Since I have no intention of going to town this week, I wanted to come up with a temporary fix to isolate the hot water from the cold to not only get me through the week, but also confirm that my planned fix would work. My temporary fix was very simple: I just took some self sealing tape and put it over the open ends of the pipes and then reinstalled the hose.
This worked like a charm! So now, I know I can get some PVC caps and glue and permanently seal the two pipe ends. This will be pretty much non-reversible, but it will be a permanent fix that I’ll never again have to worry about.
My water heater is behaving well, so it’s really lovely to be able to leave the pump on all day and have hot water at the flick of a tap. I haven’t had that luxury in a long time except for my stays in the U.S. in May, of course. In Mexico, I got just warmish water in the kitchen and bathroom after running the tap a while, although I couldn’t complain about the water temperature in the shower! I had complete control over the heat setting on the water heater and was paying for propane, but to get hot water in the kitchen meant dangerously hot water in the shower, so it was a bit of a compromise.
I was asked why I live off my holding tank rather than being hooked up to city water. Good question!
Water in the hamlet is gravity fed from a stream uphill. The hydrant I tap into is nearly at the end of the water distribution line. There is therefore very little water pressure right at the hydrant. Then, I have to run about 300′ of garden hose from the hydrant to my RV. End result, no water pressure to speak of. I get a trickle out of the kitchen and bathroom sink taps and just drips in the shower, not even a steady stream.
Most of my neighbours have some sort of accumulator and/or pump system to improve their water pressure. This is something I will investigate when I get water in on site. So for now, filling the holding tank each day and running the water pump is my best option. I have tons of pressure that way and so my showers are much more enjoyable. I leave my hose hooked up, so once a day, I go turn on the hydrant, set a timer for 40 minutes, and when the time is up, go turn it off again. It’s really not a huge deal.
Another reason I prefer to use the holding tank is that it gives me an immediate means of turning off the water in the case of a leak. I had a bit of a hard time getting the hose back on the pipe over the tape yesterday and one of the connections blew off about a half dozen times over the course of the day before I finally got it good and tight. Had I been on city water, I would have had to run out side and down the block to turn off the water (as that would have been faster than trying to unscrew a hose to disconnect it!).
Now that the plumbing situation is under control, it’s time to focus on work. It’s going to be a grey day and so perfect for that. I am quite tired after the busy last few days, so it’s going to be nice to sit here with a pot of coffee and just tap away.
I hereby crown thee an honourary redneck.
(meant as a compliment, for those who aren’t ‘in the know’)
A title I wear with pride! LOL
When you get your permanent water line put in would it be possible to run a hose/line into the RV and “T” connect it into the water pump still keeping the holding tank connected via the other leg of the “T”. In line valves let you choose which source you want. This will greatly increase the water pressure inside the RV.
In Mexican RV parks where we saw very little pressure people were adding an extra 12 volt pump modified to accept hose connections to the park water hose to increase pressure. Lots of people carried an extra pump for this purpose.
BTW, I second Bast’s “Redneck” compliment.
I’ve seen diagrams for what you’re talking about, but unfortunately, my water pump is also in an area where there is zero room to work. 🙁 🙁 🙁 Right now, the pump is working well and I really don’t need any more pressure than what it’s giving me. As long as the pump works, I’m going to keep living off the holding tank. Went it fails, then I’ll invest in the accumulator/pump thing for my city water connection.
I wear the redneck title with pride! 😀
It’s good to be able to balance busy days with tap away days.
Glad you found a way to fix your hot water problem but I’m confused about what that means for winterizing your system next fall. Did you just eliminate the ability to bypass the water heater?
Good question, Linda! All the bypass does is separate the water heater from the rest of the plumbing so that I don’t have to fill it with antifreeze. I haven’t winterized that way in two years. Instead, I drain completely and blow the lines. So I don’t need the bypass.