Water hose question

[SarahT]

Hi All!
I've recently bought a T6 (my 1st campervan, I'm v pleased and excited ). I am considering buying a 10m food grade flat hose on a reel. I know that to use a flat hose you need to unwind the entire hose so prefer to avoid getting an excessively long one. Will 10m be enough for most uk sites? And I'd imagine these flat hoses are likely to kink badly in use, and when reeled up again- is that a real nuisance? Would you recommend a "normal" hose instead for this reason.

Do you use the same hose to fill the tank of the porta potti? (surely not?!)
And when you empty the cassette of the port potti and rinse it out does the campsite have a separate tap/ hose for this ? (surely?!)

I've camped one long weekend so far in the van, but I just used the site's toilet block (slightly regretted this the 3rd night when it was raining hard, but it was WAY easier and nicer getting back into the van+ hanging my waterproofs up than it used to be to worm my way into my little tent in wet gear) and a water bottle.

Thanks for any advice
Sarah

 

[airhoguk]

Hose length will depend on whether you are using a serviced pitch (water supply on pitch) or using the water taps placed around site. If the latter then 10 metres will be nowhere near enough length, if you have a fixed water tank you can get a water can and then using a 12 volt pump refill the tank or drive to the tap, hopefully not requiring much packing up. Filling the toilet reservoir use a small container or a 2 litre bottle. At the Elsan point there will be a tap usually with a short hose to fill up the tank when washing out the waste compartment

 

[GUMY]

Hi Sarah, also a newbie this year. We spent a small fortune kitting the van out, but the one thing we bought and haven't used is a 10m food grade flat hose. (From Amazon, here) I imagine rolling it up again would be a real pain. But because we've only stayed on sites with wash blocks and washing up areas, and so far no longer than 5 nights away, we simply haven't needed to fill the tank while away. We do have a 30 litre fixed tank, but have only ever half filled it before leaving home, using a funnel and a large jug. We also bought a 12 litre folding water carrier from GoOutdoors, but haven't needed to use it on campsites yet either.
Yes, the ELSAN points on campsites will usually have a hose for rinsing your waste tank out. When you unscrew the lid of the waste compartment, do it well away from where you're emptying it - I've come dangerously close to accidentally dropping it in

 

[Bigsidavies]

Yes sites have a small hose next to the elsan point so you can rinse the toilet out and also refill the flush water tank.
Here’s a tip though. Some sites (more so in mainland Europe) have a fresh water refill tap in the same area as the toilet emptying zone.
Never use that to fill your fresh water. I have seen people use that to flush their toilet cassette on more than one occasion.
Always use a fresh water tap well away from any toilet emptying facility.

 

[SarahT]

Hose length will depend on whether you are using a serviced pitch (water supply on pitch) or using the water taps placed around site. If the latter then 10 metres will be nowhere near enough length, if you have a fixed water tank you can get a water can and then using a 12 volt pump refill the tank or drive to the tap, hopefully not requiring much packing up. Filling the toilet reservoir use a small container or a 2 litre bottle. At the Elsan point there will be a tap usually with a short hose to fill up the tank when washing out the waste compartment

I thought I'd just drive close enough to one of the fresh water taps to fill the tank, it hadn't occured to me to fill it whilst parked in the pitch. Thanks also for the tip about avoiding the fresh water tap near the toilet emptying place- euw!!

 

[SarahT]

Hi Sarah, also a newbie this year. We spent a small fortune kitting the van out, but the one thing we bought and haven't used is a 10m food grade flat hose. (From Amazon, here) I imagine rolling it up again would be a real pain. But because we've only stayed on sites with wash blocks and washing up areas, and so far no longer than 5 nights away, we simply haven't needed to fill the tank while away. We do have a 30 litre fixed tank, but have only ever half filled it before leaving home, using a funnel and a large jug. We also bought a 12 litre folding water carrier from GoOutdoors, but haven't needed to use it on campsites yet either.
Yes, the ELSAN points on campsites will usually have a hose for rinsing your waste tank out. When you unscrew the lid of the waste compartment, do it well away from where you're emptying it - I've come dangerously close to accidentally dropping it in

Euw imagine if you dropped the lid !! That'd be awful.
I'd probably use the site's washing up sinks if there were any, as there'd be more room and hot water. That's a good idea to put some water in the tank at home before setting off- it'd get round the problem of me being too late/ tired/ lazy to fill it at the site, which would then also mean I wouldn't use the porta potti because i'd want to wash my hands....
Thankyou

 

[SarahT]

Yes sites have a small hose next to the elsan point so you can rinse the toilet out and also refill the flush water tank.
Here’s a tip though. Some sites (more so in mainland Europe) have a fresh water refill tap in the same area as the toilet emptying zone.
Never use that to fill your fresh water. I have seen people use that to flush their toilet cassette on more than one occasion.
Always use a fresh water tap well away from any toilet emptying facility.

Ok thats great, I didn't like the idea of using the fresh water tap to fill the toilet flush tank, even though thats a clean bit really. I will definately avoid using the freshwater taps close to any toilet emptying areas to fill the tank for the sink. Thanks for the tips