How to fill fresh water tank

[Videocrafters]

How to fill fresh water tank when the campsite does not have a fresh water hose?

[Vermilye]

One of these and a bucket or gallon jug...

[Bea]

Originally Posted by Videocrafters

How to fill fresh water tank when the campsite does not have a fresh water hose?

You might find this thread interesting:

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post315062

Can't wait to try this out someday soon. - Bea

[tdf-texas]

More info on filling fresh water tank.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tles-5035.html

[fudge_brownie]

I just spent two weeks boondocking. There were three of us so we went through a fair amount of water. My goals in camping are to take as little as possible, make sure it is as light as possible and try to have it perform more that one function. For our drinking water we use 10 liter collapsible water carriers (Amazon - 2 for $10).

The carriers are showing a rust color after three years of use, the local water has an extreme amount of iron and it is run through a Brita filter for decent coffee. The two of them fold into something the dimension and thickness of a padded envelope. I get a second use of these in refilling the fresh water tank. We were able to get by with adding the pair each day. A section of water line from Home Depot and the suction method to create a vacuum empties each carrier in less than a minute.

The 10 liter size is easy to handle, particularly having to lift in on top of the spare tire.

Trash disposal was over an 1/2 mile away so the Bob bike trailer hauled the trash in the evening and returned with a fresh supply of water.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

One of these and a bucket or gallon jug...

Same method except my funnel is red !

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by Videocrafters

How to fill fresh water tank when the campsite does not have a fresh water hose?

Bring your own hose with a good filter on it. Make sure it is for potable water. Water quality is all over the place so bring a filter. You want to filter whatever goes in the trailer. Escape Industries will sell you a nice hose and a filter too!

You can also carry a drill pump and a bucket of water or anything else you can carry water in and pump the water into the trailer. It is easy and fast.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smartbottleinc.com/product-category/commercial/

We travel with our own hose for the fresh water as well a a hose to clean up after dumping gray and black water. And we keep them separate!

[Hollybee]

We carry at least 1 5 gal collapsible water bag, a 1' piece of blue water line affixed to a 4" wide funnel..I Pour the water from the bag into the tank , thru the funnel. Simple. and works for us. IF the water is ?? potability, pour it thru a filter first.

[gbaglo]

Bugs in the water is just a hoax.

[Upfisk]

We carry a spare water pump. If the one in the trailer goes bad, we have a spare. Have a couple pieces of clear vinyl hose that attach to the spare pump, have 10 ft of black and red wires that attach to the pump with a cigarette lighter adapter on the other end. When we did our build we requested an outdoor 12V outlet near the tank fill. This is for an air compressor to fill the tires and for running the 12V pump to fill the water tank. Empties a 5 gallon jug in less than a minute while the jug is on the ground.

[NellieFlower]

Reliance 7 gallon jugs Have a spigot that screws into the jugs cap using 3/4 in pipe threads. Get a 3/4 inch male pipe to male garden hose pvc adapter and add a 18” to 24” piece of garden hose with female end and other end cutoff to slide into freshwater filler.

[Iowa Dave]

First off I know I am crazy. I was in northern California in the redwoods and the battery on my several years old Highlander started to conk out. Turned over slow etc. had to get a jump from a guy. So when I got to a bigger town I bought a booster pack. I used it a couple times on my way back home. It had the jumper cables and a 12 volt socket. Got home and bought a new battery. Later in the year I had a lot of Cabelas bucks so I bought a 12 volt ZODI pump. I already owned some five gallon water cans. The next time I visited a state forest where it’s about 3 miles to water and my back was sore, I got water in the plastic cans and returned to camp. Rather than lift the cans and try to hold the spout in the water fill I got my camp chair, a one gallon ice cream bucket my booster pack and my ZODI. I tip the can that sits on the ground, water runs into the bucket, ZODI is in the bucket and hooked to battery pack. Sucks the water out of the bucket and pushes it into the fresh water tank at better than a gallon a minute. When the dog needs a bath because he rolls in something raccoons leave behind, we lather him up and after leaving the dark water can in the sun rinse him off using the pump and the ice cream bucket. He likes it. I do not have an outside shower but I am gadgety. I can skin a buck and run a trot line, a country boy can survive.
Iowa “Derecho” Dave

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by NellieFlower

Reliance 7 gallon jugs Have a spigot that screws into the jugs cap using 3/4 in pipe threads. Get a 3/4 inch male pipe to male garden hose pvc adapter and add a 18” to 24” piece of garden hose with female end and other end cutoff to slide into freshwater filler.

I have four of the Reliance 7 gallon containers that, when traveling, fit under the 21' bed area. One trip to a faucet gives me enough water to refill the 25 gal fresh water tank.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Reliance-...-Gallon/872426

I use the Reliance Anti-Gravity pump to get the water from the containers into the fresh water tank. Trying to lift one of these full of water and pour into the fresh water tank using a funnel is more than my back can handle.

I set the container on the ground, hook up the pump, and away she goes!

https://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Anti.../dp/B000FIAQ10

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

First off I know I am crazy.
Iowa “Derecho” Dave

If you are going to be crazy, it's good to know it.


Zodi kicks ass and ingenuity will save your back. Good on you!

[Iowa Dave]

I bought that power pack in 2016 and it will still charge up into the 80% range. It was like $60 on sale at auto zone. I’ve jumped my kids cars and my car and my tractor several times with it. So saving a service call or two makes it worth it.
Here’s my list of “might get you out of a jam stuff that I always have with me
When we go Camping Any distance from the house.
Battery pack
Bottle jack
Tow strap
First aid kit for 25
Jumper Cables in a bag (long heavy ones)
My gear wrench SAE and Metric set in a bucket boss tool roll
Milwaukee 12 V inflator
ZODI pump.
Four rolls of quarters for pay showers.
Of course we have tools in the Escape and water jugs if were
Going to hit a boon docking area.

And I have a go bag with common and classified contents.

In the winter I carry two down bags, mittens, sheepskin lined boots, all wool balaclava and a #12 plastic grain scoop. And a box of granola bars and bottled water when I leave the house.

Probably seems like overkill to many but I’ve gotten out of some jams over the years and helped others too.

Iowa “the old Scoutmaster” Dave

[Dmmsix]

What is the plastic grain scoop for ?

[padlin]

To us city folks it's a shovel.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by Dmmsix

What is the plastic grain scoop for ?

Some places it’s a shovel. On snowy/ icy roads the vehicle can slide off the road. In 49 states the passengers cry out “we will all ke killed”. In Iowa we say “Hold my beer and watch this”.
But sometimes the snow is about hood high when the vehicle stops at the bottom of the road ditch. Then it’s time to crawl out the window, get the grain scoop and get to digging yourself out including under the vehicle because none of the wheels are touching ground and you are as we say “high centered”. While you dig, the passengers laugh at you and drink the rest of the beer. Then a farmer comes along when you are about done digging out and he has a huge 4 wheel drive tractor with a chain about 40 feet long. He pulls you out in about two minutes. You give him your last $20 And thank him profusely in the gathering darkness and limp back to town. Back home everybody at Sally’s place knows that you are not such a hotshot as you thought, you’re out of money, and you need a drink. And now you’re forever indebted to them too. And that’s what being an Iowa Boy is like. Ye Olde Grain Scoop shown below.

Iowa Dave

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by Videocrafters

How to fill fresh water tank when the campsite does not have a fresh water hose?

I often need water for my work so I have a 30 gallon poly tank in my truck in the front of the bed. I have it plumbed to an RV water pump and an old deep cell battery (the pump does not take much and the battery just gets charged once or twice a season) then it is plumbed to a sill cock near my tailgate. There is a switch to turn on the pump at the back too. I can then hook a hose up to the sill cock. It gives me running pressurized water in my truck for cleaning, etc. I also use it to go get water for the camper. I just run a hose to the fill on the camper and pump it over. We have an outside shower and a cabela's shower tent to rinse off in so a full grey tank is not an issue. I was even able to save a camping trip when our pump in the camper decided to break on the way to a campsite and dump all our water. I was able to jury rig the camper system to bypass the pump, attached the truck pump to the city water inlet and voila we had pressure water again!

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Some places it’s a shovel. On snowy/ icy roads the vehicle can slide off the road. In 49 states the passengers cry out “we will all ke killed”. In Iowa we say “Hold my beer and watch this”.
But sometimes the snow is about hood high when the vehicle stops at the bottom of the road ditch. Then it’s time to crawl out the window, get the grain scoop and get to digging yourself out including under the vehicle because none of the wheels are touching ground and you are as we say “high centered”. While you dig, the passengers laugh at you and drink the rest of the beer. Then a farmer comes along when you are about done digging out and he has a huge 4 wheel drive tractor with a chain about 40 feet long. He pulls you out in about two minutes. You give him your last $20 And thank him profusely in the gathering darkness and limp back to town. Back home everybody at Sally’s place knows that you are not such a hotshot as you thought, you’re out of money, and you need a drink. And now you’re forever indebted to them too. And that’s what being an Iowa Boy is like. Ye Olde Grain Scoop shown below.

Iowa Dave

Add mountains to the mix and now you have Vermont! Although it is more likely to be a guy in a hopped up pick up rather than a tractor today.