Alcopop1 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Sorry in advance if this sounds silly but....... We have our first trip soon to a campsite in Norfolk but the pitch only has a hookup for electric. How do I top up the water tank? Is it just a case of buying a watering can and doing it that way or do I purchase a water carrier and somehow pump it into the tank. Any ideas welcome Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 You would normaly expect the water point to be where you can drive close enough for your filling hose to reach, if you haven't filled at home you will fill on arival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Depends on how easy it is to access your water tank. For the main fill, a hose is a good idea. Some use ordinary hose and others, like me, use food grade hose [usually blue]. You can get the food grade hose from accessory shops or online. Ordinary hose can be bought almost anywhere. Many people buy hose that can be flattened in a cassette/reel. Have a look at this link for examples: https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/water/caravan-plumbing/water-hose-and-fittings I have cut my 15m hose into two, one section is 5m long and the other 10m. This allows me to fill the tank if I can park close to the tap or by using the long one or joining both together, from much further away. I bought Hozelock connections to join the hoses and several end connections for the tap end. The ones I use the most are those that can screw on to a tap and those which click on to a fitting already on the tap.You can see leisureshopdirect sell brass fittings which should be better than Hozelock and BM Discount shops sell them for a £1 but they leak! It's easy to put diesel into the water tank or vice versa by mistake when you are inexperienced. Don't. Take care. You can keep the water tank topped up by using something like a watering can. I can top up my tank from inside the van. I unscrew the top and carefully pour in water from either a 5 litre water container or 25l water container which came with a plastic tap. Keep splashes to a minimum and dry them up. Easy to find containers at an accessory shop. I guess your water tank is accessible from inside the seat because Swift often put them in floor lockers or beneath the dinette seating. If it's not clear how to do this when you get to the water point on site, ask a motorhomer. They will help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Normally half fill tank with garden hose at home, then top up with plastic watering can as we go... simples! B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Brock - 2017-07-29 8:07 PM Depends on how easy it is to access your water tank. For the main fill, a hose is a good idea. Some use ordinary hose and others, like me, use food grade hose [usually blue]. You can get the food grade hose from accessory shops or online. Ordinary hose can be bought almost anywhere. Many people buy hose that can be flattened in a cassette/reel. Have a look at this link for examples: https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/water/caravan-plumbing/water-hose-and-fittings I have cut my 15m hose into two, one section is 5m long and the other 10m. This allows me to fill the tank if I can park close to the tap or by using the long one or joining both together, from much further away. I bought Hozelock connections to join the hoses and several end connections for the tap end. The ones I use the most are those that can screw on to a tap and those which click on to a fitting already on the tap.You can see leisureshopdirect sell brass fittings which should be better than Hozelock and BM Discount shops sell them for a £1 but they leak! It's easy to put diesel into the water tank or vice versa by mistake when you are inexperienced. Don't. Take care. You can keep the water tank topped up by using something like a watering can. I can top up my tank from inside the van. I unscrew the top and carefully pour in water from either a 5 litre water container or 25l water container which came with a plastic tap. Keep splashes to a minimum and dry them up. Easy to find containers at an accessory shop. I guess your water tank is accessible from inside the seat because Swift often put them in floor lockers or beneath the dinette seating. If it's not clear how to do this when you get to the water point on site, ask a motorhomer. They will help you. Not sure what the advantage is of filling the fresh water tank from inside the van? Surely, all vans have external filling points? And with a watering can or hose, what is the difficulty? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocs Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Brock - 2017-07-29 8:07 PM You can keep the water tank topped up by using something like a watering can. I can top up my tank from inside the van. I unscrew the top and carefully pour in water from either a 5 litre water container or 25l water container which came with a plastic tap. Keep splashes to a minimum and dry them up. Being able to top up from inside is a great facility. You could just attach a hose from a tap in the kitchen to the tank filler. :-D :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chello Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Hello I have the same van,if you get from a builders merchant a black plastic spout as on bottom of drainpipe its a tight fit in filler, 2 ten litre water carriers and its easy to top up on site without moving van if you run to the tap and back, you get your daily exercise as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Robert, I have this really powerful light that I plug in and then shine it on the solar panel to charge it up when we are off hookup. Alan (^) (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Superman? - Running with two full 10 litre containers. When we bought our first M/H 26 years ago, site facilities were more suited to caravans using aquarolls. I chose a similar method and used a high flow rate submersible pump to lift the water into the tank, since the fill point was quite high. A full 25 litre container was quite heavy to carry, but it did have an outlet large enough to accept the pump. More recently we aquired 10 litre containers with large outllets. These came with taps that screw into the caps, so san be used as water dispensers, should the need arise. Even more recently we bought 5m and 10m lengths of food grade hose, with a selection of connectors. I find that while we do sometines use the hose, one 10 litre container is more convenient, as with ordinary hose it is a two person job to drain it after use. The 10 litre container has been modified by removing the tap, and replacing it with a filling spout, made from a short length of corrugated hose, and a 1/2" BSP hose barb. (The container now functions like a watering can.) A word of warning. If filling via a garden hose at home, purge the hose before filling the tank. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Alanb - 2017-07-29 11:13 PM A word of warning. If filling via a garden hose at home, purge the hose before filling the tank. Alan We always do. And only consume water from the tank if it's been boiled (hot drinks or used in cooking). Bottled cold water for drinking without boiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcopop1 Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 Wow - so many good replies, I will be trying the various methods to see which works and post again to give an update. Many thanks :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Tesco are selling a slimline 5L watering can same as ours, great for the outside locker. I put a ring of copper pipe inside the end of the spout so I could put a 12" piece of hose on and tighten it up with a jubilee clip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildi Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 We use one of these, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-connector-motorhome-caravan-OVERFLOW/dp/B00LN9YW6U to fill up with a hose connector. We have a 15m flat hose on a reel ( but it is slow) and a 10m blue hose which if we need to we can connect together. Also a water container if the tap is a long way away and lots of different tap connections for the hoses but there will always be one you haven't got :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 We use a 30 litre container, light Ali trolley and a 12v submersible pump. All light to carry. May not suit some as takes up storage space. Discharge waste into a 25 litre black container used flat with a two screw caps. One on the top when laid flat , one on the top as a normal container would have. Trolley it down to the waste point and return with the filled water container. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I see now, you are intent on turning your van into an immovable object. As above you will also need to work out how to dispose of the waste water, a lot (most?) of vans have the waste tank matched to fresh tank, such that if the fresh tank empties the waste will be full, or at least that's the theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave C Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I always use a hosepipe - I would never mess around with a watering can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Dave C - 2017-07-30 3:43 PM I always use a hosepipe - I would never mess around with a watering can. I used to share your view... Horses for courses, watering can on site usually works out quicker and easier than faffing with hosepipe for us. Have used hose on odd occasions, but very rarely. Guess it depends where you camp and how much water you use on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmerson Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 mikebeaches - 2017-07-30 4:15 PM Dave C - 2017-07-30 3:43 PM I always use a hosepipe - I would never mess around with a watering can. I used to share your view... Horses for courses, watering can on site usually works out quicker and easier than faffing with hosepipe for us. Have used hose on odd occasions, but very rarely. Guess it depends where you camp and how much water you use on board. But a watering can takes up a lot more space than a flat hose cassette, and in our Camelot storage space is at a premium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 emmerson - 2017-07-30 10:33 PM mikebeaches - 2017-07-30 4:15 PM Dave C - 2017-07-30 3:43 PM I always use a hosepipe - I would never mess around with a watering can. I used to share your view... Horses for courses, watering can on site usually works out quicker and easier than faffing with hosepipe for us. Have used hose on odd occasions, but very rarely. Guess it depends where you camp and how much water you use on board. But a watering can takes up a lot more space than a flat hose cassette, and in our Camelot storage space is at a premium. Agree it is relatively bulky, but very lightweight. Happy to make space for it in our pvc because it is so convenient. But some may have less space to spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Is your dinette window above the water filler,if so here's what we do: fill a water container 10 litres or so,then put it on the table by the window,which should be open,using a length of brewers hose put one end in the now full container,suck the other end until you can see the water coming through and then put that end in the filler. You have created a syphon and the container will continue to drain into the tank,as long as it is higher than the filler. NB breweers hose is the clear plastic hose available from homebrew stores or caravan spares dealers. Recently I bought some and it cost £1 per metre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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