tobyw

What is the solution for getting fresh water while on the road? We often take long distance trips to dry camp, already loaded pretty heavily, and would like to NOT have to fill up and travel with a full fresh water tank and instead fill up somewhere closer to our final destination. What are some typical places that folks have had good luck obtaining fresh water on the road??

Desert5600

Roadside rests with dump stations and potable water are one option. One place I go to has a water spigot behind the local bar and I haul water with a bladder and an AC pump powered by a 2k generator. We also use one of those blue filters from Walmart to minimize the debris in the tank, primarily from well water.

SIXSLUG

Jeez, why risk it?

Desert5600

Why risk what?

tobyw

Is there an online resource to find such places?

Desert5600

I use Rest Stops and Sanidump apps on my iPad. Don't know if there is a URL link. There's also an iExit app that gives a lot of other info.

j_martin

In my experience there are rest stops with tremendous water, and often nearby rest stops with well water that stinks. Montana-Wyoming border comes to mind. I got some bottled water in Colorado one time that wrecked my jugs.

I keep a log of where I've been and go from there. I carry a few days of bottled water for drinking just in case I have to compromise.

1320Fastback

Sickness would be my worry. I dont drink out tap water when traveling but do shower and do the dishes with it.

Ive also not considered not towing it full if im not going to full hookups. Maybe move some weight back if its too much tongue weight.

Desert5600

We always bring along a couple cases of water from Costco for drinking and cooking. Potable water has always been easy to find. That's the only water we put in the tank and its always filtered. Good for showering and flushing.

tobyw

Good stuff, REALLY appreciate the info!! I'll take a look at those apps before we head out for Colorado

SIXSLUG

Why risk running dry, illness, not having enough in an emergency....sorry guys, I grew up in the SW and extra water was never a burden.

Desert5600

Just to be clear, in post #2 when I mentioned hauling water in a bladder, that was after a long term boondocking period that depleted the full tank of water I hauled in the fiver from home. I may not start out with a full tank, depending on where I'm going, but I always have some water in the tank in addition to a case or two of bottled water.

Even though I always filter the water (using a white, RV hose and Walmart blue filter) going into the trailer and do a bleach disinfect when de-winterizing, we use bottled water for drinking and the trailer water for showers and flushing only.

BarryG

Another thing that was recently brought to my attention on another forum regarding more or less the same question was that at least some of the manufactures tell you (in fine print in the manual) not to haul fresh, grey or black water in the tanks. I checked my manual after reading that and sure enough it does have a warning to not haul water.
Which seems almost ludicrous to me as why else have a tank/s. We haul water if I know I cant get water at the camp area which is not uncommon at all at an NFS campground and a dump station at an NFS campground is almost unheard of here. Compound that with many of the newer rigs don't even come with a gravity fill you have to pump the water in through the water pump and valve selection. Ours is one of those and wouldn't be so bad except you have to empty out the basement storage to get to the panel that you have to take out to even get to the valves to do it. We can fill ours with a pressurized water source but the average water spigot at a NFS campground that does have water at least around here doesn't have threads so you cant hook up a hose to it. At least our old one did have a gravity fill and I could when needed fill it out of a 5 gallon hand carry container easy enough.

Desert5600

That is hard to believe that they recommend or mandate that you should tow dry.

From my Keystone manual:

"Fresh Water is considered “Cargo”, therefore, your Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) is reduced by the weight of the water you choose to carry."

There is no restriction to towing our TH with water, which we always do with a minimum of 1/3 tank.

BarryG

I hear you for sure. It even has it on the yellow weight sticker about water weight and CC capacity and as you mentioned it says the same thing in the manual. However it (at least my Jayco manual) definitely has a warning in the manual stating not to do it or not recommended I forget which. It is in a small box at the bottom of the page in definitely smaller print than the rest of the page or the rest of the manual for that matter. My manual is also pretty generic it seems to cover at least 6+models. At best it is confusing at worst it is contradictory

I do it when needed without a doubt.