Friday June 4th 2021
I know conservation is a very broad topic, but its one that needs to be addressed every year. We did not get to boondock in the Arizona over the last winter, and that is always our water conservation tune up each fall.
Reality is that most of us are terrible water conservationists, don’t believe me? Lets just see, if you live in a trailer or coach and are hooked up, just close your grey tank valve and see how many days you can go before filling your grey tank.
With our coach we can usually get 12 to 14 days between having to dump our tanks, and its normally the grey tank that fills first. When you are not connected to a water source, and are working from your freshwater tank you learn a number of serious conservation tricks.
- Catch the cold shower water while waiting for the shower to warm up, this water will be used for flushing the toilet later.
- Adding aerators to all sinks, as this reduces water flow
- Be sure to have a low water volume shower head, there are a number of good shower heads used by boondockers “Oxygenics” shower head is a commonly recommended
- Navy (military) shower – water to get wet, water off while soaping up and scrubbing, then water on to rinse off soap and shampoo.
- Shut off the water while brushing your teeth, water on only to rinse after.
- Dish washing, use paper towel to wipe greasy pans and dishes (these are great fire starters later), use a dish pan to wash (do not fill the sink), rinse and dry.
- Hard core conservers save soapy dish water for use in flushing as well
We are not hardcore enough to use dishwater for flushing and would certainly not recommend using paper plates to safe water as that starts into a whole different kind of waste. We try to avoid using throwaway products such as, disposable glasses, plates, silverware, and the like not the answer, unless you are purchasing compostable which are expensive and hard to find. Disposable products have their place but its not in everyday camping use.
Also be aware of where the drain water from your sink goes! What do I mean? Some trailers and coaches have bathroom sinks that drain into the black tank. Why would that be? Well the number one reason is that many people do not add enough water to their black tank in an effort to conserve water and black tank space. The reality is that there needs to be a good ratio between water and solids in your black tank to get total and complete emptying when dumping the black tank.
This summer is forecast to be a long hot summer and we know here in Ontario the rain level in May alone was less that half of normal, so water restrictions as well as fire bans in many areas should be expected so today is a great day to start your water conservation.
The Buchanan's Rolling Down The Road 