Refilling water for long stays

[HappilyLost]

Hello all. We have a 70 gallon fresh water tank in our cedar creek and commonly stay at state parks with no water. I’m wondering what people in my situation do to refill the tanks without pulling the camper out. I’ve been filling two 6 gallon water containers at a time and lifting it to the water tank filling point, but that’s getting old. Any tips appreciated.

[rocco52]

There are a lot of different ways to do this but I believe the simplest and least expensive one is to just switch your system to 'Winterize" and put the winterizing hose directly into one of your 6 gallon jugs. The water pump will draw the water into the system easily. You will just need to switch jugs as they get low. Works for me.

[valleyduo]

Plastic tank you can keep in the truck bed? Shouldn't be hard to find one in the 50 to 70 gallon range. Would be fairly light weight if it needs to be removed. From bed height you may be able to gravity feed your rig. 12v pump would be worst case. Just make sure everything is for potable water. Also treat the tank frequently as they can grow bacteria quickly in the sun.

[CNYCamper]

This topic was nicely covered in a post initiated on 1/8 by IsleDog. See Forest River Technical Talk, General Tech Repair, Plumbing... Titled: Filling Water Tank

[cavie]

Plastic bladder and a water pump comes to mine pretty qwick.?

[ependydad]

I use a 60g Aquatank 2:
https://learntorv.com/aquatank2-water-bladder/

On my first camper, I could use the anti-freeze inlet and outdoor shower to fill the freshwater tank. On my new camper, the freshwater tank inlet is very far from my water bay so now I have a cheap 12v 4gpm transfer pump from Harbor Freight.

[IsleDog]

Originally Posted by CNYCamper

This topic was nicely covered in a post initiated on 1/8 by IsleDog. See Forest River Technical Talk, General Tech Repair, Plumbing... Titled: Filling Water Tank

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...nk-200016.html

lots of good ideas in there! Ependydad has a great solution for filling large tanks. if mine were anywhere near that size i would do it, but I only have 30 to work with. Im looking at an ATV sprayer as a self contained unit to sit in the truck bed. probably wont be big enough for your usage though.

[oxcamper]

Originally Posted by valleyduo

Plastic tank you can keep in the truck bed? Shouldn't be hard to find one in the 50 to 70 gallon range. Would be fairly light weight if it needs to be removed. From bed height you may be able to gravity feed your rig. 12v pump would be worst case. Just make sure everything is for potable water. Also treat the tank frequently as they can grow bacteria quickly in the sun.

We're in NE Ohio -- the snow belt. We raise and train oxen and have beef cattle, not a big operation, but big enough. Our barn is about 800 feet from the house, has electricity but not water. We use a 65 gal tank (available from TSC) and it works very well. I could easily expect to put one in the bed of the pickup truck and use either gravity or a pump to transfer water.
Easy-peasy

[Homebrew]

I also use a bladder tank and 12v pump. Rolls up when finished and easy to pack away.

[HappilyLost]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

I also use a bladder tank and 12v pump. Rolls up when finished and easy to pack away.

How often do you need to clean it out?

[Oldbears]

Well, we don't have a 70 gal. capacity in our rig -- but we have an 8 gallon rolling water jug. It has a wide opening and I drop in a little 12v submersible pump to pump the water into the freshwater tank. It doesn't take long, and we have to make a few trips to fetch the water from the nearest spigot, but at least we don't have to move the trailer or lift a heavy jug.

[ChrisRR]

I bought a 30 gallon food grade plastic barrel and a 30 dollar pony pump from home depo. Stick one hoes in each tank and flip switch done. You can get larger barrels but the 30 fits nicely in the bed of my truck. Tots have 50 bucks in the set up

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by HappilyLost

How often do you need to clean it out?

I tend to use mine sporadically. Sanitizing it just prior to use each time is just part of my boondocking prep.

[Homebrew]

Originally Posted by HappilyLost

How often do you need to clean it out?

If we know there is a possibility we clean and sanitize before a trip, and if possible hang and drip dry after every use.
But we never drink from our tank only bottle water.
We will fill 1 gallon jug from fresh water source for cooking.

[Pipeman]

I used to have a few 5 gallon containers that I used for spare water when boondocking. I used air pressure to move the water into the trailer tank. Then I got a food grade 45 gallon drum that I used air pressure to move the water. After that I got a 50 gallon hard plastic water container from a farm and fleet type store and I used a 12 volt water pump to move the water. Now a days I use 2 water bladders. One is 60 gallons and the other is 50 gallons. I move the water with a 12 volt RV pump that plugs into the 7 way plug at the back of my truck using an adapter that plugs into the 7 way plug. I have 60 gallons of fresh water in the 5er. We used to boondock most of the time we used the trailers but as we get older not so much any more. This coming summer we will head out to Alberta and boondock with my son & daughter and their families, in the Rockies for a few weeks. We fill up one bladder just before we go boondocking because with the 2 gennys and 2 gas tanks and chain saw in the bed, that's all we have room for. After we get to our spot then we go for a 1/2 hour drive or so and fill the other bladder. I sanitize the bladders when I sanitize the fresh water tank in the 5er.

[Homebrew]

Pipe man , Great idea using the 7 pin plug!

[GalsofEscape]

i have a setup similar to oldbears. I have a 8 gallon wheeled container with a wide mouth. and for a submersible pump, i use a portable 12 volt shower set. Just take off the shower head and stick the tube in the fill port. I can either plug the shower into the dc outlet in the back of my tow vehicle, or I also have a small inverter that i can use with the 20 amp outlet on the pedestal. It will take a couple of trips to fill my tank - but since i only need to take this when we are camping for more than 3 days at a dry site (which is not very often) - i don't usually need to fill the fresh water tank, just add a few gallons to last another day or so.

[HappilyLost]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

If we know there is a possibility we clean and sanitize before a trip, and if possible hang and drip dry after every use.
But we never drink from our tank only bottle water.
We will fill 1 gallon jug from fresh water source for cooking.

We also do not drink from the tank. But from a 5 gallon cooler with ice setup. Gallon water for cooking and coffee

[JimMorrell]

Almost every camp ground has water available. Those that don't have threaded faucets usually have spring loaded smooth faucets. I bought a "hose" arrangement that pushes onto the smooth faucet and then clamps down. My fill hose then screws on to the clamped hose. I then run my fill hose (up to 100' long) to my TT fill spout. I believe I bought the faucet connector at Camping World. Have seen them on Amazon.

[Maxwell D Pratt]

I use a 15 gal drum . And a pump like the TT uses. Also have a 50 gal tank from a motor home that I can use.