How you can live like you’re #1 without worrying about #2
“Do they have full hookups?” How many potential memories have been destroyed by these 5 words? We’re going to tell you how you can take a few simple steps to eliminate the full-hookup barrier and experience some of the least expensive and most beautiful parks in the nation.
There are over 13,000 public campgrounds in North America according to uscampgrounds.info. And there are thousands more private campgrounds. Prices can range from absolutely free to over $100 a night. Many of the most beautiful of these, including our State and National Parks do not provide a sewer hookup at your campsite. If you overlooked these parks because of this, not only have you been missing out on amazing campgrounds, but you’re also passing up a great value.
We’re NOT talking about boondocking
We’re not asking you to grow a Duck Commander beard and kill your dinner with a spear. We’re suggesting that you can go a weekend without a sewer hookup. You’ll still have electricity to run your satellite dish, water to shower with, and propane to sear your steak. In fact, you’ll be able to do EVERYTHING you do with full hookups including using your shower and your toilet.
Try it first
If you’re traveling without kids or you’ve got a monster of a rig, it’s quite possible that your holding tanks have sufficient storage capacity to last you the weekend (or more). There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to try. On your next trip to the plush RV resort, connect to the sewer as you normally would (by directing your servants to do it) and just leave the valves closed (you should be leaving your black tank valve closed anyway).
Do everything as you normally do and keep notes on how long it takes to fill your tanks. Don’t be too paranoid about a pending catastrophe. You’ve got a gauge for this, but you don’t need to check the lights every time you brush your teeth. You can peek in the toilet when you flush to see the black water coming before it’s too late. And your grey water will likely reach capacity while you’re taking a shower and you’ll see your shower pan drainage slow and stop.
Keep in mind that it’s possible your gauge is lying to you. Over time toilet paper, food scraps, or other debris can get caught on the sensors in your tank and give you a false reading. For the most accurate test, may want to ignore the gauge all together and go until you see things fill up. You can also clean your sensors with sensor cleaner or you can invest in more reliable sensors like the Sea Level II monitoring system.
You may be surprise to find that you’ve got sufficient storage capacity to last you the whole weekend. If this is true for you, camping without a sewer hookup is exactly like camping with full hookups. You’ll still hookup your sewer hose once and put it away once, except it’ll be at the dump station rather than at your site. Same sewer hose, same type of receptacle, same valves you’re touching on your unit. Once you get past this psychological hurdle, you’re free to explore the world!
Less water in, less water out
The key to conserving waste tank space is to follow a simple equation:
Less Water In = Less Water Out
If you can do things that reduce the amount of water that goes into your shower, your toilet, or your sinks, then you’ll be well on your way to stretching your holding tanks to a full weekend.
Wash Dishes Outside
Washing dishes outside is just like washing them inside but with a better view. If you have an empty tote and a table, it’ll feel just like using the sink in your camper. Or you can buy a folding table with a sink built in like this fish cleaning table. Limit the amount of water you use by filling a small tote with soapy water and scrubbing all of your dishes first, then rinsing them all at once with your hose or outdoor shower. If you’re going to wash your dishes outside, be sure to use biodegradable products specially designed to limit impact to the environment. The phosphates used in conventional products can act as fertilizers and cause increase algae in streams or other unintended harm. Also check to make sure the campground doesn’t have specific restrictions against letting dish water run onto the ground at your site.
Conserve Shower Water
Your shower is the biggest user of water in your RV. The average American shower uses over 17 gallons of water. That can fill a 30 gallon holding tank very quickly. To reduce the amount of water you use, you can try taking a navy shower. In a navy shower, you turn off the water except for when you’re intentionally wetting or rinsing your body. Most RV shower heads have a button that allows you to turn off the water without have to turn off the knobs (which would ruin your expertly tuned hot/cold ratio). After you’ve wet your body, hit the button to stop the flow of water, soap up, then turn the button back on to rinse off. You can use less than a gallon of water by showering with this method and still feel just as clean when you slip into bed. If you were tired of your factory shower head anyway, you can even opt for an upgrade that uses less water and performs better like the Oxygenics Shower Head.
Save Water Washing Dishes
If you’re not into washing your dishes outside, there are things you can do in the camper to conserve water. Start by filling a sink with a few inches of soapy water and using that water throughout the day to wash dishes as they’re used. Then use just a bit of water to rinse or wipe them with a wet rag to remove the soap. Not only will this conserve water by maximizing the use of a small amount of water, it will also get you and your family in a habit of washing dishes as they’re used so that they don’t pile up in the sink. We prefer reusable dishes and utensils, but opting for disposable versions will also conserve water since you won’t have to wash them.
Conserve Water in Your Toilet
How you flush an RV toilet can change the amount of water it uses. It’s unlikely that your black water will be your limiting factor, but saving space in the black tank make be a way to extend your grey water capacity (more on that below). For liquid waste in your toilet, quickly pushing the peddle with your toe so that the flush peddle flicks off the end of your foot will allow the valve to open just long enough to empty the bowl without using a lot of water. If you need to flush solid material including toilet paper, making sure that toilet paper is already in the water when you flush will ensure it is emptied without having to hold the peddle down to rinse the material from the bowl. In these instances, fill the bowl partially with water before you sit down by slightly depressing the flush peddle and make sure any toilet paper and other solid wastes falls in the water. This will prevent solids from sticking to the bowl. When you flush, flush just long enough to empty the bowl.
Sink Use Tips
Your vanity sink is likely the least significant consumer of water, but there are still a few things you can do there to save holding tank space. Turning the water off while you’re brushing your teeth and at other times when you don’t need water can save gallons of space. You can also use hand sanitizer to replace some of your regular hand washing.
Taking It to the Next Level
Implementing the tips above allowed our family of 4 to camp for three days, two nights without filling the grey or black tank in our Rockwood MiniLite. That’s a 23ft trailer with only 30 gallons of grey tank capacity. I’m confident that if you follow the tips above you’ll have all the capacity you need to enjoy a whole new category of parks as a weekend warrior. If you’re doing all of the above and still filling your tanks, or if you’re looking to extend your stay beyond a weekend, you can use the tips below to bring it to the next level.
Use Other Facilities
Your RV isn’t the only place you can use the restroom or the shower. Booking a site near the bath house will allow you to comfortably shower without putting a drop of water in your holding tanks. If you eliminate bath water and be aware of the amount of water you use for washing your dishes, I am confident you can go at least a week without filling your holding tanks.
You may also be visiting other attractions during your trip. Be sure to make the most of whatever facilities they offer that might reduce the amount of waste you’re putting into your RV’s holding tanks.
Shower Outside
Many RVs come with an outdoor shower. This isn’t just for washing your dog or the sand from your feet. You can use this as your full-time shower. If your shower is between a couple slides, adding privacy may be as easy as securing a curtain rod between them. Or you can purchase a kit LINK LINK LINK to create a private outdoor shower. If you’re going to shower outside, be sure to use biodegradable products specially designed to limit impact to the environment. The phosphates used in conventional products can act as fertilizers and cause increase algae in streams or other unintended harm
Mix Grey and Black Water
Someone just dropped their mug full of coffee. Just hear me out here. As we stated earlier, you’re likely to fill your grey tank long before you fill your black tank. So you’ve got a whole lot of black tank space that is of no use to use. How about you use it by filling it up with grey water? If you put a small tote in your sink, you can then dump your dish water in the toilet to save space in your grey tank.
Or you can take it a step further…
To do this without making a mess, you’ll need to buy an extra gate valve with a fitting that goes on your dump line. You can find one here: LINK. You’ll also want to make sure your grey tank is full or (at the very least) more full thank you black tank to ensure that your black water doesn’t back into your grey system (which isn’t the end of the world).
Connect the external valve to your dump port and close it. Now open your grey valve. You’ve now got grey water against the recently added valve and against your black tank valve. Leave your grey valve open and now open your black tank valve. Grey water should flow into your black tank until the level of your black tank and grey tank are the same. You want to close the black tank valve as soon as you hear the water stop moving. As you fill up the grey tank again you can repeat this process until both tanks are full. At that point you will need to visit the dump station rather than using a tote if you don’t want black water in your tote (more on that to follow).
Use a Tote
Dragging a tote full of toilet water is the first image in a Full-Hookup Club member’s head when someone suggests that they go a weekend without a sewer hookup. You’ll notice that using a tote is the last option on our list. If you follow all of the tips above, there is very little chance that you’ll need a tote for a weekend trip. But if you want to enjoy some of the greatest parks in America, and you want to be there for more than a couple nights, then using a tote can make that possible.
Even at a site with full hookups, you’re going to connect your sewer line, open your valve, rinse your waste hose, and generally deal with all of the unmentionable parts of camping. Using a tote means you’ll do the exact same thing except one extra time every couple of days that you’re enjoying the great outdoors.
You’re only going to use your tote for grey water. The likelihood of you filling your black tank even during a week-long stay is very low. Particularly if you’re being mindful of how much water you’re using in your toilet. Your tote will be used to transport all of those long showers to the dump station. You won’t be hauling your darkest secret across the campground.
Make sure you don’t buy a tote that’s too large. Trying to drag 30 gallons of grey water around the back of your camper is a sure-fire way to teach the neighbor kids new words that their parents won’t be proud of. Your tote should be sized about equal to the amount of grey water you produce in a day. That way, you can be sure that one trip to the dump station each day will be enough to keep your showers going.
Totes are designed to be slowly pulled behind your truck, so that you don’t have to walk it like a little red (grey) wagon. Take a cup of coffee with you and enjoy the short trip to the dump station.
If you’re still not sure that a tote is right for you, borrow a friend’s, book a trip to a state park, and give it a go for one weekend. You’ll have explored a new place, enjoyed time with your family, and saved money over the concrete RV resorts.
And don’t miss the opportunity to make a new friend by offering to let your neighbor use your tote. They may be learning their holding tank limits and trying to decide if they need a tote of their own.
