Where do we get water to fill up the trailer water tank?

[stylinlp38]

I want to go on my first Travel Trailer trip in my new Outdoor RV Creekside 24' trailer but I can find anywhere on the internet where you are suppose to get water to fill up the water tank? All the electric and water hookup campsites are booked for months and I cant find anything but a natio0nal forest dry site. Where do you all get water normally? I cant image, home depot, Carbellas, Costco, Walmart or a gas station letting you hook up a water hose and filling the 60 gallon water tank. How come none of the websites even mention this? There sure is plenty of information about "dumping" but not getting water.

[MisterT]

chill

dump stations sometimes also have 'potable' water, meaning the kind you can drink, or fill your tank with...

otherwise, rv parks and campgrounds are certainly NOT the only places you can get water for your tank - how about your own home? .... I'm sure you'll think of many places to get water when you really need it... yes, there are also nice people who will allow you to use their water, especially churches, businesses, and the like... you'd be surprised at the places you've never thought of yet.

don't fret.

[hivoltage98]

Welcome. I would first sanitize the tank with a little bleach to clean the system. You can fill it at home and take it with you but that's more weight you have to travel with. We stay at a lot of state parks and They have a spot to fill your tanks. It's usually near the bath houses.
Good luck!

[TonyDi]

Is there a reason you can't fill the tank at your home? If that's not an option the you can call some CGs on your route. Many will have dump stations and water filling for a small fee. I've seen a few Flying Js with fresh water also.

[stylinlp38]

Thanks for the advice Mister. Unfortunately, filling my water tank with water before I leave home is not an option. It is simply way to much weight. The fresh water tank is sitting right on the front so it adds to the tongue weight. I can get away with maybe 10 gallons. But not much more.
This thing is, I will be in downtown Prescott or Flagstaff tomorrow morning hunting for a campsite and not sure where I can go to fill my tank up before getting to the dry camp grounds in the area. (I had no idea you had to make reservations to reserve a campground online 3 days in advance). I wonder if Costco will let me pull up and fill up my water tank....I can try the RV dealership on the way. They are listed as a Dump station in that Dumpstation website guide.

[coupevilleDF]

If you are a Camping World member, many of the stores have a dump station. I haven't used one, but I'm guessing that they would also have a fill station. You could call.

[rk911]

when we first started out we were usually able to fill our fresh tank at gas stations and truck stops. virtually all Flying J's have free fresh water fills at their RV fueling lanes.

but if weight is an issue then you'll need to find a place relatively close to your destination. have you actually done the math? fresh water weighs roughly 8-lbs per gallon. what size fresh tank do you have? what is the max tongue weight your hitch can support and how much tongue weight is being applied now? the difference divided by 8 = the number of gallons of fresh you can transport.

or...

if you're towing with a pickup would a portable water bladder that rests in the PU bed work? fill that at home, transport ton he CG, setup and then transfer the water from the bladder to the TT.

[stylinlp38]

78 gallons fresh
40 gallons grey
40 gallons black
6 gallon water heater

my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 6 cycles is rated to tow 6500 LBS
Haul 1100 LBS

I'm 230 lbs
two full propane tanks 60 lbs
Reese Steadi-Flex anti sway weight dist hitch 100 lbs
Two 12v batteries 120 lbs
Trailer tongue weight 485 lbs
Champion 3100watt invertor power generator 90 lbs
Two plastic big totes with all my cables and hoses in them. 50 lbs

total 1170 lbs

[theoldwizard]

I have seen people borrow a couple of hoses to run a couple hundred feet to potable water, but that it not typical !

[DAN L]

Stylinlp38,
Most Cabelas have dump stations and potable water. Sometimes there is a small charge for dumping, don't know about just water fill.
Most state parks that I have seen that don't have hookups on each space have a water spigot near spaces, sometimes a spigot for every 3-6 spaces.
Check the website page for the NF park that you are interested in.

[Gigattime]

Most parks have potable water on site somewhere. If there is a dump station, you will probably find they provide a potable water fill up as well. This has been my experience.

[cruzbill]

We were camping at a fs campground north of Sedona and S of Flagstaff. Campground had no water. I found a Circle K in Sedona that would let me fill up. They had a long garden hose on their outside faucet, so I don't think I was the first one. Now to back the trailer into that parking spot with all the traffic in and out of the store....
we didn't do an exhaustive search, but it was frustrating at the time to only find the one water source.

[HSR-Russ]

Truck stops (Loves, Flying J, TA) will have dump stations quite often. They don't all have them but a good number do. Call and ask. If they have a dump station, they'll have a fresh water fill hookup there too. Small fee $5-10 and you can 'swap tanks' as we say. Out with the bad, in with the good.

I have also in a pinch asked a Wal-mart manager when I was in their lot over night if he knew a clean water fill place near by. He basically told me I could just use their faucet out back if I had a hose, no sweat.

In a pinch if you know someone with a home in the area you're going through, ask. And yes, you know a ton of people now that you're on here You'd be amazed at how helpful fellow RVers can be. And in a pinch, if you were really really in need, you can always knock on a door and ask if they'd trade hooking up to an outside spigot for like $10.

Most likely though, you're going to end up getting gas at a ton of places that have dump/fill stations. You probably already have, but just never knew it before.

[hoosierrun]

What we found this year was that many State Parks and NF CGs that have dump stations also have a hose or fitting for potable water. Look for a blue hydrant or spigot since that usually indicates potable water.

A couple I remember on my current trip were Yampa State Park in CO, Cedar CG at Flaming Gorge, UT. Also, there was a Corp of Engineers Site in NM (Abiquiu reservoir) and the Firemen's Memorial CG (a few miles S of Flaming Gorge Dam). When you get further North, it is real maintenance headache to support a full water distribution system to every site due to freezing. They opt for a centralized hydrant so you can fill up and they are often a few feet from the dump stations. Private campgrounds usually have full water hookups, but you pay a bit more at most of those sites.

Since many NF CGs have no hookups, you will be quite limited if you can not travel far with a full water tank.