Really Dumb Question!

Martinsouthwales

Guest
Having spent three weeks in France using aires this summer and two in Germany last year using stellplatz, I am now hankering to try wilding in the UK for longer periods. I've done the odd night here and there but never longer. My question is how do people manage for water? A couple or three nights is ok as I know I can rely on my 140 litres of good old welsh water, but after that I'd be struggling. I'm not so worried about grey water as I'm sure I could solve this somehow (cough), and no doubt I could empty the loo in remote(ish) public toilets but its the fresh stuff that bothers me. I'd be glad to hear how others get by in this respect.

Thanks,
Martin.
 
in answer to your questions ,as for fresh water ample supply at petrol stations we spent 18 months away in our van and never struggled for water all drinking water was from bottles we refilld not from the onboard water tank ,as for waste water from washing ect we drained away onto the grass when parked perfecty ok but some will contradict me i found that leaving the drain tap open worked well . now as for the toilet waste we did not use any of the fluids like elsan blue only sink and drain cleaners and found no unpleasent smells and we used public toilets to dispose of the waste. my opinion is if you can use the same chemicals at home you can use them in your van and dispose down the public loos .
 
Thanks

Thanks for your input. I confess I had not even thought of checking out filling stations. I use the onboard tanks for everything and hence I am particular what goes in there but no doubt water at service stations is always going to be drinking quality. I will be loking for the taps each time I fill up from now on :)
 
We use fillling stations, hotels with outside taps (just go and ask), we even have a load of campsites dotted around the country that we've chatted to the owner and agreed use of their chemical disposal and fresh water facilities - you just need the cheek to ask and be prepared for them to say no.

Once I was so desperate I actually knocked on someone's door and asked if I could use their outside tap they agreed with no problem and the next day I took them a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates.

Alternatively, carry a large plastic water container with you and a range of hose fittings. Pop into public loos and fill up the container and pour it into your tank - repeat till full.

Hope this helps a bit. Not a stupid quesion by the way - there is no such thing on this site, we all start somewhere and learn by asking!:)
 
water

We have always kept our tank water for drinking. Never put water in that we are not sure about. We carry a couple of gallon bottles to collect water that we find( outside taps at public toilets/from garages that we have bought diesel from)This water is used for washing.

In Scotland we have collected water from fast flowing mountain waterfallls

If stuck a farm site for the night is a cheap way of filling up.

CC Club allow members to fill up(for a charge)

Always be on the look out.!!
 
all good info ,as per usual on here .never forget if you are unsure about water for drinking just nip into asda or tesco and bottled water is only 10 to 20 p a bottle
 
jann said:
We have always kept our tank water for drinking. Never put water in that we are not sure about. We carry a couple of gallon bottles to collect water that we find( outside taps at public toilets/from garages that we have bought diesel from)This water is used for washing.

In Scotland we have collected water from fast flowing mountain waterfallls

If stuck a farm site for the night is a cheap way of filling up.

CC Club allow members to fill up(for a charge)

Always be on the look out.!!
Click to expand...

Flowing water tends to be a bit safer than stagnant pools but it also disolves sheep poo faster. Check its sourse and or boil it!!!
 
Tbear said:
Flowing water tends to be a bit safer than stagnant pools but it also disolves sheep poo faster. Check its sourse and or boil it!!!
Click to expand...

Definitely. I remember as a child climbing a mountain and drinking water from a stream. Further up we found a dead sheep in the stream! Fortunately I survived but you need to be careful. As our motorhome is 25 years old, despite having sterilised the tank and pipes God knows how many times, we still always boil it before drinking it.
 
in reality a couple of fills and emptyin g of good chlorinated tap water is all that is needed to clean your tank. fill and leave for afew hrs .empty and do it again . off you go. i dont buy water use taps fonts etc have an in line filter for drinking if i think the water is abit suspect .but hardly ever have the need to use it. as said clean tap before use . have a taste if its clear and tastes ok good. keep your eyes open for drinking fountains in parks . or use liesure centers . in portugal even the super markets let you fill up with clean drinking water sometimes. never had a problem even in africa.
 
That's the way to do it. Your thinking is right up my street. So what if you burn a couple of litres of extra fuel. Main thing, that you are comfortable.
 
Just returned from the beacons in wales wilding,cracking weather and a lovely country.We plan to spend a good deal of time there in the coming years.
We have a hose and a selection of fitments for the hose to fill up our tank,but have decided that we need a new kind of attachment to put over the end of some of the much broader and difficult taps,any ideas anyone?.We also carry 2 large containers with us,which i have got used to using 90 per cent of the time where we empty directly into the top of our tank.We also use our tank water for washing e.t.c and mostly boil first.Our drinking water we take with us in more containers which we brink from home in about 4 or 5 5 litre containers.When we full-time i plan to buy one of those seagull filter units to eliminate hassles and problems.
 
We're lucky - just 25 mins drive from the Beacons - lovely and loads of camping spots. If you want to pm me I'll let you know some other places near me for wilding with some stunning walks - would be happy to meet you and show you (as long as you like black labradors - he always walks with me!)

We're off next weekend for 9 days - not sure where to other than we will touch down in Anglesey at some point hopefully. Depends where Ivor decides to take us!
 
Cheers Casper i have your p.m i will mail you later,we got back last night,and have decided we will be wilding a lot on the beacons in the coming years,we have decided to revisit next year:)
 
hi great place to wild up in the brecons ,loads of places to stay over for a night or two we have found some stunning places there, only thing is i cannot pronounce most of the places .we now have time to get the flat we have all done and then refurb the van ready for next summer i do know brecon is a nice place to overnight
 
Yes have to say i had the same problem,i think i will tell folks down here the beacons are well worth a visit and leave it at that and not mention any place names and pronounciations:eek:
 
Nothing cam beat pure Highland mountain burn (stream) water! The trouble is we have become so sterilised that we cannot always fight bacteria - but it is said that as long as the water passes over 5 stanes (stones) it will be fit to drink. Ref: Jann "In Scotland we have collected water from fast flowing mountain waterfallls"

We have only 20l capacity in our PVC - 1 x 10 litre does us approx 1 night. When we run out we fill from a burn and unless we have a particular concern - not flowing fast enough, for example - we use the water for everything except drinking straight. It is fine to dilute whisky as the alcohol will kill off any bugs:D
 
As the members of this site live all around the UK surely we should never be short of somewhere to get water & empty the toilet. I belong to the MCC Safe Knights scheme where any MCC member can call me up & stop over for the night on my drive for free (if we are at home & it's convenient). In reality we found that many people are reluctant to ring up a stranger to ask to stop over :confused: & have only ever had one person stop. We have used a few of the safe knights when we have travelled around.

Why can't we have something like a waterhole scheme (member who want to could be listed with at least the city where they live listed), where you can contact another member of the site to at least fill up with water, maybe with a nominal fee of a quid to fill your tank (with water obviously :rolleyes:) this would take away the idea of imposing on somebody's good nature as they are getting something for supplying you with water. Also if people want they could maybe allow you to empty your toilet is they have an outside manhole.
 
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