US Forest Service Water Tap Adapter

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by pconroy

<<snip>>
Yes, I do have water jugs, but sometimes the tap is a looooooooooong way from the faucet. I'd have to make 10 trips.

Unless you have a motorhome and no TOAD, you can use your TV to haul the water. And at 7 gallons per jug, assuming you can carry two, 140 gallons is a bit much. One trip a day, as with everyone else in the campground, should be plenty. Also, if the faucet is that far away, how much hose do you carry?

I understand the desire for convenience, but I also understand that the NFS and others have deliberately installed these very expensive faucets to prevent this behavior. I'll side with the NFS on this one.

[Packerbacker_TX]

I've never seen a "weather vane / faucet" like this before but the outcome is the same. I've messed with water bandits and they're OK for low pressure situations. I've gone as far as slapping a hose clamp on it too but then you're dealing with water pressure bulging it out or the seal between the rubber gives out. They basically need to make a sturdier water bandit with built in clamp.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Packerbacker_TX

I've never seen a "weather vane / faucet" like this before but the outcome is the same. I've messed with water bandits and they're OK for low pressure situations. I've gone as far as slapping a hose clamp on it too but then you're dealing with water pressure bulging it out or the seal between the rubber gives out. They basically need to make a sturdier water bandit with built in clamp.

In the west, these faucets are most prevalent in the USFS and National Park campgrounds. The reason for the paddle is for the user to easily open the valve with your arm or wrist while dispensing. The paddle is spring loaded and will travel either direction and is designed so that it is difficult to tie it in the open position. The better USFS campgrounds will place one of these hydrants about every 4 campsites to be shared, sometimes there might only be one or two for an entire campground of 30 spaces. Many times they will have a small sign asking campers to avoid washing cookware at the spigot.

Each year our 4-wheel drive association participates in National Public Lands Day and performs service projects across the state. A few years ago, our project was to assist in winterizing / closing a number of campgrounds that got early snowfall and road closures. We helped disconnect the supply to the campground (a spring fed cistern further up the canyon) and vented it at the top and opened the drain at the bottom. As the water system was draining, we went through the campground and opened each of the spigots for 20-seconds to allow the water to drain and air to vent into the valve and standpipe. We had other duties in each campsite too, but winterizing was the priority since the campground was in a foot of snow.

According to the Ranger that led our project, they don't remove these spigots, and rarely need to repair/replace them unless damaged by humans.

[norty1]

Moderator comment:

We are not here to insult and argue about petty disagreements. If you can't participate using that line of thought please do not post.

[Adios Pantelones]

There are several reasons why the spigots are designed the way they are:
1. Water quality. Spigots are very easily contaminated. A good majority of failed tests are a result of contamination at the spigot. It's also very easy to siphon water back into the system if your fill point is higher than the source.

2. Where is the waste going? If you provide water you have to consider where the waste water is going. If you are needing to fill fresh water you obviously will have grey and black to deal with. With 14 day stay limits if you give people the ability to continually fill fresh water without a means of dumping eventually someone will put it on the ground.
3. The systems are not designed for that level of use. Most USFS campgrounds are on wells or springs designed for residential use. Its unlikely but definitely possible if everyone decided to turn on a bunch of spigots at once it would overwhelm the system and water would siphon.

We have to remember that a lot of rules and design features are not for 99% of the people who visit these sites and use common sense. It's the 1% that continues to surprise us.