How To Hook Up RV Water, Electric And Waste: Step-By-Step
You don’t have to be an electrician and a plumber to enjoy all the comforts of home while camping. With these step-by-step simple tips you will easily understand how to hook up RV water, electric and waste at campgrounds and RV parks with partial or full hookup service campsites.
These are some of the cleanest and dirtiest RV tips and hacks you need to know!
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In This Post:
Types Of RV Hookups
There are 3 types of hookups for RV camping:
- Fresh water
- Electric
- Waste water
Many public campgrounds have fresh water and RV electric hookups at a campsite but they don’t have RV sewer hookups. Instead, they will have a centralized dump station where you can empty your gray and black water tanks.
When parked in a site with full hookups, you have all three. This type of setup is typically found in private RV parks.
How To Hook Up To Water
Potable water is also known as drinking water, it is safe to drink and use in food preparation. When you can hook up to potable water, RV camping is much easier than when you have to haul water to a campsite without a fresh water hookup.
We have a DIY portable water tank for RV boondocking when we are camping without a water hookup.
In these instances we fill our RV fresh water tank, turn on the water pump and use water stored in our trailer’s fresh tank by pumping it through the RV fresh water system.
When we have limited water we are very conservative when it comes to taking showers and washing dishes. Not only do we have a limited quantity of fresh water, but, the capacity of the gray water tank limits the amount of wastewater we can produce before our waste tanks are full and we need to dump.
Steps to hook up to the water supply.
When your campsite has a water supply you need to connect to it with these steps:
- Connect your water pressure regulator to the spigot at your campsite.
- Connect your water filter to the pressure regulator. (All RV water filters are inline.)
- Connect your fresh water hose to the other end of your filter.
- Connect the other end of your fresh water hose to the city water connection on your trailer. (Usually labeled as the city water inlet.)
- Open the valve on the water spigot.
- Go into your trailer and turn on a faucet to purge the air from the system. Voila … you’ve got water!
Recommended Fresh Water Equipment
Regulate the pressure.
If the water pressure into your camper is too high, your RV’s plumbing system can be damaged.
Water Pressure Regulator For RV Plumbing System, 40-50 psi
You should always use a pressure regulator when you are connected to a water supply in case there is too much pressure coming from the city water spigot.
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Filter the water.
Even though a city water hookup provides potable water, it may not be up to your standards so you will want to use an inline filter before it flows through your RV’s water system.
Inline RV Water Filter & Hose Protector, Reduces Bad Taste, Odor, Chlorine & Sediment
Basic RV water filtering gadgets will reduce bad tastes and odors. They will also reduce most of the sediment particles and protect against bacteria.
Keep a clean hose.
Use one hose that is dedicated to drinking water.
Camco TastePURE Drinking Water Hose
Fresh water hoses are usually white in color and easily distinguished from other hoses you have in your supply box.
Divide the water.
If you want to have access to water inside and outside your rig, you’ll need to use a water wye valve.
This type of valve let’s you connect your fresh water hose to your trailer, but also have the ability to use water directly from the spigot outside. This is great for rinsing off dirty equipment and gear.
How To Hook Up To Electricity
Your RV’s electrical system is designed to accommodate the systems in your rig. Larger RVs require 50 amp service (plugs have four prongs) while smaller trailers only require 30 amp service (plugs have three prongs).
If you have a 50 amp rig but the electrical hookup at the campsite is only 30 amp service, you will probably only be able to run one air conditioner at a time. You won’t be able to run lots of high-draw appliances at the same time (like a coffee maker, microwave and air conditioner) unless you have 50 amp service.
Call ahead for electrical information.
Before you go to a campsite with electrical hookups, call ahead to find out what amp service is available and the style plug you will need for your connection, you may need an adapter.
- RV plugs are always FEMALE.
- CAMPGROUND receptacles are always MALE.
You will need several different adapters to ensure that you are able to connect to electrical power wherever you go.
Hook up your electric.
When you have an RV spot with an electrical hookup, here are the steps to follow to connect your RV to it:
- Plug your surge protector into the campsite’s electrical outlet on the pedestal (use an adapter, if necessary).
- Ensure the breakers are on (the campsite’s electrical power box and your camper’s breaker on your electrical panel).
- Allow the surge protector to run its self-test.
- Pull your electrical cord out of its storage location in the RV.
- Connect the RV cord into the surge protector.
- Go inside your RV and turn on an appliance that requires AC electricity to run (like a microwave, TV or air conditioning unit) to ensure everything is working.
- If you have a dual-fuel refrigerator, make sure it is in the electric mode (not the propane mode) and is operating properly. Ta –da … you have power!
You don’t realize how much power you need until you don’t have it! Hooking up to electricity is simple once you understand the different styles of connections.
When we don’t have an electrical hookup at our campsite, we use portable solar panels for RV camping and run off the best RV battery for our needs.
Recommended Electrical Equipment
Surge Protector
A surge protector will protect your RV’s electrical system from damage resulting from transient voltage, an unexpected increase in voltage.
50 Amp RV Surge Protector With Cover30 Amp RV Surge Protector With Cover
If you have a 50 amp RV and a 50 amp surge protector, you will need a 30 Amp Male to 50 Amp Female adapter when camping in a site that has only 30 amp service.
Number of prongs
- 50 amp plugs have 4 prongs
- 30 amp plugs have 3 prongs
Which outlet is for me?
Most campsites have various service levels on the electric tower: 110 volt (normal household plug), 30 amp (most common for smaller trailers) and 50 amp (usually for larger RV rigs).
Plug into the outlet that matches your RV plug … or use an adapter, if necessary.
30 Amp Male > 15 Amp Female
RV Power Cord Adapter 30 Amp Male to 15 Amp Female (for RVs with 110 volt/15 amp plug needing to plug into a 30 amp receptacle).
15 Amp Male > 30 Amp Female
RV Power Cord Adapter 15 Amp Male to 30 Amp Female (for RVs with 30 amp plug needing to plug into a 110 volt/15 amp receptacle).
50 Amp Male > 30 Amp Female
RV Power Cord Adapter 50 Amp Male to 30 Amp Female (for RVs with 30 amp plug needing to plug into a 50 amp receptacle).
30 Amp Male > 50 Amp Female
RV Power Cord Adapter 30 Amp Male to 50 Amp Female (for RVs with 50 amp plug needing to plug into a 30 amp receptacle).
How To Hook Up For Dumping Waste Tanks
This is the dirty stuff I mentioned earlier … really, who likes talking about poop? As gross as it is, dumping is a necessary evil when you are RVing … so let’s dive right in!
Never keep your black tank valve open while camping!
Even if you are camped at a site with full hook-ups, you want to keep your black tank valve closed until it is time to dump. Why?
Because you don’t want to drain the liquids while the solids remain in the relatively flat holding tank to become a big pile of dried poop that is almost like cement and practically impossible to remove … eeeewwww.
What you do want is the combination of the two building inside the black tank … then, when you pull the handle to open the valve and drain the tank, it is the force of the mixture that most thoroughly empties the tank.
Dump black first, flush, then dump gray.
Here are the steps you need to take to actually dump your tanks:
- Once your dump hose is securely attached, pull the handle to open the black tank’s valve and wait for it to empty.
- If your RV has a Sani-Flush system, use it to more thoroughly rinse the inside of the black tank.
- Now, close the black tank’s valve by pushing the handle in.
- Next, pull the handle for the gray tank to open the valve and empty it.
- Once the gray tank is empty, push the handle back in to close the valve.
- The last thing you need to do is disconnect the dump hose from the RV … usually the gray water sufficiently flushes the hose but for extra measure, you may want to use the fresh water at the dump station to do a final rinse of the dump hose.
- Now, remove the other end from the sewer drain opening and stow it away.
- If you continue to stay at that same full-hookup campsite location and will need to dump again before you leave, you may want to leave the dump hose connected.
- Lastly, add holding tank treatment to your black tank by flushing it down the toilet.
- It liquefies waste in your black tank, including poop and toilet paper.
Recommended Waste Equipment
Help the solid waste to breakdown.
Before you dump, you want to help the solids break down to become a liquid.
RV Holding Tank Treatment, Deodorizer & Waste Digester
Holding tank treatments come in bottles or pods. You flush them down the toilet at the beginning of your trip. The biodegradable ingredient liquefies waste, breaks-down toilet paper and deodorizes the tank so by the time you dump the tank, you are basically just flushing out liquid.
Pack dump gloves!
You will not want to touch anything when you dump so make sure you pack waterproof gloves (we like disposable gloves) and don’t ever run out of them!
After dumping, if you don’t have access to soap and water, make sure you have hand sanitizer to clean your hands.
Attach your dump hose.
You DO NOT want the sewer hose to accidentally become unattached from either end.
When you are ready to dump, make sure you create a leak-proof seal. How?
Camco Black 39551 Complete Rv Sewer Kit
Attach the end of the dump hose with the locking-tabs to your RV’s waste drain fitting.
You will turn the hose clamp clockwise until it securely connects to the notches.
Camco Black 39551 Complete Rv Sewer Kit
Now, place the other end of your hose into the sewer drain opening … and … you are ready to dump.
Portable Waste Holding Tank
When we don’t have a waste hookup, we use a portable holding tank to transport our waste to the sewer. This is much easier than packing up everything in order to drive your rig to the dump station, then driving back to your campsite and setting up your camper again.
To use this, you hook up the hose to your RV and open the valve to your black water tank, let it flow until the portable tank is about 3/4 full, then, close the RV’s valve. Let the all of the contents in the hose drain into the portable tank. Then, you wheel the tank over to the dump station and empty it there.
It is easy to roll this tank over a concrete surface but the wheels are large enough to roll it over grass and gravel too. This is a really handy piece of equipment when we’re camping inside National Parks that have centralized dump stations.
More RV Tips
We have lots more fun and useful information about RV camping!
Just for women.
We’ve got more RV tips 101 for women traveling solo!
Essential tips for RV newbies.
If you want to learn more RV camping tips for beginners, we’ve got them!
Stay organized with checklists.
Use checklists to make sure you are fully stocked.
We have two lists that will keep you organized:
One is a regular camping checklist for packing your personal items and consumables …
The other one is an RV tool kit checklist for the items you may need during RV traveling.
Want to try dispersed camping?
We always recommend new RVers stay in campgrounds or RV parks but if you get comfortable with your rig and the whole RV camping experience, you may want to explore a bit more and go boondocking in areas without hookups or paved roads.
FREE Printable Camping Trip Planner
Our FREE printable camping trip planner template will make it easy to plan your RV trips!
If you’re looking for awesome ideas for yummy camping food, you’re in the right place! Here’s our entire camping recipes list.
