Monday, February 17, 2014

Keeping the Water Flowing


This  happy, homey scene is our bathroom sink in the RV. Featured are my homemade Lavender Tea Tree Goat Milk Soap and Lavender Tea Tree Lotion Bar made with all natural coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax. The bottles in the background contain homemade mouthwash, toner and nasal spray. But enough product promotion. This post is all about how we make the above picture possible. RVing in sub-zero temps is not what we had in mind for starting our full-time RV lifestyle. We have adapted.



After a few minor freeze-ups in December, earnest efforts to keep the flow of water steady were undertaken. Both fresh and gray/black water systems had to be addressed. The sewage pipes were wrapped with R30 insulation and further protected by surrounding them with old hay bales. We discovered that, when parked for more than a few days, the gray and black water need to be kept moving. Normal driving of the RV usually takes care of this. If you are traveling slow, as we are, and are parked for a few weeks or months in one spot, you need to run more water through your black tank, especially, to flush out all the solids. This is fine, because we are also hooked to pressurized water and can afford to use a bit more for flushing.



As for the fresh water, the hose was heat taped and covered with foam insulation, which has kept the water flowing into the RV. I leave the faucets open to drip slowly overnight and the Colorado sunshine keeps the hose thawed (along with the heat tapes) during the day.



The addition of plywood flashing or some more of those old hay bales around the bottom of the rig would undoubtedly help, as well.



As for my little trailer, well, spring is on the way...here you can see my latest batch of soap - Pure Castille, cut and waiting to be put on the curing racks inside the trailer. It should be ready to ship in March. Look for details on my first adventure in soapmaking on the road, in my next post.

Thanks for stopping by.

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