Traveling with water tank full

[aaronorange]

Just wondering if you travel with the water tank full? I figured that’s what it’s made for. But I hear some people don’t top off before heading out. 

[MAX Burner]

@aaronorange;  We always top off at home prior to departing.  We have filtered and conditioned well water from our property and the Casablanca really likes it.  No build-up in Pex and at points of usage.  We also carry 2 x 6-Gal water jugs filled with house H2O in the TV and use the boondock water pump mode as needed - on short 3 - 5 day trips we do not connect to water bibs. FYI... Hope this helps out.

Cheers!

[Mike and Carol]

We travel with a full fresh tank.

[routlaw]

Have done it both ways, full and partially full, which depends on my attitude at the time of departure, how long will the trip be and whether its a solo trip or if wife is coming along. Regardless we always carry two BPA free water jugs that are filled for drinking and cooking water. Never drink from the holding tanks which is only used for cleaning dishes and people.

[John Dorrer]

Always travel from home with full tank.

[Rolind]

We usually travel with empty or nearly empty fresh, gray and black water tanks. We store our trailer at a storage facility and no water is available. Although we don’t feel strongly about it, it never seemed right lugging a lot of fresh water with us. We fill up our tank when we arrive at our destination. We do carry fresh water in various jugs for drinking, coffee etc.  I think it is a matter of personal preference and convenience. 

Edited August 2 by Rolind

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, John Dorrer said:

Always travel from home with full tank.

Don't leave home without it! 🤣 Our first night out is never at a campsite and we like to boondock half the time. Fresh tank always full and our aux 35-gal tank in the truck bed is always full!

[MAX Burner]

Like @jd1923, @Patriot, and others - we keep our Oliver on the premises so it's little hassle to "keep things just so."  We will rarely fill the fresh water holding tank with "city water" of unknown pedigree.  That said, we sanitize the fresh water system 2x annually and travel with a Berkey water filter for drinking purposes, FWIW.

[Ronbrink]

I’m in the ‘full tank’ camp, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it! Also carry a LifeSaver Jerrycan and case of bottled water.

[Steph and Dud B]

We always travel with a full tank, even if heading to a campground with water hookups. Twice we've arrived at a destination and found that the campground well pump wasn't working.

[Rivernerd]

We, too, leave home with a full fresh tank.  Our water at home tastes good and has low mineral content, unlike the water often available at campsites.   We don't notice the weight difference when towing.

If we must use the water at a campsite, we use an inline filter.

[HDRider]

I only put water in my fresh tank when I know I need it.  I don't want the extra weight.

 

 

[Dave and Kimberly]

It's clearly (by the comments already) a matter of preference.  We like to always leave home (or one campsite to the next) with full fresh and empty black and gray.   For one thing we like having our nice water from home in tank, but we also invariably use our bathroom along the way.   Regarding drinking from it... we do, but also carry a Brita water gizmo in the fridge.   So even our water is filtered once more from tank for our coffee and drinking water.

   There have been times when I left one campsite and planned on having water at the next site... so I didn't fill up my fresh.   Then our plans changed and I found myself boon-docking without that water in my fresh tank... so now it's just my rule:   full fresh, empty black and gray no matter what, I just do it.

[Trailblazers]

70% of the time we travel with an empty fresh water tank/30% with it full. Depends on the situation. I guess we’re one of the few that actually drink the water out of our fresh water tank. We use two water filters; one inline and one small half gallon size filter. Haven’t been sick yet. Fingers crossed!

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

Usually with a nearly full tank unless we are sure of good quality water at our destination.  We live in NW Washington where the water quality is very good and do not hesitate to drink it right out of the tanks (which are regularly flushed with fresh when we return from a trip).  We do carry a filter pitcher for those times where the water is hard or otherwise too iffy for drinking.  Always filter when filling tanks when away from home.

[jd1923]

8 hours ago, Trailblazers said:

70% of the time we travel with an empty fresh water tank/30% with it full. Depends on the situation. I guess we’re one of the few that actually drink the water out of our fresh water tank.

Being an engineer and mathematician, this does not add up! 🤣

[Boudicca908]

I carry plenty of bottled drinking water, and only fill my tank when I’m preparing to boondock. (When I leave home (SW FL) I have two or three days before I reach my first boondocking location.) 

I also dumped my tank before a stretch of road with 4 mountain passes, and then refilled on the other side. That being said, you need to confirm where you might find fresh water to fill your tank. So far, I’ve found western states have a lot more opportunities for fresh water filling stations. Some are free and located next to grocery stores, fuel stations, or campgrounds, and some towns even have RV stations where you can dump and fill for a fee. 

[bugeyedriver]

The Wonder Egg was born with a 'spring over axle' configuration and sits higher than the average Ollie.  I always travel with full tanks, for convenience and most importantly, to lower the center of gravity and provide extra stability in high wind conditions and cornering.

[jd1923]

When we had a Class-C always fighting GVWR, we kept the water low and it had a 60-gal tank. I would empty for a steep mountain climb too.

We are so far below GVWR on both TT and TV it’s never been a concern.

We’ve got one of the old hulls with the Fresh Tank plumbing issue where we only get about 18-gal out of it. Must have the 35-gal tank in the TV. Keep them both full wherever reliable water is available, which is not everywhere in the SW! If bad weather comes in or a breakdown, I want to be able to camp/park anywhere comfortably for days.