our power issues. At 90 gallons, however, our freshwater tank was usually our limiting factor. 90 gallons isn?t bad and if you?re frugal you can stretch it quite a ways but we usually camp with tent-campers and our water supply and ?facilities? get used quite a bit.

To complicate matters, our bath-and-a-half motorhome has two macerator toilets that flush with a pre-programmed amount of water. I reprogrammed them to use less water but they still use more than a typical RV commode. I wanted to find a way to increase our freshwater storage capacity and I came across this discussion.

We?re not full-timers and we don?t plan to be so our motorhome isn?t packed to the gills. This meant there was enough storage space to install an auxiliary water tank. I determined that an additional 25 gallons would suffice and I found a place to install a tank where its weight wouldn?t be much of a factor. 25 gallons may not seem like much, but when boondocking, it?s significant and it?s almost a 30% increase in our freshwater capacity.

After determining the required tank dimensions, deciding how it would fill was the next step. Our coach has no gravity-fill spout so I decided to plumb it to fill in the same manner the main tank fills ? with city water. Picture 1 shows the selector valve I installed, which redirects city water to the aux tank after it goes through the whole-house filtration unit. Picture 2 shows where the valve is located in the wet bay. It operates exactly like the fill valve for the main tank ? with ?Normal? and ?Fill? positions.

Picture 3 shows where the aux tank is installed ? about seven feet in front of the drive-axle and 13 feet behind the front axle. It?s slightly right of centerline and, because it?s a tag axle, you don?t even know it?s there.

Picture 4 shows a platform on which the aux tank and water pump are mounted. I used a platform, because I had to be able to remove the entire aux tank assembly for access to the inverter and Aqua Hot system. Once the tank has been emptied, the entire system can be removed as a unit in five minutes thanks to some very well designed ?Shark Bite? quick-release water fittings.

Picture 5 shows the tank assembly in the storage bay. It?s held firmly in place with carpet-lined metal brackets. Picture 6 shows the wood frame that the protective panels mount to and Picture 7 shows the panels in place and the sight gauge. The sight gauge is Plexiglas to protect the tank. There?s a one-foot LED light strip behind the front panel that illuminates the tank so you can see the water level when the compartment lights are turned on. I decided to use a sight-gauge but I may install a water-level sensor as well.

Picture 8 shows the power switch for the aux tank pump, which is mounted on a small panel inside the medicine cabinet in the half-bath (Just below the Trimetric battery monitor). When the water level in the main tank is down by at least 1/3, you can transfer some or all of the water from the aux tank to the main tank. It takes about six minutes to transfer it all. Of course you could also leave the aux tank full as a reserve.

This mod isn?t for everyone. In fact if you don?t boondock very much or you aren?t a ?Doomsday Prepper? it?s probably a waste of time and money. If you boondock a lot like us, however, and you have the space to mount a tank and you?re tired of hauling water jugs around, this is very useful mod.

Kev

 

[kdbgoat]

Great solution and you do purdy work too!

 

[Larry N.]

That's neat -- thanks for sharing.