Hose length
New to the Club and just about to take delivery of a new compact van conversion. (Not new to camping, but inexperienced in camping in the UK and on Club sites. Have done - and still do - a fair bit of camping in a very different Far Eastern environment, and that mostly wild camping.) Not at all happy about using shared showers or toilets in the UK in these virally visited times, hence planning to use the onboard washroom. The van tanks are not the largest, so hoping to use serviced pitches where possible. Want to limit the amount of gear in the little van, and wondering about the lengths of fresh and waste water hoses needed on Club sites.
One Club site already booked very helpfully mentioned that "up to six metres" for water and waste pipes is needed, but there was nothing mentioned for the other club sites I looked at. (Maybe not a bad thing if all Club sites specified what is required.) I'd be most grateful for advice from more experienced Club members about the lengths of water and waste hoses which should be sufficient for touring using Club sites in the UK.
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As far as waste pipe is concerned I can recommend The Colapz system Here.
It's lightweight, compact and comes with its own storage bag etc. I bought two of them so I have the capability of using up to 8m if I need it - which I sometimes do on CLs etc. I know it's comparatively expensive but it's so neat and tidy as compared with long lengths of ribbed hose.
Fresh water hose - I have about 20m or so - in different lengths with connectors. On sites we regularly go to with serviced pitches, I tend to know what is required and chuck whatever I need in the van beforehand. I bought one 10m length from a club site when they were selling it for half the price I could get anywhere else!
Just make sure you buy the blue food-grade hose rather than using normal hose pipe.
On one CS we go to - which doesn't have serviced pitches as such - I also take a Hoselock doubler tap so that I can plumb into the water and still leave the tap for others to use.
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Also another vote for the Colapz system.
When we had a caravan I carried 18 metres of the blue fresh water pipe in two lengths and 6 metres of the coiled waste, a 4 metre and 2 metre length, that could be joined if required. They were alway adequate on any service pitch we have used in this country but a stretch sometimes abroad. In fact i only bought the second length of blue hose after 8 years, from an affiliated site that had the tap well away from the pitch.
When we bought the MH a year ago our use of service pitches declined, however we still use them on occasions and have booked some in September to avoid using shared facilities. The waste on our MH wasn't compatible with the coiled waste, so I started looking for an adaptor and noticed the Colapz recommended on CT. It is so much easier, no more wrestling with a snake, particularly in the colder weather.
One issue we have found with the MH is the newer type of service pitch that have the drain and tap in the back corner. Most pitches don't need levelling ramps. As the van is front low, the gentle slope front / back or back / front can be used, by varying the vans direction on the pitch. This can put the waste outlet furthest from the tap and as I only bought 4 metres of Colapz and have a 2 metre extension supplied with the van, it does not quite reach. We tend to look for a pitch that slopes the right way, so as to put the outlet closest to the drain. I could of course use levelling ramps but prefer not to bother.
As you are new to the club I should point out that there isn't any scope for putting your van closer to the drain / tap. They have to be lined up to a peg to maintain the 6 metre fire spacing.
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Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a common layout on Club service pitches so you probably have allow for a greater distance. Sometimes they are at the back of the pitch, unique to each pitch and sometimes they are shared between two pitches as we discovered at Seacroft last year which are not so convenient. I only carry a 7.5 metre hose which generally is OK (but not at Seacroft!) For waste I have strung a series of washing machine waste hoses together, not the most elegant but very flexible. The come in 2.5 metre and 1.5 metre lengths from the DIY sheds. I also carry a 10 litre watering can which I tend to use the most.
David
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As i normally use standard pitches, I carry 2 10l fresh water containers.
for the odd occasion i have used service pitches (which will be more often from now) I carry 2m lengths of fresh water hose which can connect together so you can make up your own length on site to suit without having to much hose coiling around, I suggest enough hose to match the length of van plus 2 m should be enough (in my case 8m)
i have also just purchased a 23ltr container, float valve and submersible pump so that this can be used as a fresh water accumilator similar to a caravan with a water hog(my internal tank is only 34ltr).
for drainage I started off using a collapsible 10ltr container to drain my small (24ltr) drain tank into. I then bought a larger 34ltr rolling waste tank which fills first, when full I switch to inboard while the portable tank is emptied, I am looking at a pipework solution but my discharge tap is quite low and the drains on some pitches are built up to prevent spillage so may try something similar to pumped fresh water method.
The other consideration is when we drive the van off pitch for dats out etc, to much stuff connected up means a bit more time needed to move off.
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Absolutely agree with comments above about Colapz products. Take a look at their website..
https://colapz.co.uk/collections/all-products
Their waste pipes are really good and saves the awkwardness of rolling up 'miles' of convoluted hose. The diameter of the convoluted hose tens to be standard these days. (Old caravans sometimes have a smaller diameter)
For fresh water hook up, I use the Colapz 'MiniFresh' unit, but I use a different hose to connect from the Colapz unit to the tap. For the hose, I use these....
https://www.care-avan.co.uk/shop#!/Food-Grade-Hoses/c/22088933
They fold flat and are much easier to cope with and store. (Note: make sure that the hose is foodgrade). I use several 5m hoses and join them together - I just use as many or as few as I need to reach to the site tap as I'm not keen on having excess piping lying around.... and more to roll up at the end.
Consider having a variety of different tap fitments. They tend to vary a little from site to site.... and have some spares, for when you accidentally leave one behind at the previous site. Hozelock do a variety of sizes... available online or usually from the local garden centre.
David
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.....one small point about the Colapz products. On their website it says they are bringing out new 45l waste and fresh water collapsible containers. I think they have now decided to bring out 2x20 little containers (of both) which will link together, to make them more manageable.
David
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If going with Colapz CAMC members get 10 % discount. Just ordered my waste pipes and adaptor waiting for delivery.
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/membership/member-offers/colapz/
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First, thanks to all who have responded, which is much appreciated.
I'm grateful for the information about the Colapz waste piping. As it happens I'd already discovered this on the internet (as well as some other interesting Colapz products.) Looks good but not cheap, so could be time for this Yorkshireman to take a very deep intake of breath ...
I'm still a tad unclear about hose lengths. Am I right in assuming that the fresh water tap and the waste water inlet are usually near to each other, so that the same length of hose will be needed for both fresh and waste water?
Now to get down to the nitty-gritty: the actual length needed. The small but beautifully formed van conversion is a mere 5.4 metres and has very limited storage. Volume is an issue - I hope to carry the minimum length of hoses needed. Is the consensus that 10 metres would be enough, or should I go for more? 12 or 15 metres? (Colapz hose is sold by the metre, and fresh water hose is easy enough to cut and fit connectors.)
If it's any help I'm not planning to take the van overseas, and the van does have both a standard water inlet and a plug-in Whale system that can suck water up from a container.
So, gentlemen (and, of course, any ladies who might be kind enough to join this discussion) how long is a piece of hose?
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length of hose is purely gueswork as service pitches are all differant
My van is 5.25M long (it looks longer in the pic!) and as I said above I carry 4x 2m lengths, on occasion i have only needed 1x 2m hose on pitch or at a service point, any further and I use containers, one of which I turned into a home made whale system with float valve and manually operated submersible pump to top up the onboard tank.
my waste out and fresh water fill point are on different sides of the van so you need to check before committing to lengths etc. or if you mean are they in the same place on the serviced pitch, then generally yes the waste water drain is normally the drip drain for the tap.
Black waste will still need taking to a chemical disposal point though.
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Black waste will still need taking to a chemical disposal point though.Although at Chatsworth only, you have your own CDP on your service pitch. When we had a caravan with the cassette opening on the back, it meant moving it all of 2 metres to empty.
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The length of hose required will be 1 metre more than you have available. (Murphy's law, variant 27)
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Just talked to care-van looking for a hose length to reach a tap on site away from motorhome pitch ,because I think some sites will keep facility's closed the care-van 15m hose on a reel is British made and members discussions recommend this company , only down side pipe has to be fully taken off the reel .
The reviews of pipes that stay wound on reels can have poor water flow and leaks so I am ordering 15m from care-van hope this is helpfull .
Stay safe Pete
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As far as waste pipe is concerned I can recommend The Colapz system
Better be good Richardandros or i am coming after you
as have just ordered 8m which comes as 1 item rather than having to buy 2 x 4m, and £10 less than 2x4m, plus dual connection, also you get 10 pct discount via club.0 -
I used to have two or three of those flat hose reels for filling up the boat's water tanks. They're fine when used for that purpose - but I found that when I used one for the caravan to connect to the aquaroll with a ball valve fitted - in hot weather, it split due to it being under constant pressure
The other annoying thing is that you have to squeeze all the water out before you can coil it up - otherwise it won't fit back on the reel. I did have one that had two rollers in the cassette which squeezed the water out as it was would up but eventually that gave up the ghost and I couldn't find another one with that design.
Much prefer the rigid blue hose-pipe even though it does take up a bit more room when coiled up.
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I just use the cheap convoluted pipe you buy at caravan shops. I have a couple of different lengths & join them if needed with push-fit solid waste pipe connector from Wicke/B&Q/etc Obviously not used much on CC sites but they carry waste water to the hedges at CLs
This kind of stuff ....
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Again, thanks to all who took the trouble to respond.
Lots of different input, and there seems to be no clear consensus as to pipe length. Well, reading through all the responses I've decided to go with 15 to 16 metres of both fresh and waste water piping. I'm thinking of chopping up the fresh water hose into 10, 3 and 2/3 metre lengths with female couplings, and using colapz piping for the waste.
This summer hoping to make several trips in Blighty, which I suppose will be mostly on sites, Club, CL and some others. I'm planning an initial run taking a couple of Club sites to get to know the van and also to experience Club sites for the first time. .The information on the web booking page for the Kendal Club site was very impressive. It mentioned "You may require a maximum of 6 metres of fresh water pipework and 6 metres of waste water pipework to connect on some of the service pitches." I called up the wardens on the other site that I'm hoping to visit (which shall remain nameless.) They were lovely, friendly people but they could only guesstimate the length of hoses needed.
All being well, will be riding the Big White Bird to mostly COVID-19 free Japan in September. Looking forward to pointing the old Honda van at the mountains. I'll miss the convenience of all the bits and pieces on the Auto-Sleepers campervan, but won't be sorry to be back to the ease simplicity of wild camping complemented by daily soaks up to the neck in hot springs.
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Thanks for that Martatin - you've saved me a few quid ...
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... So, a postscript. It's time for a "By the Way".
By the way, wouldn't it be a really good idea if the minimum length of hoses required for every Club site that offers serviced pitches be included in the information which we see online when booking? If the Kendal site can do it, then I suppose it must be possible.
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Hi Pete. This is one of the reasons I decided to go with multiple lengths of 5 metres. They are easily joined together and you just use as many lengths as necessary to reach to the tap. It also means that a 5m length is fairly easy to cope with, and especially to drain of water - just hold the pipe up in the middle and any excess water will trickle out. A bit more difficult to do it the overall length of one section is longer.
David
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We have the 8 pack too, although, I can't reme.ber ever using all 8 at the same time.
We also bought the double adapter connecting kit... (at the NEC last October) 👍👍
https://colapz.co.uk/collections/all-products/products/double-adaptor
David
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Glad you have received them Martatin.
The Colapz waste pipes and accessories are available from Amazon.co.uk, without the discount, of course, but with free next day delivery if you have Amazon Prime. The eight hose set is a straight fifty quid, delivered the next day.
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Still seems an expensive way to buy hose for want of a bit of ingenuity.
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Only time will tell how they wear CY. However, rather than 4 metre lengths of domestic waste and connectors cluttering the MH garage, or an unwieldy coil of the ribbed stuff, I now have a small bag, that takes up less than half the space of a coil.😀 Therefore if they last OK, in my opinion well worth the cost.
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It is, but as my outlets are at the rear of the van, and on a lot of Spanish sites we park starboard side too, in some cases I have needed a good 8 mtrs of pipe, so 2 lengths of that ribbed stuff, so for fathers day i suggested to family we bought something a little bit more upmarket, we normally live in a German enclave in Spain and they have all the gadgets, so why not.
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In the end decided to be a good little scout and be prepared. Bought a 15 metre hose and chopped it into 7.5, 5 and 2.5 metre lengths and fitted joints. This will give the choice of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15 metres. Have also acquired a similar length of Colapz waste piping.
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