Welcome, Cavineepmc.
I see this is an early post for you - glad to have you here.
Can you share with us what your "31 foot Forest River Camper" actually is? (many people include that in a signature line, so that we can provide RV specific advice).
I'll try to breakdown your request into bite-sized pieces.
"city water connection to my RV"
This is a port with a threaded connection that hooks your RV's water system to a pressurized source of fresh water. This is usually in the form of a hose bib/spigot at a campground, similar to your hose bibs/spigots at home. You DO NOT turn on your water pump when using City Water, you let the pressurized source provide the water pressure in your RV. When you open ANY tap inside the RV, water comes out "on demand" because the pressure is always there, and the "demand" is simply opening the tap. (This is likely how water works in your home).
1. Many people put a pressure regulator on this connection (to limit the amount of external pressure their plumbing sees).
2. Some people like to add an external water filter to this connection (especially if they are unsure of the quality of water at the source).
3. Some people like to add a second quick shutoff for this connection (If a rare catastrophic plumbing failure happens, a quick shutoff can be implemented to keep too much water from entering the trailer).
4. Some people add quick-connect fittings to this connection (this simply makes it faster to connect and disconnect a hose).
5. Some people like to turn the water source OFF when they leave the camper (this eliminates the risk of a catastrophic failure while no one is in camp to respond).
"Fresh Water / no hose connections to screw in a hose"
This is (most likely) only the direct fill point for your freshwater tank. You use this to FILL your freshwater tank to have water ON BOARD (and then close it up to camp). You DO use your water pump to provide pressure in the RV when using the onboard fresh water tank. You have your water pump ON when using onboard water. The water pump has a pressure switch that energizes the pump when it senses a tap being opened, which causes water to flow to your opened tap (eg "on demand"). When you CLOSE the tap, your water pump will continue to run to build pressure back up in the system (to about 60 lbs), at which point, the pressure switch will see enough pressure in the system and will de-energize the pump.
1. Some people like to turn the water pump OFF (switch on the control panel) when they leave the camper (this eliminates the risk of a catastrophic failure while no one is in camp to respond).
Will this be a on demand water each time I turn on the spigot while parked?
Both "City Water" and "fresh water tank" will be "on demand" water each time you open a tap in your RV. City Water will have pressure supplied by the source. Fresh Water tank will have watter pressure supplied by the pump, which functions as "on demand" via an automatic pressure switch in the pump.
Also, at what point do I turn onm the water pump and hot water tank?
You turn on the water pump (at the control panel) when you have water on board in the fresh water tank. This will take water from the tank and make it available to all of the outlets. When you first prime the system, your pump will pull water through the tank, and want to expell all the air in the system, so it will take a little while of pumping to get the water to flow out of your water taps.
1. Some people like to turn the water pump OFF (switch on the control panel) when they leave the camper (this eliminates the risk of a catastrophic failure while no one is in camp to respond).
You turn the hot water heater (gas, electric or both) on when there is fresh water in the hot water heater tank (do not turn on any heating element until there the hot water heater is completely full). An anode rod or pressure cap must be in place on the hot water heater and the TPR valve on the top of the hot water heater must be closed. Gas uses propane from your onboard tank to run a flamed heat source. Electric uses shore power to power an electric heating element inside the tank - only run this if your trailer is plugged into an electrical source. You can turn BOTH on to shorten tank recycle times (the tank is small, many are 6 gal, and hot water can go pretty quick if you're not taking short showers).
1. Some people like to turn the water heater (gas and electric) OFF when they don't need them, to reduce use.
2. Some people like to use electric heat ONLY when they have power at a campground, and keep their propane for separate use.
3. Some people like to use electric and propane FIRST to get the entire tank up to temp, then turn the propane off and cruise on the electric side.
4. Depending on your hot water heater, there can be a second switch (outside on the face of the heater) for the electrical heat side. This is a pinned switch and needs to be on (along with the switch inside) for the electrical heater to work.
Your Hot Water Heater is enough of a specialty subsystem that it has its own manual, and this would be worth reading to get used to it, if you're not familiar with their function and operation.
When you first turn on the water pump, it turn on and will run until it builds up pressure in the system. When you hook up to city water, the city water will flow into the trailer's system till it is stopped by the closed taps. You will need to let enough water flow into the camper's system (either from the fresh tank via the pump, or from the city water source) into the hot water tank - this will take a little while to fill, as hot water heater tanks are 6+ gallons.
It sounds like you didn't get a good walkthrough of your trailer when you purchased it. Thankfully, Youtube is a godsend of information. Google stuff like "how do I use my rv hot water heater" and you'll get good videos helping you out.
Below is a typical water/plumbing system for some forest river products that may show you how water is routed within the camper.
Just my .02. Hope this helps.
