As a fulltime RV family that boondocks for months at a time, we’ve become experts at getting water while boondocking. In fact, since we make our own power with our solar panels, fresh water and a place to dump are just about the only things we need to outsource.
There are two main ways we handle getting water while boondocking: packing up and taking our rig to get water on the way to our next destination or using our water bladder to refill our tank without moving the RV. I’m going to share how we find places to get fresh water, what safety considerations we keep in mind, and what gear we use to make like easier.
If you want to learn more about how we boondock indefinitely, check out our Boondocking 101 post!
Getting Water While Boondocking: How to Find It
So first off, how do you find places good for getting water while boondocking? Well, there’s an app for that! We’ve talked about how we use multiple apps to find places to boondock before, and one of them is also a real hero for finding fresh water. iOverlander has been so helpful to us in finding places to get water, sharing the details of where the spigot is located and if we can fit our trailer in there, and updating us on whether the water is still available currently (especially in winter when some spigots get turned off!).
Some places that we find ourselves getting water while boondocking mostly frequently are:
- Municipal water and dump stations
- Gas stations (Maverick is such a winner in our lives!)
- Truck stops
- State and National parks
- Recreation areas
- RV parks
We usually spend anywhere from $5-10 on a dump station that will let us dump our tanks and fill with fresh water. Sometimes they’re even free, and that always feels like a win. In expensive touristy areas (like Colorado mountain towns!), we’ve spend as much as $30. About 95% of the time, we are able to find a public and affordable water source using iOverlander. Occasionally, there’s nothing nearby and we call private RV parks and ask if we can pay to fill our tank/water bladder. If we’re low on water, we’ll often fill up our bladder while we’re out sightseeing closer to a better water source. This is particularly convenient near State or National Parks, where it’s easy and often free once you’ve paid to enter the park.
Getting Water While Boondocking: Important Safety Considerations
We’ve been primarily boondocking for over a year now, so that’s a lot of times that we’ve been getting water while boondocking. We’ve never had a safety issue with water, but that’s because we plan ahead for these safety concerns:
- Potable vs. Non-Potable Water. Pay attention to whether the water spigot is marked potable or not. If it’s unmarked, it’s always best to ask someone working there to be sure. Potable means it’s clean and safe to use for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, etc. Non-potable water can potentially be contaminated and is usually intended for rinsing any mess at a dump station.
- Fitting Into Fill Stations. As I mentioned above, some water refill spots are located in tricky spots to navigate an RV. Whether that’s a tight turn to get in, or low clearance overhangs that could scrape your roof, it’s essential to check before you go. I read reviews on iOverlander and carefully check satellite images before I take our RV anywhere. If I’m not sure we’ll fit, I either pick a different location or take the water bladder without the rig later (more on that below).
- Water Weight. Keep in mind that water weighs 8 pounds a gallon, so our fresh water tank filled with 100 gallons of water weighs 800 pounds. If your rig is already quite close to its weight limits, you probably want to fill up your tank as close to your final destination as possible. Not only is it bad for gas mileage, but it could be a safety issue to be overloaded. We have also heard horror stories about tank supports breaking on travel days, so I really try to drive long distances with our tanks as empty as possible. The closer I can arrange getting water while boondocking to our final parking spot, the better.
Getting Water While Boondocking: Useful Gear
When you’re just starting out boondocking, you might not want to invest a lot of money into gear until you know you love it. But if you boondock for more than a week at a time, having a way to refill your fresh water without packing up your whole camp is SUCH a good investment. Here are a few things we’ve purchased to make getting water while boondocking easier:
- A Water Bladder. Having a way to fill up a big water bag was a game-changer for us. We use this water bladder in 60 gallon size, but if I could go back, I’d buy the 100 gallon. It folds up small like a small backpack when not in use, and it’s held up beautifully for almost a year now. I put it in the bed of our truck before filling it up because that thing is HEAVY when full.
- A Battery-Operated Water Pump. Your water source will be pressurized when putting the water into the bladder, but getting it out of the bladder back at camp is another story. You need a battery-operated water pump to get it from the bag into your fresh water tank. I love our Ryobi pump because it’s compatible with our Ryobi battery that we already owned. It also has alligator clips that can clip to any battery (like your rig battery!). Using this, it takes 10-15 minutes to empty our 60 gallon bladder into our RV’s tank.
- A Universal Hose Attachment. Most water sources have regular garden hose threads, but we have come across a few that were weird sizes or not threaded. This water bandit makes it so that you can attach your RV water hose (our favorite here!) to just about any water connection. So worth it for under $10!
Check out our whole boondocking essentials list for more helpful boondocking gear.
I hope this post about getting water while boondocking has been helpful to you as you plan your next dispersed camping adventure!
If you want to learn more about how we boondock for months at a time (including what solar we have and how we find spots!), check out our Boondocking 101 Guide:
Boondocking 101 Guide
This 10-page guide will assist RVers in learning the basics of boondocking, or camping off-grid! We share everything we’ve learned as a family living off-grid and boondocking in our RV.
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For more about what we’ve written on boondocking, check out these posts:
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