There is definitely something to be said for taking a hot shower when camped out in the woods. But with a finite supply of fresh water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, bathing and flushing the toilet, conservation is of utmost importance to make your water last as long as possible.

This is especially true if you have to hand pump the water to fill your tank! Many public campgrounds, if they have water at all, only have old school hand pumps. Some of which are very deep and/or difficult to pump. And rarely do they include a hose spigot. When this is the case we take turns filling a collapsible 5 gallon water jug to fill our tank. Ten turns to be specific. It’s a wet job, but that’s the price you pay for the biggest, quietest, most scenic, most secluded and least expensive campsites!

Anyway, here are a few quick tips for maximizing the use of your freshwater supply:

• We use a 1 gallon Thermos jug – any container would do – to capture the water from our tub faucet while waiting for it to warm up. We can then use this water as we like, or put it back into the fresh water tank.
• Whenever available, we use campground vault toilets instead of our own – if they are not too nasty.
• If your RV does not have a control valve on the shower head, install one and use it to turn the flow of water off while soaping up then turn it back on to rinse.
• Make up for these bird baths with nice long hot showers when hooked up at private campgrounds.