This blog goes into all the details on how to calculate how much water you’ll need to live comfortably whether you’re an individual or a big family like us. The amount of fresh water you will need to carry on board with you in your
Our background
If you’re not familiar with our story, you can read it here.
We lived full-time in our
Water Usage
What size water tanks did we install in our skoolie for a family?
We installed two 100-gallon water tanks in our tiny home on wheels. Find them on Amazon here.
The freshwater is mounted indoors, under the bed in the captains’ quarters. The gray water tank was mounted underneath the rear of the bus, under the bathroom area.
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For questions about gray water tanks and usage, read the blog on How big should your skoolie gray water tank be? and how we treat and drain it when boondocking.
How much water will one person use per day in a skoolie ?
If you were one person living in a school bus conversion, after factoring in your 1 gallon of clean drinking water, you will use approximately 6 gallons for the household activities like dishes, cleaning and showering.
Some perspective on water usage
How much water do you use in a 3 minute shower in a skoolie ?
Most water-efficient shower heads emit 1.5-2.5 gallons of water per minute. At 2 gallons of water a minute, your 3 minute shower uses 6 gallons of fresh water.
How much water do you use to do dishes?
According to the NRDC, doing dishes by hand (in a “normal home” can use up to 27 gallons of water! Though I don’t believe our water usage was anywhere near that high in our
How long will 100 gallons of water last in a skoolie with a family of 5?
In practice, we used about 14 gallons of fresh water a day as a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 young children). I calculated this by dividing the 100 gallon fresh water by 7 days before needing to refill, which comes out to about 14.29 gallons.
After budgeting 3.5 gallons of drinking water per person (1 gallon of drinking water per adult, 1/2 gallon of drinking water per child), the 10.5 remaining gallons of water used came from doing dishes, light cleaning and fast showers.
Note: We outsourced laundry to a laundromat, which reduced household water consumption significantly – “wash & fold” service is dream come true! Read more about laundry options in an RV here.
How often did we need to refill our 100 gallon freshwater tank?
A practical application
We enjoyed boondocking (not being tied into the power or water grid – filling our water tanks and relying on solar energy for electricity). As such, we relied on having full a water tank when planning this type of trip.
When living full-time on board as a family of five and boondocking, we needed to refill our freshwater tank about once a week.
Where did we find fresh water to fill our water tank in our skoolie ?
When we lived on the road for six months full time in our
- Gas stations like Flying J’s
- Rest stops
- Host locations through Boondockers Welcome, which is now a part of the Harvest Hosts family
- Campgrounds and RV parks
- Boat yards & Marinas
Gas station & rest stop suggestions
When refilling our water tank at gas stations & rest stops, we look for places that have high traffic and, therefore, more people accessing it versus a station in the middle of nowhere that may have some standing well water.
Boondockers Welcome & Harvest Hosts
These affordable host sites are fantastic ways to camp and boondock affordably and safely. Prior to booking, you can see if your host site offers hookups for water and other utilities like electric and glorious wireless internet.
Campgrounds and RV parks
Campgrounds and RV parks became a “hail Mary” for us when traveling with kids. Sometimes we just desired a RV-friendly community and safe place for our kids to roam, without having to think about it all. These parks often have load of amenities and activities, especially in the summer season, and access to utilities like WiFi, electric (to power our AC), and water.
Boat Yards & Marinas
Boat yards and marinas are well-equipped for larger vehicles like RVs due to the nature of their business. They’re usually pretty accepting too if you need to fill up your water, dump your gray, and toss out your trash. We had the best experience in Georgetown, Maine, where we stayed at Back River Boat Yard for two weeks.
Disclaimer: There are a number of places to find water to fill up your
How do you filter fresh water in an RV?
We filter our fresh water in two stages:
- As the water comes into the holding tank with an in-line filter attached to the water hose.
We used this product from Amazon. It’s meant to last 12 months – the competitors often say 3 months. - To supply clean drinking water available at the kitchen sink, we installed 1 specialized filter under the sink.
We used this product which is available on Amazon.
How long does it take to fill a 100 gallon tank of fresh water in a skoolie or RV?
Depending on the flow and water pressure of the water source, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to fill a 100 gallon freshwater tank.
Best Water Tank for a Skoolie
We recommend the largest water tanks you can install. We went with two 100 gallon tanks for fresh water and gray water storage.
Thanks for following our adventure. If you like this blog post, check out this one on the Best Skoolie On-Demand Tankless Propane Hot Water Heater. – Ingrid & The HildeFam.
