We found out very early in our full-time RV life that we are not RV park people. With very few exceptions, they’re too expensive, too crowded, and too far from nature.
We prefer to boondock, i.e. “dry camp” off-grid, usually in dispersed camping on National Forest or BLM land, usually for free. We have plenty of solar power to run our gadgets. Our composting toilet frees us from having to dump a black tank. But we still need water. So…
Where Do You Get Water?
Hose bibbs. They are EVERYWHERE. Whenever I run into town, I prep the jerry cans and load them into the truck, and find somewhere to fill up.
Here’s a few of my favorite spots.
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Parks and Public Buildings
I like getting water from parks since they’re public buildings intended for public use. As a member of the public, I’m happy to use them.
Parks with camping will often have a water fill near the ranger’s station or in the camping loop. Sometimes that’s past a gate, but not always. National Parks are notorious for having troublesome unthreaded faucets, so make sure you have a water bandit in your kit.
Day use parks most often have a hose bibb by the bathrooms. If you see a drinking fountain, look underneath or next to it, and there’s often a hose bibb there. Sometimes it’s under the sink behind a small utility door. Worst case, you might be able to use your water bandit to grab water from the bathroom sink.
Other public buildings like libraries can be good places to look. Fire stations definitely have water. Avoid anywhere with high security concerns like police stations and courthouses.
Commercial Buildings
Most commercial buildings have hose bibbs somewhere around the back of the building. Near the dumpsters is usually a good place to look, but just drive around back and see. So far this year, I’ve gotten water from the back of a drug store, the side of a veterinary hospital, and three different cell phone stores.
I don’t know what it is about cell phone stores, but they almost always have an accessible hose bibb outside.
My favorite commercial buildings to find water are 3+ unit strip malls. There are usually multiple hose bibbs around the back of strip malls, and I can usually find one behind a business where I’ve just bought something.
Gas Stations and Truck Stops
Truck stops, and less often, gas stations will have a hose bibb around the side or the back, so you can fill up your jerry cans while you fill up your gas tank. Some truck stops have a hose bibb at the pump.
A few months ago, I found the “air and water” station at a truck stop had a broken water fill. But there was a perfectly good hose bibb on the other side of the building.
Not every gas station has an accessible hose bibb, but lots of them do. Guess who’s more likely to get my gas money?
Water Retrieval Gear
Four Way Key
This cheap, handy tool allows you to open hose bibbs without handles commonly found on the outside of commercial or public buildings. The business may be happy to let you take a few gallons of water, but they’re not going to call the maintenance man to help you open the valve.
What kind of faucet does a four way key open?
Like these:
Occasionally, it’ll be behind a small metal door:
Water Bandit
This tool allows you to connect a hose to an unthreaded faucet, like the ones found in lots of National Parks. While a hose is not strictly necessary to fill a jerry can, it can be helpful if you want to soften your water while filling, if you’re grabbing water from a faucet that you can’t fit your jerry can under, or if you want to run a hose to your RV to fill your tank directly.
If you want to be able to walk away from your hose while it’s connected, you’ll also want a couple of hose clamps to hold the water bandit in place.
Jerry Cans
I like these Rhino Pak jerry cans because they’re compact and rugged. I keep two (empty) in the rear compartment of the Airstream. When the COVID pandemic hit, I ordered two more to cut our trips into town in half.
I like to carry even numbers of jerry cans, so I can have one in each hand. When carrying something heavy like water for any distance, it’s easier to carry a balanced load, even if it’s twice the weight.
RV Water Softener
If you’re softening your water (and you probably should), it’s easiest to do that at the hose bibb when you fill your jerry cans. I attach a Camco Water Tank Filler tube directly to the softener, which makes it easy to fill a jerry can hands-free, and shut off the water while I switch cans.
If you’re not softening your water, I’d suggest carrying a short length of drinking water hose with the same Camco Tank Filler on the end.
Where Not to Get Water
Obviously, don’t trespass, jump a fence, compromise a lock, break anything, or otherwise be a jerk to get water. There’s so many places to freely obtain water. It’s really not necessary to make a nuisance of yourself while doing it.
RV dump stations have a rinse hose. You probably don’t want to get water from that hose. It’ll usually be marked as “non-potable” due to the likelihood it’s contaminated with somebody’s black water. If you’re following my RV water treatment method, you should be making the water safe to drink even from a contaminated hose, but still. Ew. Find the potable water hose, or if there isn’t one, find a hose bibb on a nearby building.
Don’t grab water from a system of large pipes or other mechanical equipment unless it’s marked “potable water.” There’s lots of equipment that recirculates chemically treated water (like cooling towers), and you don’t want to accidentally mistake that for drinking water. To be safe, only take water from hose bibbs.