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After a long day’s exploring on holiday, nothing feels quite as luxurious as coming back to your motorhome for a shower and a cup of tea.

Running water is one of the great advantages that motorhomes have over tents or smaller campervans, particularly if you’re travelling to hot countries or going off-grid.

So how do you ensure that your taps don’t run dry and the water you drink is clean and safe?

Read on for our quick guide to water in your motorhome. And remember – a good water system is just one of the motorhome essentials you need to put in place.

Make sure you’ve got Lancaster insurance for a motorhome too, so you’re covered for accidents or mishaps while on your travels.

 

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Campsites that welcome motorhomes will usually offer service points where you can park next to a freshwater tap.

You’ll need a connecting hose, which must be food-grade rather than designed for watering your garden. Simply connect the hose to the tap and your tank, and fill up. Simple!

Some campsites, however, offer only regular water taps. You’ll need to transport water from the tap to your pitch, then fill up.

This can be a laborious task unless you have the right equipment: a wheeled trolley to transport a large water container, or a cylindrical tank with wheels.

Once at your pitch, you’ll need to transfer the water from the container to your tank with a jerry can or a special pump kit.

Remember: water counts as part of your motorhome’s payload, and one litre weighs one kilogram.

Exceeding this while driving can be dangerous – particularly as water will slop around in your tank, potentially making your motorhome unsteady.

It’s also illegal to exceed your payload, and could invalidate your motorhome insurance.

So only fill up as much as you think you’ll need, and drain off any excess before setting off on your travels again.

Draining your grey water tank

Your motorhome will also have a grey water tank for drainage water – not to be confused with your black water tank for waste from your toilet.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to park right next to a drain at your campsite, and can simply connect up a hose to your tank and the drain and let the grey water flow out.

There may also be a flushing tap for you to give your tank a good rinse.

 

Keeping tanks clean

The last thing you want on your trip of a lifetime is to pick up or spread around nasty bugs. So it’s vital that you keep your water supplies clean.

Avoid storing water for more than 24 hours. After that time, the chlorine that’s used to clean water will start to dissipate, so bacteria can form.

If your system doesn’t have a regular turnover of water, the internal surfaces of pipes and tank can develop a film. In hard water areas, limescale can build up too. This can also encourage bacteria to grow.

So you need to regularly descale and sterilise your system. You can buy special cleaners for both tasks, and follow the instructions on the bottles.

If you are likely to use water stored for more than a day, then you can also buy additives to keep it safe.

Some motorhome owners prefer to keep their water tanks for showering and toilet flushing, and drink only bottled water.

However, you’ll run out of storage space pretty quickly, and all that plastic is bad news for the environment.

 

Keeping water containers and hoses clean

No matter how much care you take of your fresh water tank, it’s easy to introduce bacteria accidentally by means of your connecting hoses or containers.

Take care to keep fresh water and wastewater separate. Don’t use the same containers or hoses to transport the two, and don’t use a fresh water tap to rinse out your grey or black tanks.

Wash your hands after handling wastewater, too. 

Containers can develop algae or bacterial growths, particularly if they let in light.

So make sure you wash out all containers with specialised tablets or liquids, which you can buy from camping shops, pharmacies or even home brewing shops. An alternative is to use sterilising liquid for babies’ bottles.

It’s wise to invest in some good quality containers so they don’t degrade or crack. Lancaster motorhome insurance policies offers cover for camping equipment up to £2,500.

Draining your system for winter

While your vehicle is off-road for winter, any liquid left in its system could freeze and crack your tanks or pipes, or become stagnant and breed bacteria.

So at your last stop before returning from your travels, it’s wise to drain your system completely at a motorhome service point.

Open all taps including the shower, and remove your shower head and empty it. If you have a mixer tap, put the lever in the central position so that both the hot and cold water will drain.

Then drain your fresh water tank and open your internal drain valve. Run your pump for a few moments – don’t leave it running dry for too long, as this can cause damage. Remove filters and shake out any water.

Empty out your grey water tank, then drive home with all drain valves and taps open to shake out the very last drops.

Store your motorhome with the taps fully open in case there is any residual water left that might freeze and expand.

Empty out containers, external pumps and hoses, too, and let them dry out thoroughly to prevent mould growth. And don’t forget to drain your sewage system, including your black water tank or cassette toilet.

 

Get a quote from Lancaster Insurance

Taking care of your on-board water system is an essential task for happy and healthy road trips. So is choosing the right type of motorhome insurance.

Lancaster Insurance can include benefits such as EU cover from 90 days, or up to 365 days for an extra premium; personal effects cover up to £5,000; and audio cover up to £1,000.

If your vehicle is less than one year old, we can offer new-for-old replacement. For vehicles over 15 years old, we can agree a valuation with you.

Get a quote today, and start planning your next adventure.