Free camping and obtaining water

Hi Tina G,

My wife and I also free camp most of the time with our small caravan.

Obtaining water has never been a problem during our travels. With a conscious effort to keep an eye out for opportunities you might just surprise yourself when it comes to topping up water tanks...

Do not hesitate to ask at service stations, drop into the shop and tell the operator that you need to purchase about x litres of fuel then ask if they have any objection to you connecting to their tap to take on x litres of water. I have never been knocked back although my son was once refused at Coolongolook in NSW after having purchased 70 + litres of diesel. I have only used service stations on two occasions asking first and filling the water prior pumping the fuel.

We have filled up at: railway stations and sidings, numerous town parks, showgrounds, schools, council depots, local halls, Boy Scout Halls, cattle sale yards the list is endless. We try to spend a bit of money in as many country towns as we can, particularly the smaller towns as we figure they need it the most. If needing water we will ask at the cash register when paying for our purchase and have always been given a lead as to an available tap.I have often gone into a pub, purchased a beer and been given directions to a water supply.

Unless you are right out in the outback water need not be a problem, perhaps a minor inconvenience at times but that would be all.

Don’t overlook the chance to be self sufficient, we have just returned home after twenty days touring with heaps of rain. By dropping the awing on one end we ran rain water into a bucket then transferred it to the tanks by way of a funnel, a couple of layers of Chux Superwipes filtered out any solids.

Now the toilet thing. Nah! No aadvise to offer there.

Ian

Excellent ideas and suggestions Ian.
Thanks for sharing.
(Giving me peace of mind too).

If we hit the road and stay over night in free camping stops, how do we keep the water tanks filled?

Do we connect our hose into toilet blocks taps? ....YES

Do we fill up with petrol and top up the water tanks at petrol stations? ....YES

Do we expect to pay to fill up our water tanks? .... YES

We can carry some plastic containers for water, but of course every drop adds to the weight. ....YES this is true but if you want water it's something you have to live with.

You can if you want wait until you get to where your going to camp and fill up, but what if there is no drinking water apart from the river water, you will probably need to boil it or fiilter it.

Baz.

Hi Tina, We carry a 4 way tap handle for security type taps, av from Bunnings about $10. Cheers Daryl

Hi Tina, We do most of the above from time to time to refill our water tanks.

As to the toilet canister, we have used public toilet facilities to empty it. It is probably not the right thing to do though? But I can't see that it does any harm provided it is not connected to it a septic tank as the chemicals in your canister could be harmfull to the workings of the septic tank.

Hi Tina,

All the above plus:

1, Organise water so that you can refill water at the same time you get fuel. We have a short hose and snap on connectors direct to the water tanks. First thing we do (at petrol station) is connect water and start that, then get fuel, pay for the fuel and then disconnect the water. You are not holding up other customers. Picture.

2, Get a water pump so that you can take water from troffs, tanks, dams, creeks and rivers.

3, Add additional water holding tanks and have them seperated from each. We can hold as much as 459 litres in 5 tanks. Mostly they are empty but can be filled for a short trip.

4, Get a 4 way tap fitting from Bunnings. This will allow you to open semi locked council taps.

5, Talk to other travellers going the opposite direction and ask them where they got water.

6, In the outback be aware of others that live there. Don't waist water.










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Hi Tina

We need fuel more often than we need water, so if needing water, i always ask before filling if we can top up our water tanks. Sometimes this is not convenient to them (eg it may block the flow of traffic through the pumps). Some have not had suitable taps. IN this case we find another servo. We have not had to pay, but i understand in some inland areas, a charge is levied.

We have not needed to pump water into our tanks. If water is available, we use it direct from a bucket and bath rather than shower. Our tanks remain with water of a known quality.

Dump points can be few and far between although there are now many more than shown in Camps 5.Check out the recent toilet threads on using sodium percarbonate. If you do need to dump into toilets, it is a good idea not to have an audience. They may not understand that you are not using a formaldehyde toilet chemical which cannot be dumped into long drops or public toilets. If out in the desert, stop away from a rest area and carry the cassette a safe walking distance from the road where no-one else is likely to go. Dig a hole and empty. The by now liquid slurry disappears into the sand. Obviously distances from water courses still apply.

Motherhen