Water Without Sink?

I've been torturing Cary with emails as while my husband and I are on break we are figuring out our next trailer and options. We currently have a T@B, and never use the sink. Cary has convinced me that it is nice to have the 8 gallons of water on board. So here is the question:

The sink seems like a waste of space, and that space could be used for other storage. Might there be a way to have a faucet, but not a sink or drain? The faucet could be used to get water for cooking, hygiene and drinking. I am thinking about a washing machine hose with metal webbing that could come out of the cabinet area and attach to a housing near the bottom of the clamshell. Is this crazy or a bad idea?

 

It's not like the days of yore. Campgrounds and laws frown on dumping gray water (dish water / cooking water / hand washing water) on the ground now-a-days. Therefore, you need to contain the used fresh water for proper disposal. (No need to get into a discussion about how the gray water is good for plants and soil moisture, because it is what it is)

Sound like a custom cutting board that fits over the sink opening might be the way to recover extra counter space. Then set it aside for the times it is necessary to drain into the gray water tank.

 

Lori and Keith,

I have to agree with Cary, on board water is fantastic, along with the sink. The two 8 galleon tanks, fresh and gray are located on the bottom side of the teardrop frame. The water tanks do not impact any of the storage area of the teardrop. Bascially what you want in an onboard water storage system with a tap, no sink. The issue is what happens when someone forgets to completely shut off the faucet. Without the sink the water will spill and flood into the under counter storage area.

The storage space of the plumbing is impacted on the left side of the galley. The water intake valve is located on the outside of the left rear galley area (along with the LP gas hook ups). If you are having an installed stove, the access door will be there anyway.

The sink depth is nice to place dirty dishes, utensils etc during the day. If you do not have the sink, where will these items be placed?

In my opinion, the biggest impact on storage is affected on the left side of the galley under counter space because of the sink depth and plumbing to the gray tank. Without measuring and guessing the sink maybe takes up 9 inches of depth from counter level to bottom of the drain.

The faucet swivels up and down. Down position into the sink for storage. The spray head is on the left sink, hose is tucked behind a false wall below the sink. The system works extremely well.

Your dream set up, would require a redesign of the faucet components currently installed. In the big picture, yes that can occur, practically speaking not an effective use of design and manufacturing practices. If this is your dream set up, have the complete water system installed, upon delivery, re-work the system to meet your needs.


Draining the fresh and gray water tanks is very easy. The drain outlets are located on the back bottom side of the galley, just below the bumper area. Easily to see and remove the caps. Many users drain the water while on the road.

IMO either have the complete water system installed or no water system. My vote, have the water system installed, use for a while, and if you don't like either modify to fit your needs or remove later.

Jean

 

I am also a great fan of the sink. However, if you must have the space and decide against the sink, the standard utility access panel on the outside at the left rear, has a water outlet port already. The connection is a standard water hose fitting with a valve. If you were to delete the sink, but leave the fresh water tank and pump, you could connect whatever you want to that port, and the pump will pressurize it. The plumbing would be close to standard, just no connection to the faucet or sprayer. Of course, the pump and plumbing would still take up a significant part of the storage area, so this option won't save you much.

There has been at least one owner that has connected the waste water tank to the fresh (before it was ever used :crazy to have 16 gallons of fresh water storage; this is not recommended and possibly illegal as has been pointed out by others, but if you will never use the waste water tank, it is an available resource.

 

This community is marvelous. All of you have had great insights. I'm so pleased that you shared your thoughts and time. Thanks again.

 

When I was getting ready to order my trailer I also thought the sink was a waste of space and not big enough to do anything with but am really happy to have it. I have pans for dish washing but use the sink often for rinsing hands or utensils. I'm trying to keep my waste tank as clean as possible because I've read where there can be an odor. So before I rinse anything in the sink I use a paper towel to clean it off. I bring bottled water for cooking and drinking and keep the jug or bottles in the sink when traveling. The sink is also a great place to put anything you don't want rolling around during travel. I store little used items under the sink. I haven't been anywhere yet where I couldn't dump the grey water so will have to deal with that when it happens. Maybe I'll put a strainer in the sink so no food particles will go down to stink things up.
If you like to keep stuff at a minimum and only bring the thing you use you will have plenty of storage. I'm amazed at how much I can put in. I have space left over.

 

I'm with Cary and Jenn (of course), that sink is a lot handier than you might imagine. I'm always using mine. It's great for washing hands, brushing teeth and all kinds of handy stuff like that there. Cleaning it is a breeze, though I do agree you should remove all foodstuff from dishes before washing as bacteria can build up on a long road trip and small food particles can block the drain and that's a whole world of hurt trying to clear it out (voice of experience here).

Go ahead and put it in. It's easier to cover it up and not use the darned thing than to be in need and not have it.

Camp On,

Sue

PS: The spray nozzle is great for squirting unsuspecting husbands.

Just a thought.

 

PPS: I can confirm many state and national campgrounds prohibit the dumping of grey water except in designated sites. We've had to pack away out portable shower several times.

Just another reason to go with the sink and it's water tank buddies.

Sue

 

I'm also in agreement. We use the sink all the time as it is very convenient for everything from washing hands to disposing of gray water.

We don't do the dishes in there, we have 2 plastic buckets (1 for soap, 1 for rinse). But we dump the water (minus food particles) into the sink so as not to dump it on the ground (unless we are putting out the campfire for the evening). We have not yet done any national parks but the state parks we have done had dump stations for black/gray water so they don't let you dump water on the ground.

You can store small items in the sink while traveling, we do all the time. So you can recapture some of the space for temporary storage.

 

Plus, don't forget that we do offer the sink cover/cutting board for $17. It is super popular even though Craig has been too busy to get it up on the website.

With that simple accessory you just don't lose countertop space having the sink. Plus, every Camp-Inn I ever see has the sink full of items being stored there during travel. In the big picture I see the sink typically gaining storage space, it is hard to utilize the space under the countertop on one without the sink.

Cary

 

A sink cover/cutting board?! Hmm... I might need to stop by the factory.

 

Indeed you do. Either that or put in a shopping request from Jenn. She is planning to stop by in the next couple of weeks sometime and she is staying fairly close by to you right at the moment.

Cary

 

Cary

tell me how much the shipping will be to NC and I'll get a special order for one of these up on the online store.

thanks,

rd

 

Love the sink and onboard water. The biggest use for us is when we are on the go and stop for lunch (love how we can stop anywhere-pull out the chairs, wash our hands and make lunch!). Always get a lot of surprised looks but we can clean up quickly and our lunches are a lot better than we would buy and we save time not having to look for an unknown restaurant for lunch!

 

I agree with Bear on this one. I do not have the water system. I've tent-camped for many years, and so I'm used to bringing the water I need, and to bringing it in volumes/containers suited to the kind of camping I plan to do. When I stop in a campground for a few days, I fill a 5gal. container after I arrive. When I'm headed off down a Forest Service road somewhere, I'll fill the same container on my way to the turnoff. The plastic tubs I bring with me work fine for any kind of washing I need to do. And the lack of a sink really does free up a surprising amount of additional storage space under the counter. My approach has worked well in both summer and in freezing winter conditions.

 

We're with you and Bear. We did not order the sink. We will have containers on board to carry water. We've managed this way all along with our camping experience and we also didn't want to deal with the water tanks. So, hopefully we will be happy with our decision!

 

Our vote is for the sink/water tanks. Very handy as mentioned before for washing hands and brushing teeth. Great when cooking and makeing coffee. I'm sure if I was a full timer I might prefer the space rather than the convience of running water.

 

When it comes right down to it, Jenn always hits it on the nose. The only right way is your way.

But I still say the sprayer is fun.

Sue

 

Interesting -- I thought I was alone in wanting a Camp Inn without a sink (I also don't want the stove). The sinks are clearly too small for any useful purpose, and they seem to be about re-creating a home kitchen in the trailer, which is silly: You don't cook the same way at camp that you cook at home -- at least, I don't -- so why bother with the same items?

I know my own camping comfort level: We're not going boondocking out in the wilderness. We like to camp in an area where we have water, flush toilets and showers available. Carrying gallons and gallons of water is a waste of space for us. We have water containers, which can be filled at camp, and are very pleased with them.

On the other hand, no one ever has enough storage space, and the sink (along with the stove) is a space hog. Removing the sink can mean the difference in needing to make a grocery store run in a multi-day trip.

Finally, the sink creates chores. It means you have to carry hoses, ditch grey water, and every so often winterize the system. Water also creates potential for a leak.

No, no water onboard for me.

 

Even as full-timers, we did not want the sink (or stove, furnace, air conditioner, or T.V.). Our philosophy was minimize! We wanted minimal maintenance. We carry about 16 gallons of water with us if we plan on boondocking; less if we have water at the campground. We manage very well this way. Without the sink, the extra space below in the bin is very useful.