Fill fresh water tank at home?

[FLIN]

Before a camping trip, I'd like to gravity fill the fresh tank at home. RV parked in driveway.

I understand that you are not supposed to use a garden hose -- not for potable water. I also read that outdoor faucets like Woodford are not built for potable water either -- lead concern, etc.

So what should I do?

- I could fill a water jug with my kitchen faucet and haul it to the RV. Multiple trips.

- Or I could run a long hose from my kitchen to the RV in the driveway

- Or I simply fill the tank with outdoor faucet & garden hose, and never drink the water -- just for hand wash, dish wash, etc.

Searched around and nobody seemed to mention it. What is your solution?

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by FLIN

Before a camping trip, I'd like to gravity fill the fresh tank at home. RV parked in driveway.

Lead has not been used in home plumbing for several years. I fill with the outside faucet but my house has all plastic pipe. I do sanitize my garden hose once a year and I know that it is only used for potable water. I'd worry more about the water on the road and city water. I use it for cooking and cleaning but use bottled water for drinking only because of the convenience.

[Lynn Eberhardt]

I've been filling at home with the garden hose for the 16 years we've had the Scamp. Always let the water run until cold so I know it's fresh county water that has not been sitting in the hose or the pipes. It doesn't have much chance of picking something up that shouldn't be in the water.

[Raspy]

If you are willing to drink the water from your kitchen faucet, there is no reason you can't drink the water from an outdoor faucet. It is all the same water in the same piping system, unless you have two different systems. Not sure what model "Woodford" you are concerned about, but you don't have to worry about lead. The brass anti-syphon ones cannot have lead and be approved for domestic water. The Hydrant style is iron and not a problem either.

I keep a couple of dedicated RV water hoses in the trailer all the time. Their only use is for filling the water tank. And I flush them with every use to get any vinyl taste out. You can also put a tablespoon of bleach, depending on your water tank size, into the tank before filling it.

[Gerry]

I agree with Raspy, if drinking the water in you home is good enough for you to drink while home it will be safe though the outdoor faucet. Lead free solder has been in use for many years now for plumbing with copper pipes and fixtures such as the sill cock would be manufactured as lead free.
Also, have dedicated hose just for water supply to the camper. This way you will know that you only had "clean water" going into the hose.
I pour about a Qt. of bleach though this hose, pouring it with a funnel, while holding the end up, then lift hose, walking it's lenght until i can catch it in a container at other end, to save and use in laundry.
Also always keep the ends of this dedicated hose sealed.
I do this by screwing the ends together after coiling it up.

[Cotton]

I flush my hose and fill my tank with it.

You won't burst your tank if you watch/know what you are dong.

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Cotton

I flush my hose and fill my tank with it.

You won't burst your tank if you watch/know what you are dong.

Your fresh water tank should have an overflow vent. If the overflow has a blockage, you would know it. Mine had a kink in it and when filling the tank the air had to escape and it was slow and gurgling, until I got under the seat where the tank is in the Scamp and got rid of the kink.

[Iowa Dave]

We are on well water. We have the county health department test the water once a year. It’s always been perfect. We have many hoses here for various uses. We dedicate the newest hose to the camper water fill and mark it at the couplings as the camper water hose. We’ve done this for many years. I usually buy a new hose or two every year and throw out an old one that’s started to break down or leak. I have about 700 feet of hose for watering the plant life so a new 50 or 100 footer just keeps me current.

I bleach the Escape water system a couple times a season with a 1/2 cup of bleach in the water tank and pumped through the faucets.

As a former public park employee I have had considerable experience with water systems.
I supervised the installation of over 100 backflow prevention devices and supervised three backflow prevention certified employees for many years. That said, I’m pretty conscious of water systems and I have observed incorrect hookups in a number of campgrounds. With that in mind I would much prefer our home setup to some public water supplies in campgrounds.

Others may have varying opinions, however due diligence, some common sense and some knowledge of proper hookups has been good enough for us.

One place I do not fill our camper with water from is at dump stations. I do not trust that other campers have not used the fresh potable water source to conveniently flush out their grey or black water systems and I don’t like the thought of possible contact with contaminants.
YMMV
Iowa Dave

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eberhardt

I've been filling at home with the garden hose for the 16 years we've had the Scamp. Always let the water run until cold so I know it's fresh county water that has not been sitting in the hose or the pipes. It doesn't have much chance of picking something up that shouldn't be in the water.

If the water has been sitting in the garden hose for a long time, on a hot sunny day, some chemical might be dissolved in the water. I second the idea of letting the water flow until it feels cool, which means the hose is flushed. All these warnings about not drinking out of the house faucets or garden hoses are a CYA phenomenon. Your sense of smell and taste is your tool to know if you should drink the water.

[John in Santa Cruz]

the white (or sometimes blue) hoses they sell specifically for drinking water use have food safe plastic liners.

[Lynn Eberhardt]

How many of us drank from hoses and water guns as kids? 80 years later, we're still here.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

One place I do not fill our camper with water from is at dump stations. I do not trust that other campers have not used the fresh potable water source to conveniently flush out their grey or black water systems and I don’t like the thought of possible contact with contaminants.
YMMV
Iowa Dave

I absolutely agree with this. Just imagine someone taking the provided fresh water hose and sticking it into the black tank flush fitting. Or even handling the hose after handling the slinky. Do not fill the water tank at the dump station.

We shower, wash dishes and do laundry with the fresh water, but drink and cook with bottled water. And whenever I fill my fresh tank, I add about a tablespoon of bleach. Unfortunately PEX can be damaged by high concentrations of Chlorine, so it is probably a good idea to be somewhat careful when sanitizing the tank repeatedly. Add enough bleach to do the job and then get it out of the system. A little goes a long way. Untreated well water can also become "stale" after sitting for a while. So I always drain the fresh tank before a trip and start over with a fresh re-fill, before we leave.

[jerrybob]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eberhardt

How many of us drank from hoses and water guns as kids? 80 years later, we're still here.

So true.....our high school football practive field water fountains were 6 graden hoses hooked to a single spigot.....after practice...coach would open the valve.....we would all drink. Back in those days......you were not allowed to have any water during work outs.......my how times have changed.

[jkcronan]

Personally, I wouldn't use a regular vinyl hose for drinking water. At least, not on the reg. But I also found that, when I went looking for drinking water safe hoses, there's a lot of overpriced stuff out there.

I went with this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094CC2DL9/

BPA and Phthalate free, made out of synthetic rubber.

[Dustylee]

I am pretty new at this travel trailer stuff so I am confused as to whether you are referring to filling the fresh water tank you would use if you were off without electricity or water, or if you are referring to the water tank that would normally be filled by hooking up to a water source at a camping spot? Long sentence.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Dustylee

I am pretty new at this travel trailer stuff so I am confused as to whether you are referring to filling the fresh water tank you would use if you were off without electricity or water, or if you are referring to the water tank that would normally be filled by hooking up to a water source at a camping spot? Long sentence.

if you are hooked to 'city water', there is no fresh water tank in the trailer in use, other than the hot water heater. now, your main fresh water tank could still be full, but as long as there's water pressure at the hose inlet, that will be bypassed and not used.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by FLIN

Before a camping trip, I'd like to gravity fill the fresh tank at home. RV parked in driveway.

I understand that you are not supposed to use a garden hose -- not for potable water. I also read that outdoor faucets like Woodford are not built for potable water either -- lead concern, etc.

So what should I do?

- I could fill a water jug with my kitchen faucet and haul it to the RV. Multiple trips.

- Or I could run a long hose from my kitchen to the RV in the driveway

- Or I simply fill the tank with outdoor faucet & garden hose, and never drink the water -- just for hand wash, dish wash, etc.

Searched around and nobody seemed to mention it. What is your solution?

Use the outside faucet but don't use a regular garden hose. They can contain contaminants. Use the RV type water hoses. We make up a little container of bleach water yearly and pour into the hose and let sit for a few minutes then drain and rinse them. That way anything that could be bad is gone. We do not screw our hose ends together either when storing them. We did that once and it stunk so bad we had to throw it away and get a new one. We always spray bleach water on any faucet we hook to for water and rinse it when on the road and at home. You don't know if an animal might have tried to lick it. We have at least 2 hoses with us to make sure we can reach the faucets.

[Joe MacDonald]

I flush my white hose at the end of the season( chlorinated city water), let it hang 3-4 days until completely dry inside, then screw the ends together- no critters that way.
Joe

[hp in va]

I use dedicated blue potable water hoses and use our regular outdoor faucet. After a fish tailing incident on the road, I do not completely fill our freshwater tanks at home. Our Parkliner has two freshwater tanks, both rear of the axle. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon. There were other loading errors on my part (second outing), but that 200 pounds from the water did not help. So, now I put in minimum fresh water to handle any enroute emergency and fill up at the campground.

[CharlesinGA]

Garden hose isn't going to kill anyone. As someone noted, let it run till you get cold water from the pipes. What can water rushing through the hose pick up. If concerned about bacteria in the hose, put a tiny bit of bleach in the tank. Same goes for lead in the pipes and bronze fittings. It only leaches out when an acidic water sits in it for a while. Again, just run the water to flush out the pipes first. A greater concern with ground hydrants is the fact that they drain in the soil when you shut them off, and contaminates can work their way back into the hydrant through this drain, especially if the hydrant is deep (as in up north) where the frost line about meets the ground water. Almost every state and national park have OLD no freeze hydrants that I am sure have bronze (with lead) in the valve at the bottom.

The biggest concern you should have would be to NEVER just shove the hose into the filler on the trailer. It all but blocks the fill port and basically prevents air from escaping. If anyone thinks the tiny vent line is going to vent that huge amount of displaced air, that quickly, they have a surprise coming. The purpose of the vent is pressure equalization with altitude changes and to allow air to enter the tank as you pump it out.

I have blown one fill tube off the fill fitting and nearly blew up a tank on another trailer before I learned the lesson. I know of one fellow with a 25 ft Bigfoot that damaged his tank mounting fittings doing this.

Make or buy a filler adapter that allows air to exit the tank via the fill port. Camco and Valterra both make them. I made one with a brass female garden hose adapter that accepts 1/2 vinyl hose and made it long enough to reach the tank, as my filler goes uphill before it goes downhill to the tank.

Charles