I’ve watched many RVers do it and read of experts who connect their water supply hose to the the RV first.
I doubt I’m the only RVer who does it my way, but I have a routine of connecting my RV water supply hose to the campground faucet first. Here is why.
- By connecting to the campground faucet and running some water through the hose I can flush out the hose. This is even more important the longer it’s been between hookups. Who knows what bugs, dirt, etc. have gotten in the hose. Certainly, if you connect the ends of your hose when not in use you keep the dirt out, but closed up that way a hose can get really funky.
- If you’re the first to use that campsite in a while there can also be rusty or cloudy water come from the campground water line when you first open the faucet.
- I’ve seen a video of an RVer who rigged up a Y-valve at the RV side water connection to bleed the air from the hose. By running water to flush the hose the way I do it, it also ‘primes’ the hose displacing most of the air. Just keep the end of the hose above the campground faucet while connecting to your RV. (turn the water off first) You’ll get little if any sputtering from your RV sink faucets.
- While flushing the hose I’m also getting a good idea of what the water pressure is. If it’s really high I use my regulator. I don’t always use a water pressure regulator… but I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t. When we started RVing I always used one but over the years I’ve found that most campground water pressure is fine as is. And there are times when it can be very low. In these cases I don’t want the reduced flow a regulator causes.
I don’t use a lot of water doing my routine. It doesn’t take that long to flush even the longest hose and usually it’s 25 feet or less. Besides, if there isn’t a bush or tree nearby that needs watering I just water the grass so the water isn’t wasted.
So, what’s your routine? I’d like to have your thoughts. Please leave your comments below.
Connect Water hose to faucet after spraying low faucets with sanitizer and then wait 1 minute, run water slowly with hand cupped under the faucet to allow the water to well up and rinse the faucet hose bib connection site. run water to rinse and remove air from hose. connect to RV.. in business.
I have a water cut off on the male end of the water hose. This allows me to turn the water on after conecting to the campground faucet and the freedom to walk away from the camper to flush the hose, bleed off the air, wash my wind shield without making mud puddles around the camper. It gives a lot of control for very little cost.
That’s a good tip… thank you.
A pressure regulator does nothing until the pressure exceeds the set point. Nothing, no reduction. Test it with a gauge and you’ll see.
You are right about pressure, but look at a typical pressure regulator and you will see that the bore is considerably smaller than even a 1/2″ hose. When the campground has very low water pressure that often equates to a low flow volume as well. A low flow volume along with the flow restriction introduced by a water regulator makes for slow flow at the kitchen sink and showerhead.