Fresh and waste water in Nuevo 1.

I have read the recent messages on fresh water In Nuevo but other things are mentioned like Truma pump and Whale which are outside of my experience. Have previously had old van and used small water carrier and black waste water container. Now have Nuevo 1 and unsure how to use water tanks. My queries are:
1. Apart from flushing through do I need to do anything else before use (dont know how long its been since used)
2. Can I just fill it will hose and hoselcock on end.
3. Do people usually travel around with fresh water in tank.
4. How long do you leave and use fresh water in tank.
5. If staying few days on a site how often do you empty waste tank? Where doyou empty it if no special emptying spot.

Sorry if sound bit naive but would welcome your advice / experience. (going away first time next weekend - hope weather bit better!!)

HH

Hi Helen,
we've only had our Nuevo since last Dec', but its easy to get on with. Did your dealer not flush the tanks out for you? Not a bad idea to do it yourself though. We only fill the fresh water when we arrive on site, using a 20ltr poly can, then top up when needed. Don't drain fresh water when we move on, as we only use it for washing, showering, washing up stuff, seams daft to refill from empty all the time. We drain "grey" water before we leave sites, usually drain areas are supplied, but if not black can and onto hedgerows. We use bottled water from our house filter for drinking,and cooking, and carry enough for our trip. Havn't had to buy any when out yet! Hope this is some help, Mike.

Helen,
Grey water - Many campsite have a "motorhome service area" where there will be a place to empty your grey water tank directly into a drain or manhole. If I am on a site and do not wish to move my van to take it to this service area I carry a collapsible bucket and every now and then will take a bucket full of grey water and empty it in the appropriate place.

Fresh water - If I am going to a site then I do not fill up until I arrive but I would not empty the tank to move from one site to another. I always drain the fresh water tank when I get home after a trip. I use the water from the fresh tank for all purposes as I have a Nature Pure filter fitted.
In your case I would add a water purifier tablet or similar into the fresh tank and give it a flush through before you use it. Even if the tank had been drained previously it may be that all of the water did not come out leaving some behind in the tank and the pipes.
When I fill my tank from a tap I always try not to use any hose that is attached to the tap but to remove it and use my own hose or, if I have not brought the van to the tap, then I use a 10litre plastic container. The container is my usual method of keeping the tank topped up on a site. I will get a tub of fresh water at the same time as I empty a bucket of grey.

squip

happyhelen wrote:
1. Apart from flushing through do I need to do anything else before use (dont know how long its been since used)
2. Can I just fill it will hose and hoselcock on end.
3. Do people usually travel around with fresh water in tank.
4. How long do you leave and use fresh water in tank.
5. If staying few days on a site how often do you empty waste tank? Where do you empty it if no special emptying spot.

1. Fill up the system adding some Puriclean (available from halfords or any camping shop for a couple of quid) leave to soak for several hours, go for a drive to swill everything around, then open taps and run through system as this will clean and sterilise your heater and pipework as well. Empty system and flush through a couple of times and run taps to remove everything. link here Puriclean cleanses and purifies all fresh water systems and tanks.




2. Easiest way to fill is using a hose when you arrive on site, otherwise use a drainpipe shoe / bend, as this makes pouring water from a 10ltr water container fast and simple, roli told me about this sometime ago and this is the method I now use, you need a 68mm diameter pipe (around a couple of quid) which is a snug fit, just push it on at a slight angle and then pour in your water.






3. We don't travel with water in our tank, but carry a 5ltr water container inside our motorhome just in case we want to pull over and have a brew on route. Filling your water tank before setting off will mean you are pulling more weight and will result in reduced performance & fuel consumption.




4. it's not really recommended that you use the water in your tank for drinking (unless you are going to add Puriclean aqua tabs to the water which will make it safe for drinking) if it's for washing and showering it's fine but remember that water deteriorates from the moment it is put into your tank / container, so if it's for drinking use a water carrier / container just for this purpose, personally I would want fresh water daily otherwise treat it with the tabs.




5. I find you need to empty your waste tank every 2-3 days, depends how much water you are putting down the drain, but if on site you can just go to the motorhome service / waste point and empty there or just empty into a bucket and then take to the nearest waste point on site and tip. Our Nuevo has a warning alarm and shows on the panel when the waste tank is full not sure if the earlier series I models do or not?



CC

Some great advice - thanks - specially like the idea of the drainpipe shoe.
Will try it out this weekend.

HH