Water

[kb0zke]

We're in the process of adding a rather robust solar and battery system to our travel trailer, so we should be good for a week or so on power. Unfortunately, increasing the tank capacities isn't as easy. We always run on the tanks (we're full-timers) so I have a pretty good idea of how long a tank of fresh water lasts. If we use disposable stuff for meals I can wash dishes only once a day, which would let us go for maybe five-six days. The challenge will come on the weekend, when we both want to shower for church on Sunday. Any other ideas to stretch the water?

[agesilaus]

We bought a 30 gal water bladder from Amazon, about 30 bucks IIRC. Have not had a chance to use it yet and the access cap is too small for our battery operated water pump.  I think I can use a drill mounted pump on it tho.  Our water tank is only about 40 gal do this will extend our ability to stay.,

We were using 6 gallon jugs which worked but are a PITA.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

David, what size are all your tanks because FW is just one part of the equation!    We primarily boondock ourselves and can go up to 3 weeks at a real push (tend to empty tanks more often in really hot temps for sure!).    Our tank capacities are 100gal FW   50 each Black and Grey tanks.

We have a 1000w solar system and large ah battery array to compliment.   We very rarely have to turn on our generator to top up.

A little idea as to how we roll:   We eat and prep the majority of our meals, cooking similar as at home base and don't use disposable items = proper crockery & utensils.   We tend to have left overs being just two of us that we utilise the next day also.

We shower every other day (Navy style) wet, shampoo, rinse, the other day we strip wash.   We collect initial water whilst setting temperature to use shower, for flushing toilet or heating up for when doing dishes, typically every other day we find suffices for the most part on dishes.

We also carry 10 gallons we use for making our tea and or cooking with for the most part, and will use a bowl to wash dishes in so we can dispose outside from our tanks where prudent or to put in the black tank.   We use actual flush mechanism sparsely but after each use rinse bowl.

We don't find it hard being frugal with our electric and water usage when boon docking and feel clean  in our personal wellbeing.    As we move more often than every 2 weeks, we don't find it hard to find sources to empty and refill accordingly.

With practice and monitoring, you'll automatically find over time you become more and more frugal with usage of your resources to enable you to stay out longer.   Some folks also carry bladders/containers of extra water.

 

 

[2gypsies]

We could go 2 weeks on our tanks but we didn't do dishes every day.  Wiped them with a used paper towel or napkins & put them out of sight in the dishpan under the sink.  Wiped out the fry pan & veggie pot with a clean, damp paper towel and reused them.  When doing dishes 1/2 dishpan of water was plenty since the dishes looked clean to begin with.  The dishpan water was used for flushing the toilet.

Never leave water run needlessly.... on/off.  Navy showers only and not every day.

Our 300w of solar in the Western sun allowed us to go indefinitely.  Of course, we didn't watch TV.... read or were outside doing things instead.

Conservation is the key.

EDIT:  I just looked up your tank sizes & if true you have 54 gal fresh; 118 gray; 43 black     I wonder why they did the grey as the biggest. It should be the fresh.  Strange.    We had 105 fresh; 65 grey; 45 black

Edited December 8, 2023 by 2gypsies

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

I did the same thing as 2Gs looking up your tank capacities and I too was surprised with the FW being less than half the grey!!!   Hence why I asked confirmation of your tank sizes in above post.    If this is indeed the case then if you can find room to carry excess water in containers, you should be golden with careful conservation to stay out a good amount of time.    Our grey would fill first before any of the other two needed servicing.

Happy Travels.

[kb0zke]

There are two grey tanks, one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom. I'm not sure that the capacity GD shows is actually correct. I suspect it is more like 50 gallons total for the grey. I'll call Grand Design next week and ask them to verify the tank sizes. If those numbers are correct then a bladder ought to be a big help.

[markandkim]

There are 3 grey tanks. Your forgetting about the laundry tank. I have the same unit. 118 gallons of grey.

We have a 60 gallon bladder in the truck for more fresh water.

You can draw water from the bladder using the installed water pump.

Edited December 8, 2023 by markandkim

[2gypsies]

1 hour ago, markandkim said:

There are 3 grey tanks. Your forgetting about the laundry tank. I have the same unit. 118 gallons of grey.

We have a 60 gallon bladder in the truck for more fresh water.

You can draw water from the bladder using the installed water pump.

So... only laundry water goes in the 3rd tank?  That wouldn't help when boondocking and not doing laundry since no hookups.

What is the capacity of the actual sink/shower grey?

[sandsys]

My water heater was electric with only 2.5 gallons of water. I could turn on the breaker, wait ten minutes, turnoff the breaker, and navy shower using only the hot water faucet. Never turned on the cold water so never lost any water trying to get the temperature right.

But I only showered once a week. All the other days I dampened a wash cloth with 3 ounces of water, heated a bit in the microwave on very cold mornings, and used it to scrub the critical areas then applied fresh deodorant.

I kept a silicone bowl of water in the kitchen sink and used it to wash my hands all day. I then used it to wash dishes every evening then to flush the toilet. I started with a fresh bowl the next morning.

To brush teeth, I put a few ounces of water in a glass. Used it to dampen my tooth brush; then after brushing used it to rinse the brush and my mouth.

Using these methods I always felt clean but I never did any really dirty things like gardening or mechanical work or exercise that made me sweat heavily.

Linda

[Kirk W]

7 hours ago, kb0zke said:

If those numbers are correct then a bladder ought to be a big help.

Keep in mind that about 80% of the water you use ends up in your waste tanks, if not more. You may want to think about some type of portable waste tank also. 

[kb0zke]

I need to talk to Grand Design about some other stuff, so I'll ask for the capacity of each tank. Yes, I did forget about the third grey tank, since we don't have a washing machine.

We've run nearly dry on fresh water a couple of times, but never found the grey tanks to get completely full. One time the kitchen sink seemed to be draining slower than normal, and when I dumped it did seem to be fuller than normal.

We do have a portable waste water tank, and have used it a bit. They are a LOT more work than just hooking up a sewer hose, but when you need one, you really need one.

[Kirk W]

10 hours ago, kb0zke said:

We do have a portable waste water tank, and have used it a bit.

Like many others here, I have more than a little experience with the waste water tanks. RV sites that have water but no sewer connections are quite common and in some cases they save money. One word of caution I give is that if your portable tank is smaller than the holding tank you need to have a portable that has a gage to know it is getting full. The lack of a gage can lead to some very unpleasant experiences. 

[2gypsies]

If boondocking you wouldn't have a place to dump your portable tank.  You don't just dump it on the ground!

[sandsys]

4 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

If boondocking you wouldn't have a place to dump your portable tank.  You don't just dump it on the ground!

There are lots of places that don't have hookups that do have dumps. The LTVAs instantly come to mind. There's even a dump at La Posa South that's only for portable tanks.

Linda Sand

Edited December 10, 2023 by sandsys

[2gypsies]

30 minutes ago, sandsys said:

There are lots of places that don't have hookups that do have dumps. The LTVAs instantly come to mind. There's even a dump at La Posa South that's only for portable tanks.

Linda Sand

Yes, that's commonly called 'dry camping'.   I was referring to true boondocking in the boonies.

[sandsys]

14 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Yes, that's commonly called 'dry camping'.   I was referring to true boondocking in the boonies.

We've had that discussion on this forum before. It indicated most RVers call any camping without hookups boondocking. Even "blacktopping" at Walmart gets called boondocking nowadays. But, my favorite is still "mooch docking" where you park in a friend's driveway and use some of their facilities.

Linda