refilling fresh water in your RV?

poisenloaf · Post by **poisenloaf** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:36 pm

Anybody have any luck renting large water containers (i.e. 50+ gallons) in Reno and hauling it with so you can refill your RV fresh water tank after have JOTS dump your grey/black? Turns out they had no fresh water fillup capability on the playa as I was led to believe in another thread..

We had four people in our RV with its piddly little 40 gallon fresh and we ran out by Wednesday.. being able to shower on the playa is great.

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:18 pm

I have never seen fresh water fill up on the Playa, at least not since 96'. I use the five gallon plastic water jugs that you see on office water coolers. I fill them in Reno when I make my final stop. With a combined total of ninety gallons, three of us made it through twelve days. Our drinking water was separate. We were pumped out seven days after arriving.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:54 pm

There are fresh water trucks, but you have to make arrangements for them to come out from reno or wherever.
Most people carry their own water, but some large camps have water delivered.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:22 am

I saw a truck (several times) that had "RV service only" written on it. It appeared to be a fresh water only tank.. Maybe 1000 gallons.

Woundering how to make contact for a refill? Other than hopeing to flag it down.

Personaly I carry water for myself for the week plus.. Two mid size coolers hold over 30 gallons.. For 09 I'm installing baffels and a hand pump.. To much rock and roll on the road

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:29 am

I hope you aren't filling up before reno.
8 pounds a gallon.

(...Or 10 pounds in the UK with their gravity.)

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:22 pm

It's a well know fact that you don't take showers in the RV while at BM.. You make a shower and grey water set up to stay fresh while on the Playa.. Just not enough room in the tanks..
My camp mates generated 15-20 gallons a day in grey water and I just rolled up the plastic and placed it in a garbage bag for the ride home......

poisenloaf · Post by **poisenloaf** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:37 pm

heck with that, I'm looking for convenience where I can get it.. I found a place in Reno that rents 15 gallon and 50 gallon fresh water tanks that fit into the RV storage.. add an electric pump and hose and bam, I can fill the fresh tank effortlessly from this "reserve" tank.. no outdoor shower or grey water evap pond to setup or deal with. Flagging down a guy to dump the grey/black tanks is easy to do mid-week.

Mosin · Post by **Mosin** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:29 am

With all due respect, the idea that it is a "well known fact that you don't take showers in the RV at BM" is simultaneously absurd and kinda gross. It is a well known fact in my reality that riesty ass smell, caked on playa dust, gnared hair, and BO don't necessarily set the tone for a week of delicious sex. We supplement our 60gl tank with all of our our ice melt from two coolers, and bring an additional 30 gl. in a marine tank, which we had filled in Gerlach at Brunos (one benefit of early arrival). Anyhoo, three of us--two females and a male--took daily "quickie" showers, including daily conditioner for our long hair. I guess it comes down to priorities.

Not to vibe, but how many "well known facts" on this board are simply individual preferences and/or the limits of imagination/skill and/or the right tool for the job?! I feel sorry for the nubes... especially if they settle for stank butt on the playa.

One more thing re. stank ass. My family is from the Middle East (Iran, specifically) where they know how to clean an ass properly. Think about it folks: if you got shit on your face, would it be sufficient to just keep wiping it with dry paper until you didn't see shit anymore?!?!?

Would you let your lover kiss that face? IMHO that would be fucking disgusting. Ergo, unless you and your lover/s are into scat and/or dank ass smell (which, btw/ I respect like any other sexual preference/interest of consenting adults) why don't you try WASHING THAT DAMN BURNER ASS OF YOURS WITH A LIL WATER like civilized societies have done in the Middle East for thousands of years. Then wash your hands with soap. Now we are ready to get a serious groove on.

Tune in weekly for more advanced hygenic tips from Mosin!

mikesieben · Post by **mikesieben** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:29 am

So you like gettin your ass eaten out on the playa, we get it!

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:55 am

boy howdy,
how those middle eastern societies show off how civilized they are........

on another note:
two of us brought 120 gallons of fresh water. we ended up dumping 60 gals after leaving, and, we took showers and all the normal stuff.
I asked all over our neighborhood on Sunday if anyone needed water, a couple of folks came over with 5 gal containers, but, mostly no one seemed to want it.......

I'll plan better next year........

Mosin · Post by **Mosin** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:36 pm

mikesieben wrote:So you like gettin your ass eaten out on the playa, we get it!

Perhaps. Or maybe it's the other way around. Or both. The point is that I don't want ibdave to come by and sit in any of my lawn chairs until he gets his water scene configged.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:05 pm

It's only a well-known fact that you don't use your RV shower if you don't bring enough water!
I also use the "auxiliary tank" plan, several 30-gallon containers on my trailer and an electric pump. When I need to dump greywater, I just pour it back into the same now-empty barrels I brought it in.
Sometimes I take two showers in a day out there.

Relying on buying water from a service truck on the playa is a foolish plan, there are no guarantees. Bring your own.

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:13 pm

Mosin wrote:
mikesieben wrote:So you like gettin your ass eaten out on the playa, we get it!
Perhaps. Or maybe it's the other way around. Or both. The point is that I don't want ibdave to come by and sit in any of my lawn chairs until he gets his water scene configged.

Wow, did you read my post or just look and type. My shower set up keeped 10 people clean all week with a 12v pump and then the dirty water was managed in a responsible way.
I didn't have to pay $$ to pump my RV and didn't have to flag a pumper down. Now at the end of the week when RV fill to the top, people tend to dump right out onto the Playa. It happens every year. Shit Happens...
My way works great and for many it a know fact to not use the RV for showers unless your set up to deal with each and every problem.

mk-ultra · Post by **mk-ultra** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:24 pm

We brought along 14 x 7 gallon containers of fresh water for refilling our RV this year (as well as a hose and funnel). With six people in our RV, we figured on 2.5 gallons per person, per day to account for drinking water, cooking water and personal hygiene. It worked out perfectly.

You can get these containers at REI or other outdoor sports outlets. We spent about 10 minutes a day refilling the fresh water tank from them.

If you only re-use them once, they pay for themselves compared to the wasteful, disposable 2.5 gallon containers most people use. Our water containers will be back with us next year... and the year after that... and so on. If you plan on being a repeat burner and need to tanker water in -- they're great. We did the disposable thing last year. Never going back to that.

One caveat: most RV gray water tanks can't keep up with 2.5 gallons of consumption per person for an entire week (at least not for six people). We also built an 8x8' evap pond and dumped the gray water tank twice during the week. This worked out just right. Some sources will say you can evap 1 quart per square foot per day... but we found that to be a bit optimistic. Perhaps with perfect weather and a pond that never sees shade that's possible... but I'd cut that estimate in half just to be on the safe side.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:45 pm

MK you did good..

Evap ponds just don't work for me. I must not spit right.. As a single camper I just gave up and hualed the grey water off the playa.

Mosin · Post by **Mosin** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:32 pm

ibdave it is great that you have your own preferences and tailor your equipment accordingly. I am in fact prepared to deal with any contingency with my RV shower, which is far from rocket science (i.e. that is certainly not a bragging point!). I won't say you're making it up but I have never seen an RV overflowing with grey water on the playa, so this is not a widespread problem. I have, however, seen almost every Grody/Shower evap basin leaking onto the playa and/or get dumped before being rolled up, which is a problem IMHO.

Please though, enough of the "known facts", which are at best your own simplistic (and erroneous) conclusions. With that said, since you do in fact maintain clean ass, feel free to grab a lawn chair at Camp HooHa anytime

honeyfire · Post by **honeyfire** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:01 am

mk-ultra wrote:We brought ... 7 gallon containers.
If you only re-use them once, they pay for themselves compared to the wasteful, disposable 2.5 gallon containers most people use.

Are you thinking here of people in RV's, or people in general?
Because one thing to keep in mind is that a 2.5g container is light enough to be handled by one person. 7g = 56 lb of big nonassisting object to move around. If it's a camp with a bunch of people and/or some big strong sorts, then 7g are a great way to go, but for some folks, it's just too heavy.
I'm just sayin'...

mk-ultra wrote:Our water containers will be back with us next year... and the year after that... and so on. If you plan on being a repeat burner and need to tanker water in -- they're great.

Reduce, recycle, reuse! You got the idea, baby! *wooot!*
Props to you for doing it this way.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:10 am

My camp mate set his 7g cans on a ledge and uses the bib.. I help him change cans when there empty..

I use a mid size cooler with a drain hose for a water tank.. next year I'm adding a hand pump..

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:46 am

Mosin wrote:ibdave it is great that you have your own preferences and tailor your equipment accordingly. I am in fact prepared to deal with any contingency with my RV shower, which is far from rocket science (i.e. that is certainly not a bragging point!). I won't say you're making it up but I have never seen an RV overflowing with grey water on the playa, so this is not a widespread problem. I have, however, seen almost every Grody/Shower evap basin leaking onto the playa and/or get dumped before being rolled up, which is a problem IMHO.

Please though, enough of the "known facts", which are at best your own simplistic (and erroneous) conclusions. With that said, since you do in fact maintain clean ass, feel free to grab a lawn chair at Camp HooHa anytime

Sorry, but I must differ...

1) I can say with some experience that in 10 years, we have had to pay to have grey water pumped out of the RV every single time we did not use an evap pond for grey water. Too much grey water in an RV is an easily solvable problem - you just throw money at it. Or, as ibdave suggests, many simply dump it on the playa on the way out of town.

2) I have never had an evap pond leak onto the playa, and although I have seen some leaks in others, they were very few and far between. Usually when someone is responsible enough to have an RV and still to go to the trouble of setting up an evap system, they are serious about protecting the playa.

3) ibDave is one of the smartest, sweetest, most wonderful burners I have ever met. He has a huge dose of common sense and many, many years on the playa to back it up. He knows of what he speaks. Your insulting "stanky ass" comments were not deserved and incredibly rude for someone so proud of their heritage.

dragonpilot · Post by **dragonpilot** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:31 pm

Everyone's mileage is going to differ on this...lots of factors enter into the use of RV water....to shower or not to shower, to wash dishes or not, to flush or not.

I usually carry 9 different campers every year, each of various levels of responsibility. Pre-trip I point out that it's OK to take midnight pisses, but all other times use camp porta squats...no #2's EVER! Sponge baths only...no long, luxurious showers...you're just going to get dusty/dirty right away anyway. No dish washing...paper plates, plastic flatware throwaways solve that.

Even so, the grey water tank comes close to filling...so, I have a garden hose adapter for the 3" dump pipe and drain my excess grey water into empty 1 gallon water containers, cap and take them home. I refill the fresh water tank with the water we bring along.

Except for the draining operation, there's very little work involved, everyone understands from the beginning what's expected of them, and everyone seems to be happy.

Post by **AntiM** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:48 pm

I do know that an RV drained their blackwater into an evap pond and were fined heavily for it by the BLM. Greywater is one thing, but flushes are hazmat and hence taboo.

Mosin · Post by **Mosin** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:51 pm

Apologies if my comments came off assholish. I was only responding to what I perceived as an incorrect/dogmatic statement re. "known facts" about water usage. It's really not important one way or another, so I'm sorry to have persisted. The comments about lawn chairs and stank butt were purely for comic relief.... I honestly have never paid attention or given a hoot whether a naked, clothed, clean or funky ass plops down in our chairs: you made it to Camp HooHa and we are happy to host you and your wonderful bottom. The whole Middle Eastern cleanliness issue came up in our camp when a campmate was complaining about itchy crack... so I had to show her the ancient ropes (no pun intended). For some reason I thought it a relevant digression/sideshow in this context, but that was probably a mistake. (I only say probably because if a single burner obtains clean, comfortable ass on the playa due to my attempt at cultural exchange the world will be a better place

I love you sweet, brilliant burners to the core of my soul... sorry to throw out a bad vibe to ibdave and anyone else who picked it up. <verklempt>

XOXO

Mosin

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:58 pm

ibdave will moop your camp when you are not looking.

(Sorry we missed you guys Friday night, we were out roasting hippies on the green penis)

Mosin · Post by **Mosin** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:03 pm

CapSmashy wrote:ibdave will moop your camp when you are not looking.

Well he would fit right in with my campmates, who considerately left me with their Grody, water bottles, and a ton of moop as a souvinier!

F*ckin Merry Pranksters!!

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:07 pm

CapSmashy wrote:ibdave will moop your camp when you are not looking.

(Sorry we missed you guys Friday night, we were out roasting hippies on the green penis)

Hey, glad to hear you did get the flame working!

refilling fresh water in your RV?

refilling fresh water in your RV?

Refill

I can only do up to 5g myself, and only for a short distance