Water in, water out..

[Tony68000]

Looks like I'll be collecting the Rapido late next week. Already spent a fortune on 'stuff'. I'm still confused about water though.

1. I need to fill up the fresh water tank. I see there are three main options:
-Food safe (or not) hose pipe. Either do this at home, or when on site if a serviced pitch, or when arriving?
-Watering can.
-Water hog and a 12v pump.
These water hog things look massive. Not sure I want to carry one of those around, so I guess I'm looking at hoses or a watering can? Any other options here?

2. I need to empty the grey water. Again, options...
-Waste Master - these look massive, and again not sure I want to carry one of these around with me.
-Various bendy and collapsable hoses.. but only if a drain or (approved) hedge close by.
-Jerry can... but I guess that'll be heavy to carry.

Again, any thoughts and suggestions for these two tasks please?

Finally, I read a few different opinions about the level of fresh water you should carry. Some say 20%, some say that sloshes too much and 100% is better, except that uses more fuel, and 100 litres = 100kg! I can't imagine it uses that much extra fuel though. Given 100kg is less than 3% of my weight (assuming full payload), it won't add 3% fuel costs, probably <1.5%? 1.5% extra fuel costs for *some* journeys might be worth saving the hassle over other options. I'm guessing with this figures, Google has failed finding a definitive answer to how much fuel an extra 100kg uses.

 

[Chrisvh]

I really would not bother with a Water Hog or Waste Master. Just a couple lengths of hose, handful of Hozlock fittings and a watering can. Never needed anything else.

 

[Riverbankannie]

How exiting. My advice is to keep it simple until you know how you will use it. You will always find a collapsible watering can handy to carry, so start with that until you know more.
Same for waste water, just drive over the campsite drain and open tap. No need for anything more.
As for amount you can carry, you wont really know that until you have put the van on a weighbridge so until then just carry enough for your needs.
I have never found any difference in ride no matter how much in the tanks.

 

[phillipsheila]

As above

 

[PP Bear]

Always travel 100% full, plus at least 80 litres spare in 4 x jerry cans.

I use one of these…..

Superflat Food Grade Water Hose Cassette - 15 Metres

15m Food Grade Hose Reel ideal for filling up your caravan/motorhome or boat with fresh, drinking water.

www.towsure.com

and nowt else, apart from an orange funnel for when I’m decanting the spare water I carry from my jerry cans, which I then use one of these to go fetch and carry fresh water should I every be on a site.

And this for taking away the grey….as sometimes breaking camp when you’re all set up to drive to the grey waste dump point, can be a right pain. These are very slim line and easy slide under the outlet when require.

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[Tombola]

Godo luck with the new van.

Give it a go.
Im a hose in (not food safe as the pipes it comes in underground isnt last time i checked ) and hose out guy with my Rapido

 

[Mikey RV]

XHose fo putting water in, folds up really small but stretches out a long way to get round van.
fill up when you get to site or fill from home choice is yours depending on your payload.
small bucket which can be used for other things to empty grey or some sites have drive over drains.
Happy travels.

 

[Andacami]

Just repeating advice already given really...

Food-grade hose in various lengths with connectors (hose2hose and taps) is all you need for filling fresh water. If you know there is water on-site, get it when you arrive, either at the service point or on your pitch, if not, get it before you go. Run a little from the tap first before connecting up your kit. If you have a serviced pitch, a Collapz bucket with a ball-float system and a 12v pump will ensure a constant supply of fresh water. Keep your hose off the ground and packed away inside along with your connectors - make it easily accessible.

'Collapz' hose is great for getting the greywater outlet to the proper place to drain it, be that a hedge with the site owner's permission or over a dedicated drain. Similar can be used for fresh if you need to drain down.

If you have a flush tank for the toilet, getting a Collapz watering can is useful.

 

[two]

A hose is the easiest. Any hose will do (I use my old garden hose at home and don't think it's affected me yet). If you worry about 'food grade' you may not enjoy this life as much as you should. The expanding hoses are light but fragile and take little space. Get a short one. You can usually get pretty close to the tap (or borrow someone else's).
Watering cans cover everything, but get two. You need two for balance and fewer trips. Plastic ones are light (and cheap).
Don't worry about the waste. Buckets are fine, but you'll probably need a hose due to inadequate space to fit a bucket underneath.
See how you get on.

Indeed, I'd caution you to ease up on all the excited spending.
Wait until you discover what's really necessary for you and your style of travel.

With all this stuff, where to put it may be one consideration but payload will be bigger.
That is the reason I travel with minimal water on board (it gives me more capacity for wine).

 

[rolosroller]

As above would not bother with Water Hog or Waste Master.
The hose i use is a Yoyo Club Expanding Garden Hose on amazon for £25

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[Spriddler]

A hose is the easiest. Any hose will do (I use my old garden hose at home and don't think it's affected me yet). If you worry about 'food grade' you may not enjoy this life as much as you should.

Yep, I've used ordinary garden hose for 15 years to fill up at home before leaving and I'm still here. I let the water run through it for 10 or 15 seconds before filling the tank in order to flush out any debris/spiders etc. When on tour I use a watering can with a plastic plumbing elbow pushed over the spout to make filling the m/h tank easier.

I had one of the roll up layflat ones on my boat but gave it away as it was a pain to have to unroll the entire reel every time I used it.

 

[Podney]

Be ‘appy, don’t worry!

Sometimes I take a full water tank,sometimes just 20%……depends where I’m going. All sites and CL’s have accessible water. Don’t worry about any extra fuel you might use,it’s probably a tiny difference.

I usually use 2 large watering cans to top up when needed. I find hoses a bit of a pia.

Grey water sometimes goes in the hedge,with owners permission,or over drain covers on a site. Otherwise in one of those black carriers already mentioned.

Enjoy!

 

[Tony68000]

Right. Thanks for the answers. Hose and watering can it is! I'll check my payload, but will probably drive with 50% water, then can flush the loo on our trips.

Drinking water, I think we'll just put (reusable) bottles in the fridge.

Spending wise, I think we've actually been quite measured so far. Got basic things for the kitchen and bedding, the big expense has been getting a suitable router and antenna ready to fit. Gone for a Poynting 5-in-1 'fin' antenna, and a Teltonika RUT955 router. Oh, and just got a 3 camera 'dash cam' which I wouldn't drive without. That was't cheap, but the screen fits over the rear-view window, the front camera is detached, so I can set it exactly where I want. Has a rear camera and an 'inside' camera, which I might use as a side camera to catch those blind spots at junctions.

I'll let you all know how I get on next week!

 

[maison]

Agree with the idea of any hose being suitable. We carry a “food grade” flat hose with us for on-site use but use the garden hose at home to fill up. We always flush a little water through the garden hose to evacuate any water that may have been lying in there for a while. In the time. It takes for water to run from the tap, through the hose, and into the tank it is unlikely to pick up any nasties. (We have done this for forty years without I’ll effects).

on-site we use the lay flat hose if near a tap or an ordinary watering can if we are remote from the tap. Emptying is done via the drive over drain or, if we are reluctant to move off the pitch, we drain some grey water into a bucket each time we want to use the watering can to top up, and carry it with us to the drain by the tap.

it is very easy to “overthink” things. Just do it and change any bit you don’t like as you gain experience.

Good luck.

 

[Conrad J]

Unless you're planning a big trip straightaway, I'd hold back on buying too much kit early on. We all have stuff cluttering up our 'vans we don't use.

We use an ordinary garden hose (bought new) for filling and are still alive! But each to their own. We also have water bottles for drinking, although don't bother if we're boiling it - bear in mind, you're always putting drinking water in the tank, unless you're going to dodgy places.
Useful to have a short, say 3m hose, for when you can get close to a tap, and a longer one, say 10m for when you can't. And connectors in case you need to use both!! and selection of tap adapters. For emptying you can almost always use a drain at site's motorhome service points, so would hold back on any other way to empty it.

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[kingoftheroad]

Hi
One thing I'll add, especially on travels abroad, is to carefully make note of which tap is actually for drinking water only, some service points will have two taps, one for drinking water and one for rinsing out the toilet cassettes and they an be inches apart I've witnessed campers with their toilet cassette pushed right up to the tap (yes the drinking water only tap). Good service points will have a bar around the tap to prevent this, so it's not just about the quality of your equipment, it's also about the quality of the services, so my advice would be to keep your tank topped up at good services.

 

[Harrogate motorhomer]

We have managed the last 15 years with a Wilkos watering can & a bowl for waste when on a pitch for any length of time. Used to take a collapsible hose but found it too much of a pain. I think there’s too much importance put on having a full tank.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

10 ltr cheapo watering can for us no need to touch the tap with it so no contamination .

 

[MitchandJenny]

General rule is everything on the van should have 2 uses..
We do carry a grey waste hog into which we can de-cant the loo cassette if we are of grid for longer.
Go to a site and watch everyone else and then decide what suits you.
And enjoy.
Mitch.

 

[ChrisL]

I don’t use the tank water for consumption, just washing, so have an ordinary expanding hose that comes in it's own plastic container which is useful as it doesn't get everything wet in the garage when it's put away. I use a 5 ltr mineral water bottle for drinking and cooking refilled as needed from the drinking water tap on sites or other places, and i have a waste master for grey water if there is no drive over, the waste master comes with bungees so you can attach your cassette to it and use it as a trolley if it's a distance to the disposal point.

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[PaddyM]

I use both a water hog and waste master , both store easily in the Bailey and then are outside for the duration , i travel with 50% in the water tank and boiler full , we never drive to service points , no need .

 

[GMLS]

We use a separate container for the relatively small amount of actual drinking water we need and it saves on messing around sanitising the water tank so frequently. This then just means you need an ordinary garden hose to fill up which we keep on a reel (found the lay flat hose takes an age to put away), a 10 litre watering can for top ups on pitch, a collapsible bucket and a selection of these (metal ones seem less liable to leak)

Brass Fittings Set

100mm spray nozzle. 2x 1/2" quick connectors, one with water stop. 3/4" BSP tap adaptor fits 1/2" outdoor tap.

www.toolstation.com

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Have a couple of the flat hoses that you don’t have to reel out completely and a box of fittings.
Put an old bit of hose in the van that’s about 6-7m long, went away to Europe for 3 weeks and only ever used the bit of hose to fill up, same as the pump I made up to empty the waste tank, still in the box as everywhere had drive over dump points

 

[hja]

We use lots of CLs where it is not always easy to get to the tap. So have a food grade hose (supplied by dealer - we asked!). Also an expanding hose (hoselock) not food grade, but only used in the van. To connect our van to the outside tap to put water in before we go we need both hoses connected to each other - or a lot of watering cans. Obviously depends on how much we want to put in before we leave. Have the can on board for top ups. Also have found having two hoses useful on site - sometimes allows us to reach the tap without moving the van. We are getting on a bit and dont really want to carry too many cans of water. Also with this van the filler point means lifting the can quite high.
Have hose for waste water (into hedge where possible) & also a small "oil drainage" tank for collecting waste if necessary - doesnt weight much when half full. Cant get a bucket under our drain point.
We use fresh tank for all uses.

 

[the1andonly]

Watering can , wasted my money following that advice. Never used it. Hose , or container and whale pump on a plugin lead. Dont go spending lots of cash , try a 10m hose a few adaptors and see what suits you.
Read hja post again ,sound advice.

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