Motorhome service points

[Jodi]

Looking through site directories, I noticed that some sites do not have motorhome service points and I should imagine many CL's?CS's come into this catagory. What do you do with a) the collection of fresh water and b) disposing of grey water?

 

 

[david lloyd]

Most, if not all sites including CL's/CS's, will have stand pipes for fresh water so that you can get near enough to fill the tank using an appropriate food grade hose.

 

We also carry a flat waste tank (the 'old' black thetford type) that easily slides beneath the waste outlet and use this whenever there are no easily accessed waste drains available. I know it seems like duplication when you already have a perfectly good fixed waste tank but, to be honest, it is actually easier than sometimes queing for and using the site service point. It often means that when we are leaving and others are using the service point we can empty the waste water container and cassette toilet then just leave whilst others are still waiting at the service point.

 

It is also very useful in winter to just leave the waste tap open and empty the posrtable container each day to stop freezing.

 

David

[GypsyTom]

With all due respect to David Lloyd I would ignore the implication that you must have a food grade hose. Most of us find this completely unnecessary and, as long as you run water through your hose for a minute or two to thoroughly flush it out, it should be fine. There is much debate on this and there's a thread lower down in the list that may help.

All CLs and CSs will have some way of disposing of grey water and chemical toilet waste.

A motorhome service point is simply a hole in the ground over which you can position your 'van and let out the waste water.

Caravanners collect their waste in a separate container, usually with wheels and trundle it to the disposal point.

I suppose that most CL owners don't feel that the installation of a separate motorhome service point is worth the large expense.

I too carry a waste container for when we stay somewhere for a few days. This slides under the waste water point, which is left open and we can then empty our waste without the hassle of moving the 'van.

[Jodi]

I was begining to come to the conclusion that carrying some sort of waste container would be a good idea. We have been caravanners for some years and the waste water container we have with our caravan may well fit into one of the outside lockers of the m/h we are about to buy. There is a long length of blue coloured hose (does the blue mean its food quality?) in one of the lockers - not the flat kind. We generally don't drink the water straight from the caravan water system, cos it seems to taste a bit strange, preferring to fill up containers directly from the tap and no doubt we will continue to do that.

Thank you for your help

[malc d]

Jodi - 2010-03-22 11:29 AM

 

I was begining to come to the conclusion that carrying some sort of waste container would be a good idea. We have been caravanners for some years and the waste water container we have with our caravan may well fit into one of the outside lockers of the m/h we are about to buy. There is a long length of blue coloured hose (does the blue mean its food quality?) in one of the lockers - not the flat kind. We generally don't drink the water straight from the caravan water system, cos it seems to taste a bit strange, preferring to fill up containers directly from the tap and no doubt we will continue to do that.

Thank you for your help

 

 

You can also get collapsible / folding plastic waste water containers which take up very little room when stored.

 

 

 

[Basil]

We just use a bucket and remove waste as neccessary. Filling with water is no problem just carry a hose of whatever quality makes you happy, we have never used a food grade one only what we have bought and have never suffered any consequence.

 

Bas

[Brian Kirby]

It also depends a bit where you are, and what you do.  Users of UK CSs and CLs will generally do as described above, and carry some form of ancillary waste carrier to take their waste to a disposal point.  Most UK club sites do have disposal points of some kind, as do most European sites.  If you use the site facilities and do not stay more than a few days, the quantity of waste water in the tank should not be great, and can simply be disposed of on arrival at the next equipped site.  If you use your on-board facilities to the full the build-up will obviously be that much faster, and may present a problem.

If in France, Germany, or Italy, you should be able to find a disposal point on one of their network of motorhome stopover areas, that can be used to dump waste free of charge even if not actually staying.  (Aires de services camping-car in France, Stellplatze in Germany, Aree di sosta in Italy.)

On sites, water is seldom a problem.  We start off with the tank full, and tend only to re-fill it when down to about 25%.  As we use mainly site facilities, our rate of use is quite low, and 100 litres lasts us two to three weeks.  So, if we can't get within range of the stand pipe, we just fill at the next site. 

So far, in five years, travelling fairly extensively in Europe, we haven't run out of water, and we haven't failed to empty the waste.  In fact, I have seldom been unable to empty waste on exit, and invariably do this to avoid travelling with water in the waste tank, and have never had a problem getting fresh water, other than waiting for one of those clots who decides to drain all his waste out, before even starting to fill with fresh water - but that is another story!

[flicka]

Jodi - 2010-03-22 11:29 AM

 

I was begining to come to the conclusion that carrying some sort of waste container would be a good idea. We have been caravanners for some years and the waste water container we have with our caravan may well fit into one of the outside lockers of the m/h we are about to buy. There is a long length of blue coloured hose (does the blue mean its food quality?) in one of the lockers - not the flat kind. We generally don't drink the water straight from the caravan water system, cos it seems to taste a bit strange, preferring to fill up containers directly from the tap and no doubt we will continue to do that.

Thank you for your help

 

Yes Jodi

Food grade hose is Blue.

Flat hose is OK if you have the "Filler Cap" type connection, but if your hose has a "connector" with electrical Pins (typically Autosleeper & Autocruise, amongst others) I don't think that "connector" will fit a layflat hose.

[Usinmyknaus]

As a new motorhomer 3 years ago I trawled this site for advice and then acquired the following:

 

15 ltr fold flat fresh water carrier

 

25 ltr grey water carrier which lies flat when filling

 

Lightweight, folding trolley to carry above when far from facilities

 

1 x 10 and 1 x 5 metre blue fresh water hoses with connector to join together

 

Half-dozen different connectors to make use of any known type of tap

 

Hose connector for the van's fresh water tank inlet

 

"First Need" portable water purifier/filter kit (used if any doubt about supply or to purify/remove taint water from on-board tank, especially when touring in hot places)

 

3 x 1 litre aluminium bottles for use with purifier or to take daily drinking water from a safe supply and store in fridge

 

With the exception of a couple of the more unusual tap connectors we have used every bit of this kit to date. I bought the purifier as a precaution after seeing several people (Brits unfortunately) placing the neck of their toilet cassettes' filling spouts over the fresh water taps on bournes whilst on French Aires.

 

Bob

[LordThornber]

GypsyTom - 2010-03-22 10:23 AM

 

With all due respect to David Lloyd I would ignore the implication that you must have a food grade hose. Most of us find this completely unnecessary and, as long as you run water through your hose for a minute or two to thoroughly flush it out, it should be fine. >

 

In response to this comment, I'd like to say that I don't come into the "most" category Gypsytom mentions.

 

I find food grade hose absolutely essential. We drink the water from the tank, it tastes fine and always has done. Perhaps if you're not comfy drinking water from the tank, then non food grade pipe will suffice.

 

Go and fill your kettle or a mug for that matter with water from a garden hose pipe, if you like the taste, good luck. Not for us though.

 

All CL's must have a fresh water tap, I assume CS's must have too.

 

Martyn

 

 

[david lloyd]

Jodi,

 

One other point that springs to mind was the time we had a Knaus Sun Ti which has such a low chassis that we sometimes struggled to get the waste container beneath.

 

For that van we carried a few metres of waste pipe - the type sold in garden centres for fishponds is usually corrugated on the outside and smooth bore inside - of the right diameter to just push fit on the end of the waste outlet. Used it quite a bit where it was impossible to drive over the site waste disposal.

 

Another friend who has the same Sun Ti (different layout) uses a vacuum cleaner hose for the same purpose.

 

David

[GypsyTom]

Do people who insist on having 'food grade' hoses have their water tanks made from 'food grade' plastics or is it the same stuff that the rest of us less fussy types have?

:-D :-D

It all seems a bit pointless to me worrying about food grade hoses when you then store the water in a plastic tank that may be harbouring all sorts of bacteria. Of course you can always flush out the tank on a regular basis.

Oh, but you can do that with the hose as well, every time you use it as it happens!

I'd like someone who insists on using a food grade hose to tell me, honestly, if they ever had any health problems prior to changing to food grade.

In thirty years of caravanning and using sensible precautions I have never experienced any problems at all using normal hoses but that's because, when I attach it, I let water run through it for a minute to thoroughly flush it out.

[Tony Jones]

When touring (by which I mean moving on each day) there's not usually a problem, just drive up to the tap or drain as you go.

But if we're staying on one site and not wanting to move the van around, we've worked out a few solutions which don't take up valuable space.

 

For waste disposal, I carry a couple of those collapsible buckets for emergencies, but I try to find a "drive-over" point whenever possible. We're going to buy a "slide-under" container for the times when we KNOW we're going to want to stay put for a while, but we won't carry that unless weI expect to need it.

 

For filling up, we carry a few options depending how far the tap is, and whether I want to move the van or not:

A very short hose, kept in the cab, for when I can drive straight up to the tap - less trouble to drain and put away afterwards!

An average length one on a reel, PLUS,coiled up in the storage compartment, a second length and a connector. These two together enable me to fill up from a tap several pitches away, without moving the van.

A roll-up "camping" water bag, with a short length of pipe, to allow me to bring water to the van from elsewhere on the site (again, emergency use only - it does take several bagfuls to fill the tank!)

[Tomo3090]

The CL type sites we've used that don't have a drive over point, (virtually all!) have either a grid for grey waste, use the W.C. waste point or, the most common, empty it from my red bucket into the hedge!

 

For fresh water, I either fill from the tap using the blue food grade (!), hose. This is in two lengths of 5 M each, with a "Hoselok"connector between them. I very rearely need to connect them as 5 M is usually plenty, but has come in handy from ime to time.

 

Or, I also have a 25 litre water container and folding trolly for when I can't be bothered driving off the pitch. I've got a 12 Volt "Whale" pump with a plug, that I plug into the 12 volt socket I've added just inside the underbed locker. Which thanks to the foresight of Autotrail, is right next to the filler cap, so I can then fill up from the container without lifting it.

[LordThornber]

To enlighten anyone interested further on my choice of pipe, my insistence on food grade pipe isn't in any way connected with health reasons.

 

It's taste.

 

We don't like the taint that non food grade hose gives us.

 

Maybe it doesn't affect/bother/concern anyone else.

 

Great. Good for you.

 

But it does to us.

 

Martyn

[747]

One of the best bits of kit we bought was a cheap bucket and mop set. The mop handle is in 3 pieces which screw together so is easily stowed away. The bucket slips under the van for emptying grey water from the tank. It can be cleaned out and then using the mop, can be used to clean the van down after driving through bad weather. The muck comes straight off when still wet.

 

I do not believe food grade hose is essential but that is just my opinion. The water has had no bad taste (yet) because of it. If the water seems a little tainted, I know it is time to clean out the fresh water tank and the pipework. A weak Milton solution and a bit of driving reaches all parts of the tank and then I run the solution through the pipes and into the waste tank. This always solves the problem.