How to save water when campaign and caravanning
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At home the average Australian consumes about 200 litres of water per day for drinking, showering, in the loo, and for general cleaning. But when you’re camping and caravanning, you can only take a limited amount. About 5 litres per person per day will give you enough water for everything you need and won’t weigh down your vehicle too much either.
Between home and camping, that’s a big difference! But with a few water saving strategies, you’ll be comfortable and have enough water for your entire trip.
Use these water saving tips below whether you’re out in the bush with your caravan or camping, or staying at the Kingston Foreshore Caravan Park. You can still run out of water faster than you think even in a caravan park with facilities such as ours. Read on!
Cooking tips
Cook on the campfire or BBQ where you can. You won’t need to clean the campfire and the BBQ only needs a wipe over so that it’s ready for next time. We also prefer to cook one pot meals when camping as this means less pans and less washing up. Or you can take a precooked one pot meal and heat it up on the campfire – easy peasy! And who doesn’t love a one pot camp stew?
Check out some fo our favourite recipes here:
Cleaning up tips
Fill up a spray bottle at home and add some vinegar (or your favourite cleaning product) to use for cleaning. Use this to spray and wipe surfaces such as the tabletops, benches, tables, the toilet bowl and shower. You can use this mixture to wipe dirty dishes before you start washing them. This will save plenty of water.
Or you can use disposable cleaning wipes which cost a little more, but very handy. We take these with us camping too as they always come in handy.
Washing dishes
Limit washing the dishes to once per day and make sure to scrape off any remaining food to save having to use more water for this job.
Paper plates are another option, and you can throw them into the campfire at the end of the meal.
If you happen to be near the sea or a creek, we’ve used mud and sand to scrape and clean the dishes, pots and utensils. It works very well and is an earthy experience – give it a go!
Related article: 5 ways to store water safely when travelling
Showering tips
It’s so easy to lose track of time when showering but you can’t afford to do this when caravanning. Have a timer and limit showers to 2 minutes. Start by wetting yourself, turn off the shower, soap yourself and then turn it on again to rinse. Other tips include showering the kids together, using a shampoo-conditioner combined, or even a dry shampoo for your hair.
Cleaning wipes for face and body are effective and many people use these instead of a shower to save water. Use hand sanitiser after dinner and throughout the day to keep your hands clean. It’s cheap, effective and saves lots of water.
If you happen to be by a river or creek, take a cake of soap and give yourself a natural bath. You’ll feel refreshed and much closer to nature!
Laundry tips
Use a bucket to wash your clothes so that you know exactly how much water you are using. Depending on how long you are going away, consider taking clothes that won’t need a wash until you get back. Merino wool layers are excellent for this purpose. They have natural anti-bacterial properties to minimise odours so you can wear them for many days without getting too smelly.
Toilet tips
Only flush when you must and enjoy the good old-fashioned outdoors for a wee. You can also save the shower water and use it to flush the toilet.
Book into Kingston Foreshore Caravan Park and enjoy our amenities
If you want some respite from having to rough it, book into our caravan park where you will find a camp kitchen, outdoor BBQ’s, a laundry and fish cleaning facilities. We’re located only 20 minutes from Robe, Kingston Foreshore Caravan Park on the esplanade looking out to beautiful Kingston Beach. Give us a call on (08) 8767 2050 or book online here.