Long trips - bring extra water?

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honEXduner

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With our group contemplating longer trips this season, we've started talking about what would run out first after a few extra days in camp.  First concern seems to be the small water & waste tanks in the moho.  A few are debating on whether or not to bring extra water and figure out a way to empty the gray water tanks without having to break camp.

         Any idea what the going rate was for the RV dump guy last year?  Do they refill water tanks too? 

For those that don't have trailers with built in aux tanks, how do you transport extra water?  & deal with a full gray tank?

One suggestion that was thrown out was one of those food grade IBC totes w/ a small pump to refill fresh water. But that still leaves the problem of the gray tank...

 
We do long trips and hold 100 fresh 60/40 grey/black (which is dumb, should be 75/25 grey black).  I have two 55 gallon drums for fresh water I bring out and fill at Red Earth (free) or sometimes at the new Loves truck stop in Brawley (bring your own hose).  We paid $80 to dump grey/black and tipped $20.  

Last season I started storing at Dunes Edge and pay an extra $20/month for water/dump, which is totally worth it.  

I don't need my drums if you're interested.  I also have a working 12v RV water pump I removed from my coach becuase the pressure switch went bad and it stayed on all the time.  Just need to get some hose and make a cable to hook up a 12v battery.

 
5 gal bucket to drain some of the grey. Just walk it away from camp far enough that the smell doesnt reach other camps. Or attract ants. Its illegal but its fun breakin da law, breakin da law.  

55gal drum might be tough with a motohome. I usually bring a 6gal container of fresh water for backup in case my fresh tanks sprung a leak. 

You might look into the existing setup as well. My fresh water pump starts sucking air when i still have a good amount of water left in the tanks. I dont think they mounted the intake tube low enough. Yours might be the same and worth the time to lower the intake tube. 

The 6gal fresh water container is nice because its square and packs away better than a round container. 

You could get a 6gal container and a little 12v pump and build a makeshift outside shower for the kids to rinse off. That would save the grey tank some. 

 
Have seen someone who came down Gecko Rd last year that did a pump out service and also had fresh water for sale. Didn't catch a name but maybe somebody knows wo they are.

 
Bring extra water in drums as suggested by LRS. For black and gray capacity just get one or two of something like this: and just take them to dump site when you leave. They dump just like your trailer. Just hookup the hose and empty the valve. 

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-39000-Portable-Holding-Accessories/dp/B07K87FR5C/ref=asc_df_B07DN8X8M6/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312202698398&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12341913984790339286&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032862&hvtargid=pla-557136667837&th=1

 
Another way to save gray space is to run the shower direct to the sand with a valve instead of going in the gray tank (Same way you would take a shower outside, the water goes to the sand. ) A lot of older coaches had this feature.

As long as water does not go in a tank, its legal / As soon as water goes into a gray tank and you dump it it becomes a violation.

I have seen peeps use gray water in a 5 gallon bucket and use it to put out a campfire at night for safety purposes.

You can also put a tank in your cargo trailer and fill it / Then use a pump like LRS was talking about to refill the fresh water.  

There are a few options. The extra tank under the cargo trailer is great in my opinion so you save space from the 55 gallon drums. If space isnt a concern, the drums work well too

:poule:

 
On my trailers, they have 120 gal of fresh and 50/50 black/grey, so we were far more likely to fill the waste tanks before running out of fresh water. We used to do 38 day trips in the compound and would go 14 days before filling the waste tanks. This was by using a sponge bath every other day and regular showers the other days and judicious use of water when washing dishes and hands. I also installed an extra black tank valve just before the cap on the waste water pipe. This way when the grey tank was full and the black only had 10 gal in it, I could transfer 20 gal of grey to the black and equalize both tanks without allowing any water to get near the cap. After equalizing a couple more times as they filled, I ended up with 45 or 50 gal in each tank, allowing an extra few days before having to dump. I drove over to GD Storage and dump/filled and returned for a 2nd 14 days, dump/filled and did a final 10 days before deciding to go home.

The idea Poule posted of routing your shower drain straight out is also a great idea, the shower is by far the biggest amount of water in the grey tank. Another trick I saw online was mounting a hose and funnel just outside the shower, which dumped back into the fresh tank, so while you were running the water waiting for it to get hot, the water from the shower head just went back into the fresh tank. Depending on your rig, that might or might not be worth considering. On my trailers, it *felt like* I was wasting 3 gal or more, but might have just been my imagination.

There were other trips where I called the pumper dumper and brought out 60 gal plastic barrels of water. I added a water spigot on the large cap, connected to a PVC pipe that ended 1" from the bottom. The small cap had a ball valve, pressure regulator and air hose connector. I set the regulator to 20 psi, connected the air hose to my 120v compressor, connected a water hose from the spigot to the fresh water tank and let it flow. The 20 psi reg protected the barrel and the 120v compressor cycled on and off as needed. I wasn't willing to pay XX amount per gal from the pumper dumper. The plastic barrels are lightweight when empty and the compressed air allowed me to set it and walk away instead of standing there and pumping it. A 12v compressor would have worked just as well.

 
I have small 55-60 frsh and 35-35 black grey but if i do a longer trip i will take extra water and just add black tank can actually take a while to fill but grey can fill faster for sure.I will take an outside shower if needed to save some grey.

 
My biggest water waste is rinsing the soap off dishes. I got a bad stomach ache once dirt camping at lake mohove. I think it was from soap residue on the cups. I remember seeing suds but was a kid and didnt want to tell my friends mom to rinse them better. Wish i did though. Just about crapped my pants. I remember pulling into that In an Out burger off the 10 freeway. I told them to STOP and jumped out the truck before they parked. 

 
Poule43 said:
Another way to save gray space is to run the shower direct to the sand with a valve instead of going in the gray tank (Same way you would take a shower outside, the water goes to the sand. ) A lot of older coaches had this feature.

As long as water does not go in a tank, its legal / As soon as water goes into a gray tank and you dump it it becomes a violation.
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Good luck explaining that to the ranger that wonders into your camp.  My old TH had the shower and sink run to the ground.  No grey tank at all.  Still got a ticket...which I eventually got out of.  But, still had to deal with the BS.

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
Good luck explaining that to the ranger that wonders into your camp.  My old TH had the shower and sink run to the ground.  No grey tank at all.  Still got a ticket...which I eventually got out of.  But, still had to deal with the BS.
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Yep. I called the BLM about this. I was told that they are allowed to write rules for areas they manage. In Glamis, this will get you a ticket. If you've got the time and inclination to fight it in court then have at it. I wouldn't waste one second trying to justify it to the ranger standing there with his ticket book out.

 
AlpineFunco said:
Yep. I called the BLM about this. I was told that they are allowed to write rules for areas they manage. In Glamis, this will get you a ticket. If you've got the time and inclination to fight it in court then have at it. I wouldn't waste one second trying to justify it to the ranger standing there with his ticket book out.
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Shower at night / Dries overnight and throw some sand over the spot. It is legal HOWEVER not every member of the BLMs finest knows the actual law. 

I think having the option is a great thing. Most times on extended stays the BLM is not even out there.

Just my 2 cents

:poule:

 
Poule43 said:
Shower at night / Dries overnight and throw some sand over the spot. It is legal HOWEVER not every member of the BLMs finest knows the actual law. 

I think having the option is a great thing. Most times on extended stays the BLM is not even out there.

Just my 2 cents

:poule:
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I tee’d off of my shower drain pipe, added a slide valve in the storage bin and extended a down pipe so it pours onto the sand. It soaks in really fast but like you said just kick some sand over it or shower at night. 5 of us shower every other day 150 gallons fresh 40 gray and usually come home with about 1/2 tank full on gray water tank after 7 days.  Love it!!

 
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I put one of those caps on my drain pipe that has a hose fitting. At night, I hook up a hose and run it to the bushes. Or, you can strap the hose up to the frame and run it under the coach/trailer and let it trickle the hole trip. If the valve is cracked open as soon as you park, then it’s not a lot of water at one time to get rid of. Just dig a hole and let it trickle in. It will soak in with no problems. Then fill the hole back in when you leave.

 
I ended up running a length of 3/4" PVC from the 3" RV cap back so the water hit the ground between the axles.  You couldn't see the wet sand at all.

I used a cap with a garden hose attachment like this, then got a female hose to 3/4" pvc slip fitting. I just loosely fitted it all together.  I would install and remove it every trip and throw it on the floor under the toys.  Took a total of a 1 minute, no more BLM grey water BS.

 
Have done many 10 day trips. Best way to make is extreme conservation.

Black tank: Men pee outside, Use minimum amounts of water until the end of the trip then on the last day or so use as much water as you can.  Also double up on the blue goo for that trip.

Grey tank: Showers keep to a minimum turn water on and off don't let it run.  Use brat baths between regular shower.  For the brat bath use the same method as for dishes.  Dishes get a couple plastic tubs that fit in each side of your sink. If your sink doesn't have two compartments get two of the tubs anyway. Use them to fill for washing and the other under the faucet for rinsing, turning the water on and off just like the shower. You just don't let the water go down to the tank.  When those tubs get full take them outside and dump them. Also Only do the dishes when you have to.

Fresh tank: I had four of the 6 gallon water jugs and it seemed like I could make the water(100 gallons) the entire trip and would pour one of the jugs into the black as we left for home.

 
If your RV has the ability to fill the fresh water tank from the city water hookup, and also has a winterizing setup, then adding fresh water from a barrel, bucket, tanks, etc., is easy.  Simply turn the city water valve to "tank fill" and drop your winterizing hose into your source (barrel, bucket, etc).  Then turn on your water pump; it will draw water from your source into the plumbing system and into the freshwater tank.

Catch shower water while waiting for it to get hot and use to flush the toilet; same with dishwater.  The extra twist-on gate valve mentioned above is a great idea to equalize your black/grey tanks, but ultimately, conservation is key, for both fresh and waste.

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
I ended up running a length of 3/4" PVC from the 3" RV cap back so the water hit the ground between the axles.  You couldn't see the wet sand at all.

I used a cap with a garden hose attachment like this, then got a female hose to 3/4" pvc slip fitting. I just loosely fitted it all together.  I would install and remove it every trip and throw it on the floor under the toys.  Took a total of a 1 minute, no more BLM grey water BS.
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I like this idea, drip system.

 
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