Potable water - where can you refill?

[RCSP]

I will be rough camping (no electric or water) near Sturgeon Bay, WI, which is 45 minutes from Green Bay, WI (nearest large city). I like to have my fresh tank empty when I travel just to reduce weight. What's the normal way to fill my fresh water tank once at or near my destination? Do Kwik Trip gas stations sell potable water via a hose? Really do not want to buy 30 one gallon containers of water from a Walmart.



Thanks!

[bikendan]

A full FW tank's weight will affect fuel mileage very little because it's the trailer's frontal air resistance that affects it mostly.
Gas stations do not have potable water but large truck stops may.

[5picker]

Many Flying J Service Centers have potable water as do some rest areas on certain interstates and Turnpikes.

I also agree that a full tank of water has little affect on fuel mileage.
It would be comparable to carrying two extra people along for the trip.

[llr]

I agree if the mileage is the concern fill at home and don't worry about it.

If you are worried about the tank falling out, especially if you have a model that others have had issues with that is another story. If you have one of these I would inspect it and re-enforce if needed. I don't recall any of the models but they all seemed to be the very small and lite units.

Personally we like our home water and always travel with full tank so at least we start with home water.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

I have had good luck with Tractor Supply stores letting me fill six gallon water jugs from their outside hose when I buy propane there. I then use the six gallon jugs to fill my freshwater tank. I buy drinking water at Walmart.

[Scrapper]

Call the place you will be boondocking at and ask them if they have potable water. You can also check their website. Most federal and state parks have potable water available.

[timfromma]

Fill 'er up at home. That's what it's built for.

[dstacy969]

Their situation may be like mine, where my weight is already close enough to my max tow capacity with all the tanks empty, that traveling dry is pretty much a necessity.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

Originally Posted by dstacy969

Their situation may be like mine, where my weight is already close enough to my max tow capacity with all the tanks empty, that traveling dry is pretty much a necessity.

Filling my fresh water tank doesn't put me over my towing capacity, but it does put me over my hitch weight because it is in front of the axles. And I boondock almost exclusively so even if I did ignore that, which I wouldn't, I would have to find fresh water. So yes, there are lots of reasons people have to find fresh water on the road.

[bikendan]

This is why matching tow vehicle and trailer are so important.
Since we mainly dry camp, we chose a tow vehicle easily capable of towing our trailers' GVWR rating and loaded tongue weight, including a full FW tank.
We don't want to have to limit what we want to take, especially water.

[dstacy969]

Originally Posted by bikendan

This is why matching tow vehicle and trailer are so important.
Since we mainly dry camp, we chose a tow vehicle easily capable of towing our trailers' GVWR rating and loaded tongue weight, including a full FW tank.
We don't want to have to limit what we want to take, especially water.

I used to tow a pop up with same vehicle (4-door Wrangler). As I got older I wanted something with less setup, so I went to a SMALL travel trailer. Buying a different vehicle around the same time wasn’t really an option. Maybe if I had unlimited funds... [emoji6]

[HappyTrav]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

Call the place you will be boondocking at and ask them if they have potable water. You can also check their website. Most federal and state parks have potable water available.

This has been my experience as well. Bring a 5g jerry can for water when you go and refilling will be easier.

Bob

[RCSP]

Lots of good answers. I have it filled up with water and am heading out!

[lablover]

Originally Posted by HappyTrav

This has been my experience as well. Bring a 5g jerry can for water when you go and refilling will be easier.

Bob

And a funnel with an adjustable spout(Walmart), both designated for fresh water only.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

Originally Posted by lablover

And a funnel with an adjustable spout(Walmart), both designated for fresh water only.

My solution for filling my fresh water tank from my 6 gallon water jugs. 1" inside diameter tubing screwed to the spout with stainless steel screws. End cut at a slant to ease insertion into fill port. Stores inside the jug.

[Steveboe]

If you join the KOA you can pull in and use the dump and fresh water fill up for free. Not sure if there is one handy for your plans.
Some parks make you pay for a site to use those services and some will charge smaller fee.

[BobHanke]

In the rest areas, don't fill at the dump station as that is probably not potable and should be marked as such. Brown County State Park in DePere probably would allow you to fill there.

[jcharles]

You could try Bayshore County Park Campground between GB and SB. Fairly easy on/off from highway. Another option would Potawatomi State Park (park pass req). Also, we use a couple of these collapsible jugs https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/rel...SABEgKeofD_BwE with this funnel . The covers for the funnel are nice to keep it clean for fresh water.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by dstacy969

Their situation may be like mine, where my weight is already close enough to my max tow capacity with all the tanks empty, that traveling dry is pretty much a necessity.

Originally Posted by KeithInUpstateNY

Filling my fresh water tank doesn't put me over my towing capacity, but it does put me over my hitch weight because it is in front of the axles. And I boondock almost exclusively so even if I did ignore that, which I wouldn't, I would have to find fresh water. So yes, there are lots of reasons people have to find fresh water on the road.

If you are using the sticker on the side of the trailer to determine how much weight you are towing a FULL WATER TANK is factored in when stating cargo capacity. Only thing not considered is the weight of any propane added to the LPG tanks (which are already counted in trailer dry weight).

Only way one will ever know what they are towing, as well as hitch weight, is to weigh tow vehicle and trailer separately, axle by axle. If no scale weight, all is just conjecture.

I have only arrived at a dry camp location ONCE in the last 40+ years without a full water tank. It was in a major city where I was going to be parked in a parking lot while participating in a trade show. Being a major city I just assumed I'd be able to find "potable water" there. Wrong. Unless I were to go to a private resident and get water from them I had to settle for water from the rubber hose at a gas station. A little 3/8" water hose that delivered about a gallon per minute and was designed to top off radiators on old cars.

I fill up when I leave home and when on long trips usually stop for a night at a full hookup park. I do my laundry, fill my water tank, dump my holding tanks and give the black tank a good flush using the city water hookup. Usually do this once per week and if there's a grocery store close by I re-provision for the next leg of my journey.

[mzbrandi]

Originally Posted by bikendan

A full FW tank's weight will affect fuel mileage very little because it's the trailer's frontal air resistance that affects it mostly.
Gas stations do not have potable water but large truck stops may.

X2 on this.