Potable Water before boondocking

[dnr733]

I see I have options to find dump stations and such as we travel about.
Finding potable water seems to be a bit more of a search.
I don't like traveling with full tanks for weight and gas mileage reasons. I will have some.
So, any tips or tricks on finding potable water locations near your destinations?

Dan

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I don't always travel full either but I usually keep more than enough for a few days just in case the places I have in mind to top off don't pan out. We carry a few gallons of bottled water besides, so even if the tank ran dry there's a reserve. I've only done it a few times but scored water from truck stops, gas stations and once from a restaurant. I just ask in a friendly way if they know where I could get some water for my camper and they point me to the spigot.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

First of all, let me say that you are probably over-estimating the effect/cost of additional water in your tank. Extra weight is a noticeable factor only on up/down grades; otherwise it's just rolling along and increasing tire friction by some infinitesimal amount. Don't unnecessarily risk running short on water!

If you don't know the area, Mark's suggestions are most practical.

 

[UTTransplant]

If you are close to your legal gross weight, I guess I can understand traveling without full tanks, but Gary is right that it really won’t affect your fuel mileage. Calculate the percentage of additional weight, and I think you will discover it isn’t much. Even my 90 gallons of water is only a tad more than 2% of my gross weight, and I would never travel with a completely empty tank meaning the difference is probably closer to 1%.

 

[Laura & Charles]

We always start out with a full fresh tank and empty waste tanks. Have had too many occasions of changed plans due to weather or breakdowns, or even due to whimsy, so always want to be prepared. (Even got stuck in a total sit still, 6 hour, cluster once that changed our plans.) We usually try to keep our fuel tank above 1/3… start looking at 1/2.

Also, it’s really only the fresh tank’s weight that matters. Most all the weight added to the waste tanks, came from the fresh tank.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I recall when getting my rig weighed I had a payload capacity of about 2K. Water can account for almost a third of that so depending on how much other junque you pack, shedding a few hundred pounds of water is an easy way to adjust payload. Practically speaking though I can't tell the difference if it's empty or full either by handling or mileage.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Domo]

We use a Berkey water filter for all our consumption needs. I think it's called the Berkey Go. We have the small one that simply sits on the countertop it is more than enough for two people for drinking, ice, food preparation, etc.

We can put mud in it and it delivers pure water.

We travel with 1/2 tank of fresh water generally.

 

[CharlesinGA]

I would guess that about half the places I have stayed did not have water at the campsite. In addition, when on the road on a long trip I don't like having to get out the hose for just one quick overnight. I always carry a full tank, and my trailer has the tank at the far back, so I have to load everything else forward for proper tongue weight.

Charles

 

[dave54]

I see I have options to find dump stations and such as we travel about.
Finding potable water seems to be a bit more of a search.
I don't like traveling with full tanks for weight and gas mileage reasons. I will have some.
So, any tips or tricks on finding potable water locations near your destinations?

Dan

Ranger stations.
Truck stops.
Campgrounds.
I have seen fills at highway rest stops, but I do not trust those.

 

[Tulecreeper]

A couple of times I have stopped at small restaurants, like Taco Bell, that had enough room behind them to get my rig and when I was buying lunch I asked the manager if I could take about 20 gallons from their hose bib. I was always told it was OK.

 

[llama]

I've used iOverlander to find water sources and usually carry a filter as well.

 

[garyb1st]

Start with full water and empty tanks. When your tanks are full or your water is low, find an RV park. Try to find a park with a laundry. Dump your tanks, refresh your water and do some laundry. We can easily go a week or maybe 10 days if we conserve water. Then we're happy to pay a park for the convenience of not having to search for dump stations and sources of water. I've seen some places that charge $20 for water and $20 to dump. That seems excessive but based on our era of ever increasing prices, I expect to see those high prices more often. Also if you haven't checked out the price of doing laundry at a laundromat, that might surprise you as well. All in all, $40 - $60 for a park may not be too bad.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It's true water is heavy, but most RVers vastly overestimate the cost of carrying extra weight. On level ground, there is almost no impact from an extra 200 lbs. Dragging the extra up hills, though, is a different story - the tow vehicle has to actually lift the extra weight up each hill. Still, not much observable difference in mpg except maybe on a very light trailer. An extra 200-400 lbs on a 10,000 lb trailer won't make a measurable difference.

 

[Gr8bawana]

The GVWR of our 5er is just under 14k and the 80 gallons of fresh water it holds is only 0.047% of the GVWR. That is next to nothing.
I've towed it both full of fresh water and empty. I can not detect any difference in towing characteristics or fuel mileage.

 

[jackiemac]

Many dump stations have potable water.

We fill our fresh tank when we empty if we are unsure of water situation.

We can do 2 fresh tanks to one empty.

We have a bladder (from Amazon) that we can take in our truck to fill then pump into the tank. It saves moving the trailer. Photos attached. The bladder folds up into A4 size and we keep it in a zip up bag. The pump (Harbor Freight) plugs into the tow connector.

More and more gas stations seem to have dump and water facilities, particularly Maverick.

We travel in the Western States.

 

[Isaac-1]

The GVWR of our 5er is just under 14k and the 80 gallons of fresh water it holds is only 0.047% of the GVWR. That is next to nothing.
I've towed it both full of fresh water and empty. I can not detect any difference in towing characteristics or fuel mileage.

I think your math is off a bit, you need to move your decimal place over, 80 gallons of water weighs about 665 pounds which is almost 5% of your GVWR, still not a big deal on fuel economy though.

 

[L-M-L]

Our camper handles better with the fresh water tank full. The weight is low and to me it helps stabilize the camper. It doesn't get blowed around as much.

 

[Bobtop46]

I agree with Gary. It depends on where we are going. Going from Texas to Florida water doesn't matter. When we go from Florida to Blue ridge mountains and Fancy gap toting that extra water up hill sucks. We even notice how full the gas tank is when climbing the hills, combine the two and you really notice it. We gas up near I-95 and I-26 meet and the rest of the way is all up hill. By the time we get to Fancy gap ( 7mile 5%+ grade) we're close to half a tank of gas and enough water for for a few toilet flushes, empty black and grey tanks from that morning. I also know where we're staying once we arrive has full hook ups.

 

[Western Slope]

Our TT has a 100 gallon fresh water tank plus a 10 gallon water heater. 9,995 GVWR and 6,147 dry. The water adds up to over 900 pounds. We have a 10% Rocky Mountain grade within 2 miles of our home and another getting to I-70 eastbound within 8 miles. The nearest one is steepest right at the bottom, but then it's another 21 miles of all up grades with over 1 mile in elevation gain to the summit.

Coming down is much more of a concern. Truck training schools use it with their Jake brakes coming down. That's a big advantage of diesel versus our gas TV 6.4L with 4.10-1 axle gear ratios. It's on the sharp steep corners that I can feel the weight water of the water sloshing.

 

[Professor David]

I've always filled up our water tank completely just for peace of mind. Filling up at home also gives me assurance the water source is a good one since our city has good water quality management. For me, peace of mind with having water along with quality, uncontaminated water is worth paying very slightly more for gas.

Wondering if anyone else has had the situation in national and state campgrounds? You have been at a campground a week or so with no water hook ups...and you need to fill up your water tank. The problem is... the water spigots are located at crazy/awkward/bad positions on single lane one way roads/loops. Therefore, your rig (or pick up truck or whatever) must block traffic while filing up. I don't like waiting and I really don't like making other people wait for me. So far, I've picked times to fill up where other campers are not generally coming or going...or pulled into an adjacent site next to the spigot temporarily to fill up (which can be impossible during peak season). Of course, we could drive to another location to fill up but that can sometimes be a long distance away in scenic locations.