Refilling water on tour

[DM]

So this post will expose me as the beginner I am. To date we have only been away for weekend trips and have never got through more than 1 tank of fresh water. We're off to Cornwall in a couple of weeks. What is the best means of refilling with water when on tour. Is it best to carry a drinking water grade hose with a load of adapters and Trust to be able to get near enough to a tap or carry water containers. The Cali tank is only 30 litres so that would only be 3 trips with a 10L container. But how to get it into the Cali? Carry a big funnel or rig up a method of hanging it from the awning rail and using a short length of hose.

What do our more seasoned members do?

 

[Meoncoast]

We carry a short hose most sites who accept motorhomes and caravans have taps you can drive close too

 

[GrannyJen]

short length of hose with a funnel jammed into it, boot lace tied around the hose, the other end of the boot lace tied into a big knot, knot slides into the awning rail keeping funnel pointing upwards, one wacky practicals folding bucket,.

Fill bucket, pour water, get two wet feet and a few litres into the tank.

However I only use about 5 litres a day so quite often replace with an empty mineral water bottle.

 

[Victor]

We use the Brabdrup water filler kit, expensive new but I got it on here from someone selling up. Be careful using garden type hoses on the campsite as these could be full of bugs or may have been used to wash out someone's port potti.

 

[cundf]

We Never take water from campgrounds or other Public places because you Never know how clean it is. We take a funnel with a short piece of a garden hose. We buy water in the supermarket. In the south they often have 5 or 8 Liter bottels. And there we go....

 

[cundf]

The scale is in cm !!!

 

[SusiBus]

We use a Brandrup Big Box 20 litre collapsible water container in conjunction with their hanging kit which fixes onto the side rail. This has the advantage that if you're not staying at an official campsite where you can use a hose, i.e. wild camping or staying at Brit stops, you can carry the water from wherever you can access it.

20 litres is about as much as you would actually want to carry weight wise. Also the short hose that comes with the Brandrup can enable you to link up between a tap and the water container.


It's amazing how you become adept at finding water sources when you actually need it, e.g. graveyards normally have a water tap so that people can water the flowers, and I'm sure God wouldn't object to a desperate Cali owner water !


We also then refill after the container after using it to fill the vehicle tank and carry that as well in a plastic box in the back so effectively we have 50 litres of water on board between fill ups. It's amazing how much water you get through.


One tip, when hanging the Brandrup collapsible container up, be careful that you haven't got grit on it, because this can scratch the window or body works as you're lifting it up to hang it on the rail, because it's quite hand heavy and cumbersome to do this. We now put a towel around the back of it between the container and the glass to help prevent damage.

Drinking water we buy from Sainsbury's, we like their sparkling water.

 

[Hotel California]

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/filling-the-fresh-water-tank-on-a-campsite.8902/

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/water-filling.11212/#post-106114

 

[trevor k]

I take a cheap solar shower took off the shower head clip the bag to the awning rail and put the hose in the filler, the shower then rolls up and stores on top of the gas bottle.

 

[DM]

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/filling-the-fresh-water-tank-on-a-campsite.8902/

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/water-filling.11212/#post-106114

Thanks HC. I need to fine tune my searching skills

 

[jts46]

We carry 2 x 1.5 litres bottles for drinking and refill when necessary, why carry an extra 50 litres (equals 50kg) ????????

 

[DavidofHook]

We leave home with 10 litres in the tank and carry a plastic rectangular tank with a bit of hose duck taped to the spout to add in extra water when needed. But in fact we rarely need to do this as we fill our kettle from taps on the campsite etc.
Like John Towers why carry water you won't use?

 

[Hotel California]

Just filled my tank to the edge , leaving tomorrow , ferry at noon Dunqercke to Dover and to the meet . Afther the meet sunday up to Wales and back by the 29th!
Don't know where we gonna end up so 10 is useles with two and a dog that needs to drink....
Mine is always FULL

 

[WelshGas]

Personally I cannot see the point of having a 30L water tank if it is not used for the intended purpose. So sterilised every 6 months. Filled before trip. Topped up as necessary from campsite or drinking water taps using 10 L Brandrup container. Any doubt over water quality then in go a couple of water purification tablets. Have used the same idea for the last 50 yrs camping and caravaning and never had a problem.

I never use the Tap and hose found at many Motorhome service points as I've seen what some people use it for.

 

[WelshGas]

This might help, following a "SEARCH".

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/water-filling.11212/#post-106114:thumb

 

[Loz]

The scale is in cm !!!

Is that a homemade colonic irrigation kit?

 

[GrannyJen]

Is that a homemade colonic irrigation kit?

 

[Loz]

#moon river...

 

[GrannyJen]

I have a gut feeling about where this thread is going ...

 

[WelshGas]

Yeah. But we used a much longer tube, upto 6' long and a bigger funnel so you could get a good head of pressure.

 

[AlisonF]

I fill the tank but only use it for boiling / teeth washing but have 6 x 2 litre bottles that fit into the door pockets (3 each side) that are used for daily drinking water, soaking the dogs kibble and refreshing their water bowls (they get through a 2 litre bottle per day I've discovered).

 

[cundf]

Is that a homemade colonic irrigation kit?

Dear Loz its only to keep things simple!

 

[2into1]

I have a gut feeling about where this thread is going ...

It has just gone downhill. I innocently searched Google images for "funnel and hose" and found this (below) which seems to come with an easy-hold handle!

 

[Loz]

It has just gone downhill. I innocently searched Google images for "funnel and hose" and found this (below) which seems to come with an easy-hold handle!
View attachment 14465

Isn't there a risk of this getting stuck in the filler?

 

[Freeley]

I always fill the tank before we go away, don't want to be scrabbling around to refill as soon as I get to a site - 30kg so what?
I keep a collapsible 10L bag in the passenger seat back pocket, it has a tap on it so MOST of the water will go in the tank

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