Surely we don't use that much water?

[Sicilianmama]

We have dual 80l tanks and whilst away this weekend we have already used one tank, in two days! We are using it for everything, as there is no water here. Showers for me, hubby & two toddlers, plus cooking & drinking, washing up etc. We don't leave the shower running, simply wet down turn off soap up & rinse off so I don't think we are wasting much. I'm wondering if maybe they didn't fill properly? But water was flowing out, but as we were filling them all this air was blowing out the little air filter thing causing it to pop off, is it possible there could be air trapped in there causing it to not fill right to the top?

How much water do you use?

[Tjupurula]

Contrary to popular opinion, I shower at least once a week whether I need to or not.  I do not think I use all that much water, I would not use 80 litres in a week.
Tjupurula

[jwb]

Yes, Some tanks/setups are not filling friendly.! You might need to have the hose flow quite low to fill them properly.
Hope your enjoying your time away!

[rkwpjv]

Yes its amazing how much you use whenit's as simple as tujrning in a tap.

In our old Cub, we used to go away for long weekends with three 25L water drums and usually come home with half of one of them.

The first long weekend bush camping in the Jayco, we ran out (Two 82L tanks). We have since learned to be more frugal when bush camping.

Filling our Jayco tanks, I take the nozzle off the end of the hose and feed the hose down the filler pipe, it seems to help with air blow back. When it is completely full water will start to spit out of the air release vents. Hope this helps.

Pete

[lilstookie]

We also have two young kids. Our first weekend away we deliberately set about using the water to see how long it lasted (we had one 57l tank then). Needless to say, we ran out of water pretty quickly! We had camped next to a river, so knew we had a supply.
If we're away for a weekend, none of us bath/shower unless absolutely necessary. Know what size your kettle/saucepans are so you can keep track of use when washing dishes etc too.

Lil


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MrCruza]

We have a tent, not a camper, so space is tight in the 4B. We carry a 20lt jerry of water that easily lasts the 2 of us for a week. No showers, just pommie wash out of a bucket.
It's amazing how little water you NEED to use for things like washing up (about half a Lt) and a pommie wash (about 1Lt does 2 of us).

It's OK. We'll camp downwind   

[making tracks]

I always give my CT a little shake from side to side after it has filled and then strangely i can always get another one litre in before it starts to over flow.
That one litre can come in handy.

[McGirr]

We have a tent, not a camper, so space is tight in the 4B. We carry a 20lt jerry of water that easily lasts the 2 of us for a week. No showers, just pommie wash out of a bucket.
It's amazing how little water you NEED to use for things like washing up (about half a Lt) and a pommie wash (about 1Lt does 2 of us).

It's OK. We'll camp downwind   

Note to myself make sure I walk a fair distance from  the Mr Bitchi campsite when passing by 

John plenty of water where we will be camping at the Cape and great swimming. The water is filtered through sand and is crystal clear and drinkable.

Mark

[Jon]

Showers generally use a lot of water. We heat our water with a Coleman HWOD and then put it into a 15 litre bucket in the shower recess. With one of the super cheap pumps the bucket will last about 5-7 minutes. With a 60lt tank and 1 x 20lt cube, we can go about 3 days.

This is enough for two of us. At this point, water use is the biggest limiting factor on the length of our trips and where we go.

[Hairs]

It's OK. We'll camp downwind   

Yes, you two are quiet considerate of this, you usually do camp down wind of the rest of us, it's greatly appreciated 

Yeah, water for us usually isn't a problem, the camper carries 200lt, this is used for everything, drinking, cooking, washing up, clothes washing and self cleaning.
Can usually go a week without a problem, heaps longer if camped next to a river 

 

[BigJules]

I know another member who goes through water that quickly, with showers for a few and lots of hand washing. Next time, take a tub to stand in, that will give you an idea of how much you're using per shower.

Also, it can be tricky to get the tanks full. Do you know if your tanks have a breather? Do you have a water level meter fitted?

[cruisindub]

Baby wipes for a 'hygiene ' wash. Bits and pits.

[JU5T1N]

Another good water saver is dont put up the shower tent...
benefits are plentiful:

• its amazing how much quicker women can shower like this
• more guys are around to help cook, set up your guy ropes they even bring you beers
• if you don't have lighting the camera flashes will help
• meet new people
• also find other men are willing to get you more water to keep he shower working each day
• a real good ice breaker

[macca]

When i built my trailer I put a pressure pump in and a 60 litre tank, when i fitted the ute out for campng without the trailer I used a gravity fed tap and 50 litre tank it has amazed me how much longer the ute setup lasts compared to the trailer, I never use my on board water for showers, I can draw external water thru the trailer pressure system and use the bucket and 12volt shower setup for the ute, if I'm not near water then i will camp next to MrBitchi and Tjupurula

macca

[BigJules]

Another good water saver is dont put up the shower tent...
benefits are plentiful:

• its amazing how much quicker women can shower like this
• more guys are around to help cook, set up your guy ropes they even bring you beers
• if you don't have lighting the camera flashes will help
• meet new people
• also find other men are willing to get you more water to keep he shower working each day
• a real good ice breaker

ROFL

[rkwpjv]

Another good water saver is dont put up the shower tent...
benefits are plentiful:

• its amazing how much quicker women can shower like this
• more guys are around to help cook, set up your guy ropes they even bring you beers
• if you don't have lighting the camera flashes will help
• meet new people
• also find other men are willing to get you more water to keep he shower working each day
• a real good ice breaker

Gold!

[TOPNDR]

G'day S'Mama,

We've got twin 140 litre tanks so generally don't have an issue with water. But to help us remain aware of how much we're using, the kitchen drains into a 20l bucket, as does the shower. So we can easily keep track of how much water we're using, simply by having to empty the buckets.

We can shower in less than 3/4 of a bucket (15 litres) of water each.

[Kalebjarrod]

Use a hand pump instead of 12 v tap, kids and taps are disaster, also when your home work out how much water your sink holds, then times it by the number of times you wash up per day, you will be surprised. We got rid of our sink and went back to a small plastic tub to wash up.

When you shower draw your water from a 20 lt jerrycan, that way you see how much water your shower is using.

I prefer shower in a can when I am away

[gibbo301]

I use this saves a sh:t load of water 

[albany_nomads]

My daytime job is as a technical officer working with Natural Resource Science...now I know this is not camper consumption..but this may scare you when it comes to REAL: water consumption.. ....Kind Regards  John...Albany Nomads

•   98.5% of all water on Earth is salt water, leaving less than 2% as fresh water
•   Nearly 70% of that fresh water is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland; most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater not accessible to human use.
•   < 1% of the world's fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses. This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. Only this amount is regularly renewed by rain and snowfall, and is therefore available on a sustainable basis.
•   The water cycle on Earth is essentially a closed system – we have always have the same amount of water.
•   Agriculture is responsible for 87 % of the total water used globally. In Asia it accounts for 86% of total annual water withdrawal, compared with 49% in North and Central America and 38% in Europe. Rice growing, in particular, is a heavy consumer of water: it takes over 3000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of rice..
•   

•   1 kg of Rice takes 3000 litre of water to produce
•   1 kg of Wheat takes 1350 litres of water to produce
•   1 Kg of beef takes 1600 litres of water to produce 
•    1 litre of milk needed 1000 litres of water to produce
•   
•   And whilst you are reading this and say drinking a cup of coffee which took  140 litres of water per cup to produce or 300 litres to produce a can of beer

•   In Australia our water use:
•   35% of it ends up being hosed and sprinkled onto our gardens and lawns.
•   26% of it is used in the bathroom.
•   19% of it gets used to flush sewage from our toilets!
•   15% of it gets used to wash dirty clothes. 
•   And we are paying water rates, and EXCESS water rates for it! And Only 4% of this pure drinking water is used for cooking, and just 1% for drinking!

•   Percentages are one thing, reality is another. How much real waste of water does this 95% mean? Well, we are told that the average water consumption of a Canberra home is 294,000 liters a year! That's 30% more than Sydney and Melbourne households, by the way. 
•   95% of 294,000 litres is 279,300 litres of pure drinking water- wasted. If you want to give the calculator a work out, try this. Take the figure of pure drinking water wasted per household (279,300l.), and then multiply it by the number of households in Canberra. How many households? Probably 90,000-100,000. Do the sums. Frightening, isn't it?  And that’s just in Canberra

[Kalebjarrod]

I use this saves a sh:t load of water 

Shower in a can

[McGirr]

Gee lucky I drink beer and not water so I help save the water supply. Yes I know water is in beer but not that much 

Mark

[Kit_e_kat9]

Hi Sicilianmama,

We use these ideas when camping to stop excess water usage.

Wash your hands in a small bucket (buy your M&M's in the bulk buckets and use these handy little buckets camping).  Everyone uses this through the day.  Gets filled once in a day.  Cut back on the "handwash" as this uses more water to remove.  Where possible, use a natural water supply (the creek) to wash muck off ... NO SOAPS though IN the creek ... remove a small bucket full and take 200mtrs away to use soap to stop contamination.

Don't rinse your dishes under the tap.  Use a small bucket specifically for this and empty once per day or add to the dishwashing bucket under the sink.

Catch all dishwashing water in a 20ltr bucket.  Use this to put out the fire upon leaving camp.

Fill a 20 ltr bucket to HALF full and heat this for showers.  Do away with shower roses and 12v HWS's ... go back to the cup method.  You'll be surprised how many people can shower in this water.  Send the kids for a swim prior to showering to save on water.  Use the truckies APC method (arm pits & crotch) where possible.  It's still really hygenic to do this and you can still feel really refreshed if you also add in FACE to this.

Drinking.  Use 2 ltr bottles and have many on hand - my partner has filtered water from home he brings.  8 glasses per day per person = around 2ltrs.  Use small cups or small water bottles for kids, as we all know they will take 2 mouthfulls and tip out the rest.  Alternately give them a very small portion and ask if they want more ... give them another small portion till they are satisfied ... cap the cup on the rest if any is left.  Play water saving games with your kids at home to teach them to be more aware of their usage whilst camping.

When cooking, use the steaming method, and use less water to cook vegies.

When washing dishes, use enough water to cover 2 plates and that's it.  Wash cleaner things first and the really grotty stuff last.  Pull the plug on the sink to fill any dish that may need to be soaked, then refresh the heat in the water on the stove or fire and NOT by reboiling the kettle.

Cut back on salty or sweet foods and you'll cut back on the water consumption.  Offer water filled fruit like apples, manderines and watermelon.

We have a 130ltr and rarely go below 1/2.  When filling my CT's tank, it will "overflow" and suggest filled at 3/4's filled, darn thing.  What I do is keep a small length of hose handy to push down the "filler" and blow back into the tank ... yes mouth over the hose end.  This will assist in removing the "air lock" (which I believe is more a water won't shift and let the air out 'lock') and you can fill again as normal.  You may need to do this a few times.   Also, when placing the hose into the filler, ensure it's filled with water and not air as it can take a few seconds for the water to come to the end of the hose and this will be forced into the tank.   When the air is being removed from the tank, you'll hear it coming out.  We have a gravity fed tap coming from our tank and I utilise this for filling the tank, however we still get air locks from time to time.

If it rains, angle your tent awnings so that you can catch some extra water for use later.  We do this with our dogs drinking water and our shower water when possible.  Means instead of 5 ltrs of water I can use 10 ltrs to shower with  which is always nice.

As time goes by you'll be able to monitor the water usage more and your kids (can make it a game) & hubby will become more aware of what they can and can not do and that tank of water will last you much longer.

Hope these help you to see where you can improve and inspire you to think of other ways to save water as well.  Being that (well usually) we are THE driest country on earth, it never hurts to take these ideas from home and apply them for life.

Kit_e

[Sicilianmama]

Yes, Some tanks/setups are not filling friendly.! You might need to have the hose flow quite low to fill them properly.
Hope your enjoying your time away!

Yeah I think we will have To try this next time as we filled them in a hurry so water was fairly strong coming out.

We have a tent, not a camper, so space is tight in the 4B. We carry a 20lt jerry of water that easily lasts the 2 of us for a week. No showers, just pommie wash out of a bucket.
It's amazing how little water you NEED to use for things like washing up (about half a Lt) and a pommie wash (about 1Lt does 2 of us).

It's OK. We'll camp downwind   

Oh god I wish we could do it with 20 liters!

I know another member who goes through water that quickly, with showers for a few and lots of hand washing. Next time, take a tub to stand in, that will give you an idea of how much you're using per shower.

Also, it can be tricky to get the tanks full. Do you know if your tanks have a breather? Do you have a water level meter fitted?

yeah I like that idea to stand in the tub, will have to try that. Also yes our tanks have the breather things and heaps of air was blasting out of there whilst we were filling. No we didn't get the water level meter.

Baby wipes for a 'hygiene ' wash. Bits and pits.

we use the baby wipes for the kids a lot during the day instead of hand washing and I also use that antibacterial cleanser stuff. But something we all really look forward to at the end of our camping day is a nice hot shower or bath sometimes for the kids, I actually bathed them in the sink last night and they loved that! Didn't use alt of water either

Another good water saver is dont put up the shower tent...
benefits are plentiful:

• its amazing how much quicker women can shower like this
• more guys are around to help cook, set up your guy ropes they even bring you beers
• if you don't have lighting the camera flashes will help
• meet new people
• also find other men are willing to get you more water to keep he shower working each day
• a real good ice breaker

Haha yeah that's not gonna happen

G'day S'Mama,

We've got twin 140 litre tanks so generally don't have an issue with water. But to help us remain aware of how much we're using, the kitchen drains into a 20l bucket, as does the shower. So we can easily keep track of how much water we're using, simply by having to empty the buckets.

We can shower in less than 3/4 of a bucket (15 litres) of water each.

Yeah Im definitely gonna have to start measuring how much we are using, good way to help us cut back.

Hi Sicilianmama,

We use these ideas when camping to stop excess water usage.

Wash your hands in a small bucket (buy your M&M's in the bulk buckets and use these handy little buckets camping).  Everyone uses this through the day.  Gets filled once in a day.  Cut back on the "handwash" as this uses more water to remove.  Where possible, use a natural water supply (the creek) to wash muck off ... NO SOAPS though IN the creek ... remove a small bucket full and take 200mtrs away to use soap to stop contamination.

Don't rinse your dishes under the tap.  Use a small bucket specifically for this and empty once per day or add to the dishwashing bucket under the sink.

Catch all dishwashing water in a 20ltr bucket.  Use this to put out the fire upon leaving camp.

Fill a 20 ltr bucket to HALF full and heat this for showers.  Do away with shower roses and 12v HWS's ... go back to the cup method.  You'll be surprised how many people can shower in this water.  Send the kids for a swim prior to showering to save on water.  Use the truckies APC method (arm pits & crotch) where possible.  It's still really hygenic to do this and you can still feel really refreshed if you also add in FACE to this.

Drinking.  Use 2 ltr bottles and have many on hand - my partner has filtered water from home he brings.  8 glasses per day per person = around 2ltrs.  Use small cups or small water bottles for kids, as we all know they will take 2 mouthfulls and tip out the rest.  Alternately give them a very small portion and ask if they want more ... give them another small portion till they are satisfied ... cap the cup on the rest if any is left.  Play water saving games with your kids at home to teach them to be more aware of their usage whilst camping.

When cooking, use the steaming method, and use less water to cook vegies.

When washing dishes, use enough water to cover 2 plates and that's it.  Wash cleaner things first and the really grotty stuff last.  Pull the plug on the sink to fill any dish that may need to be soaked, then refresh the heat in the water on the stove or fire and NOT by reboiling the kettle.

Cut back on salty or sweet foods and you'll cut back on the water consumption.  Offer water filled fruit like apples, manderines and watermelon.

We have a 130ltr and rarely go below 1/2.  When filling my CT's tank, it will "overflow" and suggest filled at 3/4's filled, darn thing.  What I do is keep a small length of hose handy to push down the "filler" and blow back into the tank ... yes mouth over the hose end.  This will assist in removing the "air lock" (which I believe is more a water won't shift and let the air out 'lock') and you can fill again as normal.  You may need to do this a few times.   Also, when placing the hose into the filler, ensure it's filled with water and not air as it can take a few seconds for the water to come to the end of the hose and this will be forced into the tank.   When the air is being removed from the tank, you'll hear it coming out.  We have a gravity fed tap coming from our tank and I utilise this for filling the tank, however we still get air locks from time to time.

If it rains, angle your tent awnings so that you can catch some extra water for use later.  We do this with our dogs drinking water and our shower water when possible.  Means instead of 5 ltrs of water I can use 10 ltrs to shower with  which is always nice.

As time goes by you'll be able to monitor the water usage more and your kids (can make it a game) & hubby will become more aware of what they can and can not do and that tank of water will last you much longer.

Hope these help you to see where you can improve and inspire you to think of other ways to save water as well.  Being that (well usually) we are THE driest country on earth, it never hurts to take these ideas from home and apply them for life.

Kit_e

Thanks Kit_e heaps of good ideas here! I like the bucket of water for hand washing will def try that!

[lilstookie]

We use a 9L metal bucket for showering which easily does the two of us....we turn the 12V shower head down to low and have no issues with rinsing soap off. We use wipes for the kids anyway (one in nappies f/t, the other is toilet training at the moment). We also have a handwashing bucket and I use the hand sanitiser gel. As Kit_e suggested, buckets to catch rainwater is really effective too. With dishes, I wipe of as much gunk as possible with paper towel so the water doesn't get too feral. I'm not sure how old your kids are, but ours have their water from sippy cups so that when they tip over we don't lose any. If yours are older, give them the reusable pop top style bottles. I wash clothes from a 9L bucket less than half full and start with whites/lights and work my way up to the dirty/dark stuff last.
If you're water conscious at home, it should translate really easily when you're camping. It may take a few trips to feel comfortable with some of the water saving ideas, but you get used to it quickly!

Lil