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In my S&B, as I brushed my teeth this morning, leaving the water running as I did so, I wondered . . . when you're boondocking (or even otherwise) how do you modify your water use habits?
Here on the Kansas interstates, there are many dump stations at the rest stops, though they're not as common in other parts of the country. So I suppose if you're traveling you can dump your tanks and refill your water tanks as you go. But some folks boondocks almost all the time. How frequently do you have to dump and refill?
I think if I was using a trailer/5er and planning to stay in one place for a while, I'd hate to have to hook up frequently just to dump. Maybe it would be easier in a drivable RV.
Maybe if you primarily boondock you don't stay put so much?
How does that work for you?
Just wondering!
-- Edited by PrairieRV on Tuesday 9th of January 2018 08:40:25 AM
There are a lot of "It depends ...." answers to your questions.
It depends on the size of your tanks.
It depends on how much you are willing to conserve.
It depends on the distance to the dump station.
It depends on how long you want to stay in a spot.
It depends on whether there is a bathhouse or pit toilets you can use (sometimes "boondocking" is in a campground with no hook-ups that does have facilities).
It depends on whether there is a dump station close enough to use a portable wastewater tank ("blue boy").
And there are many more "It depends ..." answers.
Personally, we have a 100-gallon fresh water tank a 45-gallon black tank, and two 45-gallon gray tanks (one for the shower and one for the kitchen sink). We can boondock about 10 days with limited conservation and two weeks with more conservation without having to dump tanks. Even on public land in many areas, there is a two-week limit and then you have to move to another location. So we may dump in between (there are websites dedicated to dump station locations).
We also have a portable 45-gallon water bladder that we can put in our truck and take it to have filled and then we can pump it into our fresh water tank so we don't have to move the rig.
When boondocking we take drinking water in gallon jugs so we can use the fresh tank water for showers, toilet flushing, washing dishes (minimal), etc. We certainly won't shower every day, and when we do, they are quick showers and we have a low-flow water pump to help cut down on water use. We'll use more paper goods to cut down on dish washing and we'll burn the paper if it is allowed in the area at the time.
There are several other tricks and conservation methods that serious boondockers use, but for most people that don't boondock a lot, keeping batteries charged is a bigger issue than tank management.
Frequent boondockers know their RVs and RV systems better than anyone. They learn by necessity in order to stay off-grid as long as possible, so they figure out optimum tank management, conservation, and battery charging.
"I wondered . . . when you're boondocking (or even otherwise) how do you modify your water use habits?" We turn the water off unless directly using and Navy showers. It isn't hard and becomes second nature. I don't use paper plates and plastic forks/spoons. Rarely use more than a gallon and half per day washing dishes, pots and pans.
"if you're traveling you can dump your tanks and refill your water tanks as you go" Yes, you refill with fresh water and dump whenever you can, and you remember those places on a return trip.
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Winnebago TT 2101DS & 2020 Silverado LTZ Z71. 300 watts WindyNation solar w/MPPT, 2 Trojan T-125s. TALL flag pole. Prefer USFS, COE, BLM, USF&WS, NPS, TVA, state/county camps. 14 year Army vet-11B40 then 11A - old MOS 1542 & 1560.
We hardly ever flush the toilet with “fresh” water. We use a round wash basin to catch 20 to 25% of our shower water and “save” all dish rinsing water. Both are poured into a plastic pitcher stored in the shower right next to the toilet. Easy to reuse this water.
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Winnebago TT 2101DS & 2020 Silverado LTZ Z71. 300 watts WindyNation solar w/MPPT, 2 Trojan T-125s. TALL flag pole. Prefer USFS, COE, BLM, USF&WS, NPS, TVA, state/county camps. 14 year Army vet-11B40 then 11A - old MOS 1542 & 1560.
Winnebago TT 2101DS & 2020 Silverado LTZ Z71. 300 watts WindyNation solar w/MPPT, 2 Trojan T-125s. TALL flag pole. Prefer USFS, COE, BLM, USF&WS, NPS, TVA, state/county camps. 14 year Army vet-11B40 then 11A - old MOS 1542 & 1560.
