Community Forums

lsdvn · 09-21-2011, 08:59 PM

So DH and I have been pretty excited about reading people's posts here. After reading about Quartzite, AZ; DH thought it might be a really fun place to visit. Here's our question though... and my 'new-ness' will come shining through.

Since 5tw hold about 65 gallons of fresh water (unsure about MH's), how do people manage to stay for weeks or months at a time in remote locations? I understand and LOVE the idea of solar panels for electricity but what about water?

MickBrennan · 09-21-2011, 09:04 PM

Some people use water tanks to bring water to their camper. What a concept!

KIX · 09-21-2011, 09:12 PM

If you do "tote" water to your RV using 5 gallon jugs I suggest you get a 12 volt water pump to pump the water from the jug into your tank. Holding 5 gals. of water up to pour it in can be a little taxing.
When full the 5 gals will weigh 41 lbs plus the weight of the empty jug.

John Hilley · 09-21-2011, 09:24 PM

There are several ways to get water. If you stay in a LTVA (long term visitor area) the BLM provides water, sanitary dump station and dumpsters for waste disposal. There are also places in town like the RV Pit Stop where you can purchase water to haul or put directly in your RV. There are also trucks that will come out and fill your RV with water and dump the holding tanks for a fee. Water bladders are available that hold about 45 gallons of water. Camping World sells one for about $85. If you put it on the roof, you can gravity feed the water into your fresh water tank. Actually the holding tank waste is more of a problem than fresh water. A lot of people will move the RV to the dump site where they can also fill with fresh water. We can go about 10 days with out dumping. I use a 6 gallon water container that I bought at Walmart and pump it into the RV with a $29.95 12 volt pump I bought at Harbor Freight. I have a 12 gallon "Blue Boy" that I use for waste hauling. On dump day, I make about four trips with the Blue Boy.

lsdvn · 09-21-2011, 09:37 PM

I appreciate the comments. It's good to know that the BLM does have some facilities. We assumed boondocking might require a 'by hand' haul in and out but had no idea about what size of container we might need or where we would take it. Our first RV experience included full hook ups. It's nice to learn about the options. Thanks for the help.

SiberCamper · 10-30-2011, 01:08 AM

Take into consideration that we have a 14 ft trailer and a 25 gallon holding tank, but we have 2 solar showers that we fill with water and dump into our tank. It's usually 2 trips and it's easy if we can't get a hose to it. I almost never drive to the site with water In the tanks. We lug it in later or stop to fill it at the spigot.

ralper · 10-31-2011, 07:17 PM

Successful boondocking requires a "Blue Boy" tank to cart your sewage to a dump site and containers of some sort to haul fresh water back to the rig. Or you can move the rig as needed to the dump station and water fill station.

If you are thinking of solar go to "Handy Bob Solar" blog to learn all about it. The so called experts are not too expert and if you do not educate yourself as to what constitutes a proper solar system you will only get half of it's potential output like mine was before I renovated it. The solar guys in Quartzsite are a bunch of hacks that need to be educated themselves.

96 Wideglide · 10-31-2011, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hilley

Water bladders are available that hold about 45 gallons of water. Camping World sells one for about $85. If you put it on the roof, you can gravity feed the water into your fresh water tank.

Yeah, I'm not putting a 45gal water bladder on my roof

!

TheBeachHous · 11-02-2011, 12:23 PM

This is a great question... We started ATVing a few years ago, and everywhere we LOVE to camp is WAY off the grid... We had a 24 ft Tioga with a thimble sized fresh water tank... We had to be very careful... Then we ran out one weekend and instead of breaking down camp we took the truck into town and someone suggested a 7 gal water jug, green in color, from walmart... This changed our camping lives... We carried around 4 of these and filled the RV when it ran low...
The next problem became... Well we a tank that holds a thimble full of fresh water, and a black and grey tank that hold each 1/2 a thimble... How do we add more water and not fill everything to the top??? Well... The first time was an oops!!!

The second time, and all other times after that we got smart. We stopped dumping dish water down the drain, and stopped showering inside(a long story by itself) and really paid attention to what we used water for and where the waste went... Obviously black water ends up where its supposed to, but dish water went out the door (usually to put a fire out!!) in a plastic dish tub... We utilized the holding tank and hot water heater but were able to keep water out of the holding tanks.
We got so good, last summer, 6 of us BoonDocked/Dry Camped in Taylor Park, COlorado for 5 days, 4 nights... Showers for everyone everyday... With 60 gallons of water, and didn't fill our holding tanks... We were very impressed with our work...

Long story short, it takes trial and error to figure out what YOU need, and how much YOU will use, but its always nice to have Extra... Now, as for using a transfer tank.... I don't like dumping once a trip, let alone multiple times in a day.. If my tank is full i'm done and its time to go home...
That tune may change when i retire, but for now (and the next 40yrs) thats the idea!!!

xctraveler · 11-02-2011, 05:50 PM

I do not object to moving to dump holding tanks and fill with Fresh water. We do that about once a week when dry camping in the desert. It helps that we are not far from a gov't provided dump site and adequate fresh water in the Imperial Dam area. The fee is not bad. STVA (Short Term Visitor Area) is 2 weeks in and then move 25 miles for 2 weeks and costs $75 a year! LTVA costs $180 for seven months the rest of the year here is no fee required, this is in the Yuma District. Rules are slightly different in Quartzite and there are several commercial options there.

bluck · 11-15-2011, 06:47 PM

I carry 6-15 gallon drums of fresh water and a full tank in the fifth wheel for serious dry camping. I use a 12v rv pump to pump the water into the fresh water tank. Use as much gray water as possible for potty flushing and fire ext. Baker 32 gal. for dumping black and gray. I can go about 3-4 weeks without dumping the black tank, but dump the gray weekly.

oldbeek · 02-08-2012, 10:51 PM

I put a bladder in the back of my pick-up with a hose that is plumbed into the inlet to my rv pump under the 5r. PU bed is same level as floor in 5r. It will refill the fresh water holding tank.

wa8yxm · 02-10-2012, 08:22 AM

You have 3 kinds of water, Fresh, Gray and Black.

Now many Campgrounds have either partial or full hookups, FULL means Water, Sewer, Electric, normally if it's partial you have no sewer.. Thus you have two choices when the black or gray tank fills (NOTE there may also be a "Wash" tank more on that later)

Choice one: pack up and head to ye-old-dump station. Empty tanks and return.

choice two. "Blue Boy" there are two companies that make waste totes, Barker (They are Blue) and Tethford (Green) I recommend barker, These come in sizes from five gallons up.. I recommend "At least as large as your wast tank" (The largest waste tank) In my case that woudl be a 40 gallon uint (I have 36 gallon tanks).

NOTE: your tank sensors,, Work 1 time only, after that they give false full readings.

5 gallon is luggable, 10 & 15 and 20 dragable (They have wheels on one end) 15 and 20 have an optional "Fork" that lets you tow them with your tow vehicle, 24 and up have hitch adapters for towing built in.

For fresh water.. Again you have choices, Drive to the re-fill station, or use "Jerry cans' (I have a five gallon one) to haul water (I do this every day when on a dry site) or Camping World sells a "Bladder" tank, goes on the roof of your towed/tow vehicle (Motor home or trailer) and holds depending on the model either 45 or 90 gallons as I recall. When the time comes (And I have a towed to lay it on/in) That will be my choice.

With 2 people and 80 gallons of fresh water, 36 each on Gray, Black and Wash I can go from 2 days to 8 days without a dump/fill depending on just where I'm parked (how far from the "out house" (Even if it is a full comfort station with hot and cold running water and heat/air conditioning it's stll outside the Motor home and thus an "outhouse"). and how much we use the high-flow macerator toilet v/s the Sea Land job. (bath and a half model, 2 holes no waiting) The 8 days is using the sea land exclusively and near the park's plumbing so we can use it as much as possible.

(Plus the guy working on the showers loves to chat).

Now, That is self service.

Many parks have a "honey wagon" if you do not have a sewer site.. Why they bill you for it I do not know but they do.. Some places even have a "Fresh Water" wagon to refill you.. I know when I'm parked on BLM land in Quartsite I can order both kinds of tankers. to the rig and not have to move or tote.