Serviced pitch
Hope someone out there can help. We are staying at at Brighton in a couple of weeks and, for the first time, are using a serviced pitch as it was the only type of pitch available at the time of booking. We are just wondering exactly what equipment we shall need for water and waste. Please help if possible. Gill
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You don’t necessarily need anything it will just be a bit quicker filling and emptying. However, if you are going to use them in future it may be worth investing. You can get a float device that fits in the aquaroll and keeps it half full, for your pump to draw from. You will require some food grade hose to link this to the tap. The CC now recommend 25 metres of this, however in most cases 10 are sufficient and almost always 15 metres is enough.
You will also require some waste pipe. You can use the coiled stuff or rigid. If the coiled it’s worth getting two or three of lengths totalling 8 / 10 metres that you can join together if required. Or you could use thiscollapz stuff that I bought to use when we site our MH on a service pitch.1 -
As Steve says, also a range of garden type hose connectors to connect the pipe to the tap which will be usually at the bollard for the EHU.
You can continue to use your wastemaster but you can buy some (cheap) waste pipes to take your waste water straight to the drain, a couple of meters should be enough though check what diameter outlet your caravan has as it will simply just push into it.
Post edit: Sorry Steve, did you add the bit about waste pipes? I wouldn't have posted otherwise.
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As it’s easy to join lengths of hose / waste at a later date if you decide to make use of them again. It might be worth giving the site a ring and asking what lengths of each you will require for their service pitches. It does vary a fair bit from site to site. Some have one bollard between two pitches with two taps / waste inlets. Others one on each pitch. Checking would mean you could buy the minimum at this stage. Even if you decide not to fork out for the aquaroll float device at this stage. A length of hose will mean the aquaroll can be quickly topped up without moving it. It’s how we started with our use of them, just a hose and a length of waste.
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You definitely are not obligated to buy or use any kit. However, you may find you like using these pitches and will go out and buy yourself the equipment needed.
I don't know if you use CLs at all but we have found an increase in the number of CLs that, if not supplying a full service pitch, will or may have an "enhanced pitch" which will usually mean you will have access to a water pipe for your own use. If you do use CLs you will know some owners allow you to run the waste water into a hedge and you may therefore need slightly more/longer length of waste pipe than on a club site.
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Thanks to every one for this info.
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‘…If you do use CLs you will know some owners allow you to run the waste water into a hedge …’
another reason to avoid them.
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Remember what we were told to do with dish water and bath water back in the drought years? Yes, use it to water the garden plants.
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Being on a meter-it still makes sense👍🏻😊
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Plus, some CL owners don't want their septic tanks filled up with waste water - which they have to pay for, to be emptied - for it to end up where??
Some other tips for the future. I have about 15m of food grade hose. An 8m length which covers most eventualities, plus a 5m and a 2m with connectors to give you that flexibility in connections depending how far away from the tap you are.
Can thoroughly recommend the Colapz waste pipe system - I have 8m which live in the van permanently and hardly takes up any room in its own storage bag. It is expensive, however.
A lot of CLs will have a tap shared between two or three pitches and I carry a four-way tap splitter (about £15) which allows me to plumb into the water and others to do the same if they want to - or to use it as a conventional tap.
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You stick to cow pats, septic tanks and smelly hedges, I’ll stick to something with some basic civilised facilities.
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CLs cover a wide range of 'services' these days....we did 3 on our tour last month and they were all of a similar level...a nicely mown field, a water supply and a toilet point....we dont need any more.
we are using two sites on this two week break, a THS on a rugby ground last week....walking distance from a seaside town....meeting family so chosen for convenience of location...
..this week on a CS on southern edge of New Forest....again chosen for location to nearby town.....but i have discovered there is a shower and toilet, again not required but campers in a VW opposite make use of these.
yes, we dont need more, but we are as comfortable on CLs as we are when we go 'full fat' for longer periods, home or away....
Steve, as you've tried an aire or two, and are happy woth your van's ablutions i would have a go at a CL...not for the facilities but the convenience of location....
we are just a short bike ride from Lymington, New Milton, Barton on Sea, Milford on Sea, Keyhaven and can stretch our legs a bit for Beaulieu and Buckler's Hard.
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Quite a few CLs offer individual water points so it's good to have the equipment on board. Useful info.
BB we should have been on a THS last week but Covid isolation prevented our trip.
We've also been on serviced pitches on overnight stops, it's handy even if you don't hook up to the supply.
Hope the OP enjoys having everything to hand.
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Steve - our favourite CS is just over an hour away from home. 2 acres of mown grass, water points at almost every pitch, in an orchard with a stream running along the bottom of it, covered washing up sink and a toilet/shower block that a visitor of ours described as "better than a lot of hotels I have stayed in". Beautifully peaceful and tranquil - and all for £18 per night!
There are some real gems out there
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If you like serviced pitches then i would invest in rigid waste pipes. The grey flexible just flops on the ground and if the waste gully is on a high point will not drain - water doesn’t flow uphill…..
RandRos, is that a CS or CL site? Sounds rather nice!
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How essential is food grade hose considered to be?
If water is not being drunk from the aquaroll supply and at worst a mouth rinse after teeth cleaning, does it really matter. The length of time water is in the supply hose is, I'm sure, not long enough for any 'nasties' in the plastic to leach out in sufficient quantities to cause any harm. I've had a couple of instances recently when the standard length of flat food grade hose hasn't been long enough and so resorted to a fairly short extension of normal 'garden' hose. to achieve the required length.
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This article gives all you need:
https://caravanchronicles.com/2013/05/26/connecting-your-drainage-on-serviced-pitches/
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I certainly know when we started it was not a good choice. We just used a length of green garden hose. Whilst we don’t drink water straight from the tap, we do boil it. Especially when the hose had been in the sun the water (particularly tea) had a distinct plasticky taste.☹️
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Do you honestly think that everyone who use the toilet facilities, on club or commercial sites, wash their hands thoroughly on leaving, where they touch the doors and handles etc? Have you ever seen the state that some of the cubicles are left in? At least on a CL, using our own facilities we know who has used them!
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What we use:
For waste water you will need a long convoluted hose or pipe to reach from your caravan to the waste drain. As we frequently use serviced pitches we invested in these: https://colapz.co.uk/collections/flexi-waste-pipes/products/flexi-waste-pipe-kit-8-pipes. They are certainly not cheap, but takes the guess work out of how much waste hose to take with you. As they are in metre sections, you just use as many as it takes to reach from the caravan to the drain. You will only need to buy them once..
For fresh water, you will need to add a valve (like a toilet ball-cock valve) to the centre of your aquaroll, and some food grade hose to reach from the pitch tap to your aquaroll. Put the pump into the aquaroll in the normal way. As water is taken from the aquaroll, the ball-cock valve drops and allows water back into the aquaroll via the hose which is connected to the tap. Kits are available to buy: https://www.aquaroll.com/aquaroll-mains-adaptor.html (or similar). We use a much smaller version produced by Collapz, called a FreshMini (https://colapz.co.uk/collections/water-containers/products/fresh-mini-starter-kit). The FreshMini is also available with the food grade hose, but we prefer to use a food grade flat hose. We take 3 x 5m lengths and use as few as is necessary to connect to the FreshMini.
Hope this helps.
David
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Flatcoat - it's a CS - Thornthorpe Camping and Equestrian Centre, about 3 miles south of Malton. Andrew and Tracey that run it are the loveliest of people and have become very good friends - we go there at least twice a year, being only just over an hour from home. Indeed, we are due to go back later this month. It closes in October, however, for the winter - and I know he is very busy at the moment - but worth a phone call plus they now have on-line booking. It is adults only.
Re the rigid waste pipe - I've tried that - but not as convenient re storage as the Colapz system which stays in the van all the time 'just in case'. I also bought the special pegs so that you can adjust the 'fall' to make sure what you are describing doesn't happen.
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I agree and would really think about paying the extra£4.00+per day just to not carry
a couple of watering cans every couple of days and empty my waste every three days, I go to the.dustbins, when cc facilities are normally of such high standards of cleanliness,
But it must be a growing trend as when this site is refurbished this winter? many serviced pitches are to be installed and the site extended to also incorporate super pitches, ,and some complain about site fees
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as David says, when on a full facs site we use their showers....this reduces the amount of water used and one tankful will last us 10-12 days (and the ability to drain said waste into our waste tank without issue) so absolutely no need whatsoever for a serviced pitch....fill once on entry, empty once on exit.
i would have thought that, with most new MH (especially Continental ones where MHSP are the thing) tank volumes are around the 100-120 ltr. again, if using site showers, no need to keep the tank permanently brimmed (like the aquaroll ball valve set up) just gradually let the tank get used. btw, what do caravanners do with the full aqaroll at the end of the break? ive seen many just kicking it over onto the pitch....gallons of water being wasted.
even using twice as much water as we do (thrifty but not to excess) five days on a site like that should be easy peasy for any MHer without the need to fetch another drop. why pay another nr £30 for a tap for a week on top of Club prices?
so, who is using these much in demand serviced pitches?....
they're obviously designed for caravanners who dont have a tank and who find it a chore/difficult/inconvenient to do the usual 'water management process'.
im sure they are popular with this type of customer but, with even Continental pvcs having 100+ ltr tanks, the move to MHs isn't going to be a driver moving forward.
the problem is that, as more SP get built, the more difficult it might be to book an ordinary pitch....i for one, would not pay the Clubs asking price.
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Whilst it can be nice to have water an drain at pitch it is for me a waste of time. I fill once in 5 days or longer and empty once. £20 seems a lot for a fill.
I have never queued for a shower except waiting outside an individual washroom on one occasion on a commercial site.
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Well we would and do pay if they are available. We mainly use our own facilities at the moment, and are likely to do so for the foreseeable future. Apart from the convenience of being to top up without moving the van or carrying water cans full from the service point, we just pass the queue at the MHSP by, with a nice empty tank, as we leave. Given how difficult they are to get I would imagine the majority are using them through choice and it always includes a large number of MH’s. So they are certainly not just for caravaners. At some sites, if you are arriving late, they also guarantee you a nice level pitch.
Just accept that everyone is different. I don’t find anything strange in folk not wanting to use one and saving some money. Also means there’s more chance of us getting one.😀
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