# Travelling with a full water tank!



## 88790 (May 9, 2005)

Are Motor Homes manufactured with the expectation that people will travel with the fresh water tank full, or are they expected to fill up on site?

Are the tanks mounted securely enough for this?

I know that there are weight penalties which will affect mpg but may improve stability.

I would appreciate comments on this.

John 8)


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

The tanks are secure when filled.

There is an mpg hit but IMHO too small to trade for the added convenience. Stability and ride can be improved, but I sometimes wonder whether it is perceived rather than real. My van runs nicer when it's washed!

"Expectation" isn't really the issue; you have to look carefully at the payload and ideally validate it on a weighbridge in running order as you wish.

Dave


----------



## 88826 (May 9, 2005)

I've seen this topic discussed in several forums. It seems to be a personal preference whether you travel with a full tank or not. Some say that the additional weight has a minimal effect on m.p.g. depending if you have a small, large or huge unit. Of course it could have severe implications on the total weight allowance of your motorhome. Others have said that it saved filling up when they arrived on site. Personally, I always travel with a full tank and return homeward bound empty.
Don


----------



## 88790 (May 9, 2005)

Dave,

Its the decreased wind resistance on the bodywork that makes the Motor Home so much better and smoother after a clean!

John


----------



## MikeE (May 1, 2005)

My tank is about 100 litres = 100Kg when full - about the size of a 16 stone passenger. I don't think it makes a great deal of difference to the overall paylod effect on mpg etc. and so I tend to fill up with clean fresh water whenever its available rather than take a chance on it being there when I arrive.


----------



## brimo (May 10, 2005)

We always travel with a full tank of our local water as some of the water in parts of this country don't make a very nice cuppa  

A very important point to consider !!


----------



## Road_Runner_644 (May 9, 2005)

Hi brimo

We always travel with a full tank, but our Leicester water makes a real bad cuppa .. actualy we take bottles for drinking. We are always surprised when we go to local water and have a decent cuppa for once. (Leicester water is hard - Very hard)

I can't stand the hassle of trying to get water once I arrive at a site, it's always full before we go. weight considerations are secondary, and maybe we'll get pulled one day for going over weight.

Must get re-plated.

Dave


----------



## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

In the 80's I always used to journey with minimum water to save fuel. My teenage daughter complete with acne and makeup technique I assume from the Picasso School of Makeup went for a shower and to wash her hair. The water ran out before she could rinse the shampoo out. She stormed out of the shower with a bath towel around her insisting that we drive immediately to a water hole while making some unfair ascertions about my intelligence. Do you think we could find water in the middle of the night in the middle of France? Well, the answer was yes we did but not for a couple of hours by which time her hair had solidified and she had to move around carefully incase some of it snapped off. Of course she saw the funny side but not until about 10 years later so I always now have a full tank of water even for a day trip.


----------



## eddied (May 9, 2005)

I'm with Pusser on this. If my wife can't have a complete bathroom job wherever/whenever we arrive, my life ain't worth living. Apart from which we have a very good home water supply and know its quality, which is more than can be said for many aires/sites. Having said that, a full tank from home has to be refilled anyway after max. 48 hrs.
saluti, eddied


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

We have a fresh water gauge that reads either full or empty so we can't judge how much we have onboard.. We do have a local weighbridge, very obliging and on the main road out of town, so we can go over it for free when we are off on a longish trip away. From that we know that, fully laden for 4 weeks but with an empty water tank, we are slightly below our legal weight limit -we reckon enough below to bring back souvenirs but not many in bottled form.

From what I have read on the forums I think we are fairly lean in our packing. We don't have a TV ( use a laptop), pare things down to a minimum and have no gadgets or heavy items. There are 2 of us.

The van handles the same whether the tank is full or empty but full must push it over the legal weight limit. How critical that is we do not know but would not like to be in a position to find out if we were checked or in an accident.

Someone in another thread mentioned that MHs are built on commercial vehicule chassis and not designed to take the mass of stuff that inevitably comes with camping. 

G.


----------



## 88966 (May 11, 2005)

Hi,

As usual I seem to be different to most - I normally travel with my fresh water tank between .25 and.50 full. It's a 125L tank.

This makes sure that I can always stop and have a cuppa and even a good wash without having to look for water.

It also means that my method of filling (see seperate post) with a watering can works for me !!


----------



## 95853 (Jul 25, 2005)

I do not like to tug extra weight around (but the missus keeps insisting on coming away with me!!! ouch!!)

So I normally carry 1/4 to 1/2 a tank.... enough for the journey and the first night.


----------



## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi.

We always travel with a full tank of water as our tag axle burstner seams to ride better . Not to worried about the extra weight with all the gear we carry, good job there are only two of us. We always travel home with empty tanks, only need to clean them out when we arrive home.

steve & ann ---teensvan.


----------



## haylingchrist (May 15, 2005)

Hi,

Never noticed the difference when the 125l tank in my last van was full. The new one has 250l and I didn't buy it so I could carry more air...

Chris


----------



## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi jabber 

Just a thought:------ for the folks who worry about carrying a full tank of water...why not fill the water tank to full but run the diesel tank a 25% .......there are a lot more places to fill the diesel tank than there are places to fill the water tank.

I fill or top up my fresh water tank whenever I can ..before leaving home and whenever a tap is within a short hoses reach.

Mike


----------



## aido (May 17, 2005)

*post subject*

I would never use the water from the tank in the van to make tea we allways buy a 5lt.container of fresh clean water wherever we go..the tank in the van would allways be half full when traveling.........aido


----------



## 88727 (May 9, 2005)

*hi*

we have always traveled with a full tank 80ltrs as if you don't know the site or where you may stop you might not be able to get near a tap, some cl's we have stopped on only cater for caravans who use aqua rolls ect. we also use 2 ltr bottles of water, mostley cost around 18p from tesco,asda, lidl ect.
pete


----------



## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

We travel with empty tanks, and carry bottled water for drinking, if we are going to somewhere like the York show, then we fill the tanks, usually we find that water filling facilities on most sites are pretty adequate for what we need during a stay.
M.P.G. dosen't cause any issues, but the weight factor does when all the toys are loaded on board.

Regards M&D


----------



## kerenza (May 14, 2005)

If I'm going to a rally , I always go with a full tank and full 10ltr bottles, I hate lugging water. If I am just touring I fill up when I get there, there must be a cost penalty in logging that weight around, and with a 3500 chassis, it probably puts me up to or over my payload.

Mike


----------



## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

I don't like bottled water for making tea. It always tastes weird plus is fizzes.

So I carry a huge plastic bottle of tap water for tea making. Never do I use water out the tank for drinking or making T.


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Some of the more exotic ( = expensive) bottled waters with a high mineral content do taste salty but I've not noticed them fizzing ( unless you buy them sparkling Pusser ? ). Tesco's own Value stuff is just like tap water and is what we go for when the site water is full of chlorine. We have got a Brita filter jug but the water from that tastes salty too though it does remove the chlorine taste.

I guess we're spoilt - our tap water is excellent.

G


----------



## 88934 (May 10, 2005)

I dunno about other vans, but our fresh water can be dumped in seconds when pulling the drain plug? 

If weight really concearns you that much, and you managed to get tugged by the Ministry.. you could have the water on the floor before you reached the weighbridge


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

We must be odd, we never use anything else except the tank water, boiled of course. 
Bottled water must be the biggest con and money spinner ever invented. 

Take ordinary tap water, bottle it and label it spring, mineral , mountain or what ever and people buy it. 

If there is a smell or taste of chlorine from your tap water, this is perfectly normal, it's added by the water companies to kill bacteria. 
Leave to stand for a few hours in an open bottle or jug and the chlorine will 'gas off' leaving the water taste free. 

Tank water can taste of plastic, if it's a problem fill up your used bottled water bottles at the tap and store in the fridge. 

If you disbelieve, do your own 'blind test' using a bottled and tap water, you might get a surprise. 

Why do you think bottled water has a 'sell by' date ? 
Because it leeches plastic from the bottle.. 

What's next, mountain air ? :roll:


----------



## 88934 (May 10, 2005)

ScotJimland said:


> Bottled water must be the biggest con and money spinner ever invented.


Shhhhhhhhhhh!

That's a trade secret you know... people will start to catch on if you mention it too much :mrgreen:


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> Tesco's own Value stuff is just like tap water


I rest my case


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

"We must be odd, we never use anything else except the tank water, boiled of course. "

Do you boil and cool water for drinking and tooth cleaning scotjimland ? I couldn't be bothered to do that.

"Bottled water must be the biggest con and money spinner ever invented."

Fair enough comment when the water in question is the wildly expensive defrosted-Canadian -glacier type stuff. Like many here though I do find bottled water is useful though I don't pay over the odds for it.

"If there is a smell or taste of chlorine from your tap water, this is perfectly normal, it's added by the water companies to kill bacteria. "

Yes, *some * water companies add it -ours does not- but for the water to smell and taste of chlorine is not perfectly normal. It indicates a fault in the adding process - too much.

"Leave to stand for a few hours in an open bottle or jug and the chlorine will 'gas off' leaving the water taste free."

Leaving the lid off the container for a while will help but ,in my experience, in areas where the water is heavily chlorinated you never get rid of the smell. Boil that water and use it for tea or coffee and the taste is dreadful.

"Tank water can taste of plastic, if it's a problem fill up your used bottled water bottles at the tap and store in the fridge. "

I've never had our tank water taste of plastic but it does taste "muddy " sometimes. We do brush our teeth in it and it's not unknown for us to drink it when we forget and fill up a glass and we have never had any problems. On the whole though I can see the number of places between tap and tank where the water can become contaminated. Perhaps we should be more careful with our hose, tap connector and filler storage !

"If you disbelieve, do your own 'blind test' using a bottled and tap water, you might get a surprise. "

I can always detect the bottled mineral water in a blind test and rarely the ordinary cheap water we buy when we have no access to clean taps on site or the site water tastes unpleasant.

I take your point about bottled water being a con. I'd back our home tap water for purity and taste against any water in the world but there is a limit to how much I can take with me. I prefer most tap waters to salty bottled mineral water.

"Why do you think bottled water has a 'sell by' date ? 
Because it leeches plastic from the bottle.. "

and, like any water not bottled in totally sterile conditions and distilled before bottling, it will have bacteria etc in it. That said, we have some cheap italian water that we bought 2 years ago when the local water ran brown and we still use that with no ill effects.

What's next, mountain air ?

I believe you can buy it !

G


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Information on water and chlorine from the DWI (Drinking Water Inspectorate)



> Taste and Other Factors
> 
> 23. Taste is a highly individual thing. Some people won't drink tap water unless they can smell chlorine because they then feel it is safe. Conversely, most people dislike chlorine. I dislike the taste of chlorine myself, other than very low levels which I do not notice. (Equally I dislike lemon being added to jugs of water and prefer the water as it is.) Some people are more sensitive to chlorine than others. The chlorine taste problem is easily solved by putting a clean jug of water in the refrigerator for about two hours after which the chlorine will have disappeared. The water will then also be at a nice cool drinking temperature, indeed the same temperature at which bottled water will be stored. There have been a number of blind tastings when panels have been unable to distinguish between tap and bottled water. After chlorine, temperature is probably the most important factor in the taste of tap water.


Further Information

>>DWI<<


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

We've gone into the problem of taste in tap water in some detail. We enjoy our cup of tea and dislike it when it tastes of TCP. The TCP taste comes from the reaction of organic material in water with the chlorine put in to keep the water safe when it leaves the filtration works and goes into the distribution system.

Our local water is processed with activated charcoal and ozone to filter and sterilise and very little chlorine needs to be added. There is no detectable taste or smell of either chlorine or of the trihalomethanes (THM) which give the TCP taste.

Some water is fairly loaded with organic matter before processing and some of that can remain in the water and react with the extra chlorine either added deliberately or accidentally. Leaving the water in a jug will not help the taste of the THMs as the reaction has already occured. it will not get rid of all the smell or taste of chlorine either if too much has been added.

As for the blind taste tests on water mentioned in the paper; surely that depends heavily on the bottles selected ? If bottled mineral water is tested against plain bottled water then the difference is obvious to all. If plain bottled water is tested against unchlorinated tap water then I doubt anyone can tell the difference.

I've lived on 5 continents and drank the tap water in all of them with no problems at all in terms of purity or supply but I still sometimes buy bottled water if the taste is off- though never the pretentious blue bottled stuff

I'll shut up now !

G.


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> I'll shut up now !
> 
> G.


No need to shut up G, you have raised many valid points and it's interesting to hear your views. We never stop learning and it would be a sad day if we thought we knew it all.

We had an ' argument' in our office over this very topic. 
We keep Evian water in the fridge but on this particular day it had ran out.. I suggested putting tap water in the fridge and was met by a barrage of derision.

When we got new supplies I challenged anyone to tell the difference between Evian and tap. 
To be fair and just our technical dept ( we are food processors) set up the test with 3 bottles of Evian and 3 tap water.

The results were for me not unexpected, no one could successfully pick out the 3 bottles of Evian..

That doesn't make me right and you wrong .. the main point of my argument was that many people are convinced that tap water is somehow bad for them while bottled is good.

Jim


----------



## Paulway (May 9, 2005)

I am with ScotJimland on the bottled water thing. Can always remember our first trip to Italy via the tunnel, whose real name escapes me, through Mont Blanc. We were stopped right at the entrance of the tunnel on the French side as there was a build up of both traffic and polution and they would not alow access until it cleared.
Beside the road is a babbling brook and there from the roadside was a line of Frenchman relieving themselves into the water. Every time I see a well known brand of bottled water that is water from the streams and rivers of Mont Blanc I see the image of a line of Frenchmen and walk away chuckling, even more so if someone is buying it.
I know Londons and no doubt every other water supply is recycled, but at least the Chlorine tells you something has been done to try and purify it. Must confess it has cured me of ever drinking any bottled water for life.


----------



## Paulway (May 9, 2005)

ScotJimland

I am nearly crying with laghter. Our posts crossed, have a look and see where the Evian is bottled!!!


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Have you noticed though the number of restaurants who unscrew the expensive bottles of water as they arrive at a table. I always want to ask the people who are buying it if they are sure it is what they ordered and not filled from the kitchen tap a few minutes ago ! The cost of that sort of water outrages me !

G


----------



## 88934 (May 10, 2005)

ScotJimland said:


> the main point of my argument was that many people are convinced that tap water is somehow bad for them while bottled is good.


This is an interesting point?

There are some valid arguments on the differences of the two kinds of water.

However, here in the UK, the very strict standards which have to be met by the water companies for "tap" water, is somewhat higher than that which is required for "bottled" water?

I often wonder about water which has been bottled outside the UK.. like exactly how high are the standards required? Better or Worse than required in the UK for example?

You see, Folk often don't drink "tap" water in "foreign" parts do they.. yet they are happy to perhaps drink water here in the UK, which was bottled in the very same "foreign" region prior to it's export?

Bottled water often doesn't always have chlorine in it for example does it. Doesn't need too? Now whilst one can argue about the rights and wrongs of chlorine in its own right, there is a simple fact that chlorine kills bacteria?

If bottled water is chlorine free, it may well tatse better. But being produced at a lower standard, does it mean it is better or worse?

You may be swigging away on more bacteria than you think as a result when drinking bottled water eh?

And then there is always the debate about the fact you are just paying for tap water.. in a bottle??

Does anyone remember >THIS STORY< for example?


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Thanks for the article Wilie , I recall it well. 

During my time in S Africa I worked for Coca Cola in J'burg.. when our filtration plant ( sand bed filters ) went down they continued production straight from the mains.... 
I suspect most if not all bottlers use mains water with little or no further treatment. 

While in Switzerland some years we took a trip to Evian to find the famous water.. we never found it ..lol.. 
Lovely town but no springs gushing from a fountain..  
Since reading Paulway I'm glad we didn't .. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## 88934 (May 10, 2005)

ScotJimland said:


> While in Switzerland some years we took a trip to Evian to find the famous water.. we never found it ..lol.. :


That's because they have moved it all to the bottling plant :mrgreen:


----------



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I'm not against people buying expensive bottled water if that makes them feel better but the thought of the fuel needed to truck and fly the stuff across Europe and, in the case of one brand, from the South Pacific (!) makes me squirm. Now if someone invented dehydrated water.....

G


----------



## 88934 (May 10, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> but the thought of the fuel needed to truck and fly the stuff across Europe and, in the case of one brand, from the South Pacific (!) makes me squirm.


Could Just ship the empty plastic bottles and fill them up here.. that should do the trick ;-)

Much better payload then?


----------



## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

In case you hadn't spotted it - Waitrose now stock Peckham Spring Water - perfick


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Of course water is bad for you: think of what fish do in it... :lol: :lol:

Read the full article here... :lol: too funny .. more nanny state ?

>>Bottled Water<<


----------



## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

I think when the term 'bottled water' is mentioned most folks will fill a lemonade bottle or two with tap water from home, or at least a plastic 5l container just for drinking /cuppa's etc. not the expenive evian stuff poured into the kettle? 8O


----------



## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hey tonyt
Does it come in two variations???
Still and jubbly????
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 

Keith


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

kands said:


> Does it come in two variations???
> 
> Still and jubbly????


Are we "still" on water or something else now 8O :?:


----------



## 88790 (May 9, 2005)

In defence of tap water I have to say that as one who is at times severely neutrapoenic, very low immune system, the specialist warned me off of bottled water.

We always use tap water for drinking and fill two litre bottles from the site taps, this way we avoid any nasties from the hose as well.


John 8)


----------



## 88934 (May 10, 2005)

kands said:


> Does it come in two variations???


Wine does... Sod the water


----------



## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Hi,

some facts about water:

The EU Drinking Water Directive which became mandatory for all member states beginning 2004 puts very strict regulations on tap water. Threshold values for all kinds of possible pollution, be it microbiological or chemical, are extremely strict. And if there is for whatever reason a tap not fulfilling the regulations (e.g. in the toilet of a train), then it must be clearly marked as non-drinking water.

Same is valid, however with somewhat less-strict threshold values, for bottled water. The reason why bottled water has to carry a "use before" date is that, as said before, no water is absolutely free of microbes, and in a bottle they can reproduce.

So basically all around the EU it is safe to drink either bottled or tap water, making this a question solely of personal taste.

Talking about taste: Don't know about UK, but at least in Germany and Holland chlorine is only seen as a _last resort_, if microbiological thresholds cannot be guaranteed otherwise. So chlorine taste indicates that the water boards needed at least considerable effort to fulfill the EU directive. However, it is only a matter of taste and no health hazard if chlorine is added to drinking water.

Of course, **** happens, and there have been (and will be) occasions where impure water has been fed into the supply system. Or been filled into bottles. However these are incidents and do not indicate that one of the two systems is in any way superior to the other.

Now what do I personally do: 
At home we drink tap water. As I prefer sparkling water, we have a soda dispenser and "sparkle" the tap water before drinking. When motorhoming I do not want to carry the soda dispenser around in the van, so we buy _sparkling_ bottled water. However for all other purposes (including cuppas, teeth brushing and drinking non-sparkling water) we use our tank water.

Nobody in our family ever had any problems with that. I, however, once got a bad stomach from _bottled water!_ But that had happened in India, and most probably the bottle had been illegally refilled.

Best Regards,
Gerhard


----------



## PhilM (May 9, 2005)

Hi all, I always thought that the taste in our water was from Fluorine which they add to prevent/reduce tooth decay.
Phil.


----------



## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Hi Phil

I don't think so...

From the web : Quote.

Many people think that the UK is already fluoridated - not true - only 10% of the UK 
eg West Cumbria, the West Midlands, the North East. Mainland Europe doesn't fluoridate, 
but some countries such as the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand still do.

Full story here

>>Fluoridated Water<<


----------



## PhilM (May 9, 2005)

Thanks for that Jim, very interesting, this is what 3 Valleys Water say is the level in their water for my postcode "FLUORIDE 0.124 mg/l 
Fluoride naturally occurs in the water in many areas. Three Valleys Water does not add any fluoride to your water. Fluoride is measured in milligrammes per litre (mg/l). " quote Three Valleys Water.
Phil.


----------

