Add a portable battery-powered water pump to your boondocking arsenal

Boondockers know that being efficient with waste water, electricity and fresh water make a big difference in how long they can camp without having to dump waste tanks, charge batteries, and replenish their water supply. One piece of equipment that they can add to their rig's arsenal is a portable water pump, which can save them effort, time and hassle.

If you like to boondock, one piece of equipment you can add to your rig's arsenal is a portable water pump, which can have several uses, including saving you effort, time, and hassle.

A portable pump can be used to:

• Pump drinking water from your Jerry jug or water bladder water supply into your rig's water tank. No more lifting heavy water jugs to pour into your tank, which over time will save you a lot of back aches. Back your pickup or dinghy up to your rig, attach a hose to the pump and another into your water fill opening and pump away while you enjoy doing something else. 
• Pump water from a mountain stream or lake into jugs for transfer into your rig. Use this only if you use bottled or purified water for drinking and cooking and your water tank for showers and washing dishes. 
• Empty the water from your fishing boat, kayak, or canoe after a sudden rainstorm. 
• Put a shower head on the outlet hose and use it to wash off sandy feet or muddy shoes, pumping directly from a bucket outside so debris doesn't enter your gray waste tank, or move it to any area outside your rig that needs washing off.

A good, inexpensive choice for a pump would be one similar to the Attwood WaterBuster Portable Pump (photo) that you can find on Amazon for under $35 and operates on four "D" cell batteries, which will save running your house battery down. The WaterBuster will operate for about five hours before you need to change batteries and will pump 200 gallons per hour.

You can buy stronger pumps with higher flow rates--at higher prices, of course--but for the money a battery-operated portable pump should do the job--it will just take a little longer. 


Check out Bob Difley's Boondocking and Snowbird Guide eBooks at RVbookstore.com