Filling up water at servos

[The punter]

As water is a significant part of the weight factor, does anyone fill up at the other end of the camping journey at the "last servo before camp"

Is it frowned upon? I guess if you are buying fuel it wouldnt be. The idea of filling at the other end of the trip seems to make sense?

Thoughts?

[Aaron Schubert]

I don't do it.

For the tiny amount of fuel you are going to save, it costs you time to fill up at the servo and you risk getting poor quality water. Not to mention I'm sure plenty of places wouldn't like you taking substantial amounts of water.

Not worth it

Aaron

[Rumpig]

Filled up our drink bottle that we filled with ice bought at a servo at Laidley many years ago in the middle of Summer whilst heading out to a job we were doing...asked if it was ok first and attendant said yes, such a shame it tasted like petrol come time to drink it, and it was the only water we had with us all day

[oldmate]

I don't see that great of an advantage at all in doing that.  Fill at home, you know what you are getting

[speewa158]

Just how much water are we talking about . say 100L . This wont make much difference to your fuel costs .Also it tastes better than who knows what     

[Hewy54]

I think it is a great idea to fill up with water at the final stage of your trip.
Not to do with a fuel saving, but a weight saving for safety reasons. Many of us are on the limits of GVM and ATM so it makes sense to save 100kg if possible.
Water quality is not an issue for me as we only drink bottled water. Water from the tank is only for washing up and showers.

[LC]

I think it is a great idea to fill up with water at the final stage of your trip.
Not to do with a fuel saving, but a weight saving for safety reasons. Many of us are on the limits of GVM and ATM so it makes sense to save 100kg if possible.
Water quality is not an issue for me as we only drink bottled water. Water from the tank is only for washing up and showers.

I think Hewy makes a good point with regards to weight management, and if you don't care about the water quality in your tanks and you have the time to fill up the water at a fuel station, then why not. When we had the Prado, which had a capacity of 180litres of fuel it took so long to fill it up anyway that the water probably wouldn't take that much longer.

I think it would be sensible to ask the service station staff before just helping yourself to a heap of water though.

Personally all our camper water is filtered, I would be reluctant to fill the camper tanks at a servo or anywhere without tasting it first, and I am quite happy to spend the extra money on fuel (if there is any extra cost) to carry my nice water from home.

[KingBilly]

When travelling for extended periods you have no choice but to refill your tanks.  I have used both servos (after asking permission) and council parks to refill.  I carry one of those mutli tap handles available from Bunnings.   I always use a filter when filling from anywhere other than home.

If just travelling to a single destination, I can see the weight advantage in travelling there with empty tanks.  However most of my destinations, are off grid and don't have water.

KB

[Redcherokee]

First time we relied on filling up at a servo we couldn't do so.  They had converted all accessible outside taps to public toilet style press and hold jobbies, without a thread.    We ended up going to the next town past our destination and finding water at the showground.    Reckon we wasted at least an hour all up.

So we don't do that now.  Take it from home or first night in a van park.

[Shippo]

Ive always filled up at home, as I know the water quality is acceptible, but then again I dont use it for drinking. I can definately feel the difference in weight though, as when I bought our jayswan, I towed it home empty and hardly noticed it was there..when we had our first trip away with a full load plus full tank of water I had to wind the brake controller up considerably !
If you arent drinking the water then probably not a bad idea to fill at a location near to where you are camping.

[alnjan]

From another forum there is a rising problem with trying to get water at some locations.  Towns are becoming more and more aware of the 'free campers' and the demands they place on townships.   They want to camp for free and at times expect other things for free as well.  The towns are starting to object with the 'free campers' not wishing to spend money in the towns,  and are declining request to fill water tanks.  Sadly some people on the other Forum have the belief it is their God given right just to take water for nothing.  After being declined water at the Service Stations and other outlets they finally grovelled and begged at a caravan park who took pity on the 'free campers' children and let them fill one water tank. 

My personal opinion.  We are not 'entitled' to anything.  Be smart and plan your trip.  Be water wise and that should include all water, not just drinking water, but all water including greywater and blackwater.  You should know or at least have some idea how many days water you tanks can hold and plan accordingly.  If that means staying at a caravan park or similar every some many days to fill water tanks or empty waste tanks do it.

[oldmate]

 If filling up your water before leaving home puts you over weight, then your carrying to much crap

[bobnrob]

We always fill from home before leaving - I'm having a break, and that includes worrying about extra $$$ for fuel 
When we're away for a couple of weeks or more, whenever we pack up to head to somewhere else, and come back into civilisation, we usually have to refuel anyway, so ask if the servo minds me topping up with water, always gotten the ok

Never had a problem with drinking water from a servo tap, the whole town's drinking the same water 

[The punter]

Interesting responses all thanks

[Jahooper]

I always look at what my options are, we went to Fraser for 2 weeks and just towed the camper up empty and filled up at rainbow beach before we went over as they have a spot you can fill up at. When the Rangers came around the they told us about the drinking water taps at eurong etc so next time we will go up empty and fill when we get there.

When we went just south of gympie the other month we filled up before we left. Was just easier. I have fittings for the threadless taps etc but only have used them once when the threaded tap at rainbow was in use and a long line.

[GeoffA]

We always fill the Coota's tank before leaving home for a big trip.
I don't care about the weight. Having drinking water that we know won't make us crook is invaluable.
The 250L capacity allows us to be very selective about where we top up, which isn't needed too often.

 

[Coiled]

I fill up at home. Water is then all filtered to 0.5 micron so clean for us and tank.

Those thinking about weight reduction as a safety benefit consider where tank is located and the balance impact such as increased tow ball weight if mounted behind axles.

[cruiser 91]

Never had to fill up at servo's. 75L in the Jayco, 40L on the draw bar, 100L in a bladder on the back floor and 40L bladder on top of the draws at the rear of the cruiser. All filled via a BEST filter.
Its great! Water is a commodity when remote. I had once swapped 18 year old single malt whisky for my water, 1:10 ratio in a remote place, only cause he was a complete utter A-hole.
 

[MDS69]

From another forum there is a rising problem with trying to get water at some locations.  Towns are becoming more and more aware of the 'free campers' and the demands they place on townships.   They want to camp for free and at times expect other things for free as well.  The towns are starting to object with the 'free campers' not wishing to spend money in the towns,  and are declining request to fill water tanks.  Sadly some people on the other Forum have the belief it is their God given right just to take water for nothing.  After being declined water at the Service Stations and other outlets they finally grovelled and begged at a caravan park who took pity on the 'free campers' children and let them fill one water tank. 

My personal opinion.  We are not 'entitled' to anything.  Be smart and plan your trip.  Be water wise and that should include all water, not just drinking water, but all water including greywater and blackwater.  You should know or at least have some idea how many days water you tanks can hold and plan accordingly.  If that means staying at a caravan park or similar every some many days to fill water tanks or empty waste tanks do it.

When planning our last trip from Mungo, Menindee then along the Darling to eventually Lightning Ridge I rang Wilcannia Visitor Info and spoke to a lovely fellow. I asked if there was somewhere to fill up as we passed through and offered to pay for it and he offered a drinking quality bore on his property just out of town. All he requested was that we (7 adults 7 kids) buy a coffee or something in one of the local businesses. We didn't end up needing water but we did spend a few bucks in town.

[bully]

Definetly an issue when traveling. We try to keep a bit of water on board but it is very much a weight issue if all tanks are full. 250l in KK and 50l in the back of the cruiser. I usually go for a week at a time camping so when filled with water drinks food and everything else it is very weighty. So filling up with water close to the camp as possible is required for us. I have a few areas up the Queensland coast where I fill up so I don't have to carry a lot of water until close to camp

[JSKM]

If filling up your water before leaving home puts you over weight, then your carrying to much crap

Might leave the kids at home with Nanny & Poppy next time, that will be 3/4 of the crap we take gone. But then I have to hear the wife tell me how much she is missing them.

[glenm64]

Might leave the kids at home with Nanny & Poppy next time, that will be 3/4 of the crap we take gone. But then I have to hear the wife tell me how much she is missing them.

Best memories of camping when our kids were young was watching improvise and explore
About only things that got packed was beach stuff and the dog


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JSKM]

Best memories of camping when our kids were young was watching improvise and explore
About only things that got packed was beach stuff and the dog


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree with that.

Just always funny when I start packing. 1 small bag for me and beer in the car fridge, then the bags and crap starts coming out and I have the jigsaw puzzle to get it all packed in.

[BaseCamp]

We have filled the tanks at the destination end... cps etc...

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk