Filling up the water tanks on the canals in London

[Tacet]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

How can you use 500l in 2 days? Taps do have an off position! The thing that uses a lot of water for us is the washing machine. Showers don’t use much - or don’t need to use much. If we don’t use the washing machine I think we would last about a week on a tankful.

Mondays.  The water tank is filled once a week only.  It is a tedious (the most tedious on a boat?) task - it takes long enough to get bored yet not long enough to do anything much else.

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Maestro07 said:

In anycase it will beat paying 1500 for a shitty flat in London

 

This is rubbish. You can get a really nice flat in London for £1500 a week. 

 

 

[OldGoat]

I suspect that many of the replies above come from people who are not moored in 'London'.

However what they write is generally true.

The central area is certainly overfull and I guess the only way to geunally comply is to join one of the groups who have a solution - swapping mooring spots.

You may have more luck if you stretch "London" to include locations further out on - say the river Lee or further back up the Grand Union and be prepared to commute to work. If not in 'gainful employment', you have more scope in finding a bit of spare bankside further out.

[LadyG]

13 hours ago, Goliath said:

I understand people use their washing machines when at the water point. 
 

Yes, and a long shower, plus  wash the dishes.

I use a launderette because I don't want to try to dry clothing inside the boat.

I think you must check the size of the water tank, and probably carry at least two 20l containers as spares if you are constrained in when you can travel.

If you have a partner who has not had your experiences, you should make sure he/she is committed, even if you promise to do all the hard work, it's still a significant lifestyle change.

Some boats have a tank which has to be pumped out, others have a loo with one or more spare cassettes, 

Once you get used to things it's not so bad, but the first few weeks can be difficult.

[cheesegas]

I CC around the south east, from the top of the Lea/Stort through to Rickmansworth and sometimes down the Thames…but that doesn’t count. So sort of London. 
 

Anyway. I spend more time in London than most here I think…here’s my takeaway on water.

 

Avoid central London, from Angel to Hackney. It’s loud and congested. Less so than many think though.  
 

Get a boat with a big tank (800l+), or get really good at conserving water. You ideally want to only fill up when you cruise to a new spot so you can pass a water point. I generally move weekly, but my 1000 litre tank can last 2 weeks comfortably with running the washing twice.  Allow an entire day for moving, you’ll need to fill water, empty toilets, empty rubbish etc. 
 

Only a few water points are congested - Old Ford by Victoria Park and Angel are the worst. Some are also so slow it’s not worth bothering…most taps average 10 litres/minute, Stonebridge is about 2 if the adjacent cafe is open. I filled up at Hackney Wick the other day on Saturday lunchtime, no queue, one boat arrived as I was just finishing. My longest wait in 2 years of CCing is about 2hrs, and that was at Angel - slow water point and two boats in front of me. 
 

Don’t run your washing machine or wash your boat on the water point if there’s a queue, it’ll take ages if the tank is empty and it’s bad manners. Lots of shiny mushroom marina types have been washing boats at water points on the way back from Cavalcade and Rickmansworth festivals recently...luckily that’s only once a year though. 
 

Speed of filling depends on the water point and your tank size. A slow one like Stonebridge takes literally hours with a big tank. My tank is around an hour to fill at a good fast point as I rarely run it almost dry. 

 

Have a 20 litre jerrycan of drinking water spare, just in case you run out. Change the water whenever you fill up to avoid it going stagnant. 
 

There are no boats which do a water filling service - zero. Only one boat does pump out, and that’s west of Paddington and it’s very sporadic and unreliable. Don’t count on it. Gas, diesel and coal is served by 5 boats on the system from the Stort to Denham, prices and frequency of service vary amongst them. 

 

I’m not sure what people are on about with the conspiracy theory of people swapping spots on a secret group is though. The London Boaters Facebook group discourages it, and no one I’ve spoken to in the London area knows about it either. 
 

Maintenance on your boat will take a large part of your time, especially if it’s an older one. Painting, cleaning, fixing stuff etc. 

 

There’s an inadequate number of pump out points in London, only 2 CRT ones. It’s not rare for one to be broken for a week too. Get a cassette with lots of spare ones, and get ok with handling and storing your poop. I have a compost toilet and a hotbox composter on the stern deck. Never have to use one of CRTs unreliable facilities but the composter is big and bulky. And heavy when it’s got a year of turds in there. 

[Noviceboata]

57 minutes ago, cheesegas said:

.There’s an inadequate number of pump out points in London, only 2 CRT ones. It’s not rare for one to be broken for a week too. Get a cassette with lots of spare ones, and get ok with handling and storing your poop. I have a compost toilet and a hotbox composter on the stern deck. Never have to use one of CRTs unreliable facilities but the composter is big and bulky. And heavy when it’s got a year of turds in there. 

Thankyou for the very informative post. What do you do when the cassettes are full, where do you store them, empty them?

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, cheesegas said:

I’m not sure what people are on about with the conspiracy theory of people swapping spots on a secret group is though. The London Boaters Facebook group discourages it, and no one I’ve spoken to in the London area knows about it either. 

Surely that just means you're not in on the secret! And those that are won't tell you about it will they! 🙂

[MrsM]

11 minutes ago, AndrewKyiv said:

Thankyou for the very informative post. What do you do when the cassettes are full, where do you store them, empty them?

This is another one of your 'joke' posts I presume?

[cheesegas]

Just now, David Mack said:

Surely that just means you're not in on the secret! And those that are won't tell you about it will they! 🙂

Haha! Well in that case it's the best kept secret in London...

 

 

10 minutes ago, AndrewKyiv said:

Thankyou for the very informative post. What do you do when the cassettes are full, where do you store them, empty them?

I recommend you do a lot of reading. Lots. Or even watch one of the many Youtube video bloggers. You need to store them on your boat - some put them on the roof, some on the front deck. They need to be emptied in one of the many Elsan points, not a nice task - you need to be ok with seeing raw sewage up close, and it can splash. Some people walk them to the nearest Elsan every couple of days (bike trailer or trolley is handy here), some keep them for a while until they next move.

[MtB]

18 minutes ago, AndrewKyiv said:

I have a compost toilet and a hotbox composter on the stern deck.

 

 

A what?!

 

I've never heard or read about one of these. It sounds like what badly-informed people think they are getting when they buy a "composting toilet", which turns out to be nothing of the sort. 

 

Did you make your hotbox composter or is it a commercially available product? How does it work?

 

Thanks! 

 

[MrsM]

AndrewKyiv, you say you "have walked along the canals for the last 2 years talking to probably hundreds of boat owners (even during the winter) and I have heard many positive stories." I'm surprised you didn't ask about how one empties a cassette - many people I chat to are fascinated about the personal hygiene situation on a boat! 😀

[cheesegas]

18 minutes ago, MtB said:

A what?!

 

I've never heard or read about one of these. It sounds like what badly-informed people think they are getting when they buy a "composting toilet", which turns out to be nothing of the sort. 

 

Did you make your hotbox composter or is it a commercially available product? How does it work?

 

Thanks! 

It's an off the shelf thing - basically a big bin insulated with polystyrene. It needs some work to get the temperature, moisture, bug and bacteria balance right, I've got a great book entitled 'Humanure'. Horrible. Anyway, it's certainly not a chuck it in and leave it affair... When it's going, it doesn't smell at all, the first week on an empty composter is stinky though! What comes out looks like dark soil and smells damp, not poopy. Over the course of a year it fully breaks down turds, unbleached toilet paper and coconut husk into pathogen-free compost. 

 

https://www.hotbincomposting.com/compost-bins/hotbin-mini.html

Some people do DIY them from plastic storage boxes and polystyrene though. I was lazy and bought one, and older 150 litre version which lasts for almost 12 months of 2 living aboard. Urine goes into Elsan points, I store it in 20 litre plastic jerrycans.

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by cheesegas

[Noviceboata]

2 minutes ago, MrsM said:

AndrewKyiv, you say you "have walked along the canals for the last 2 years talking to probably hundreds of boat owners (even during the winter) and I have heard many positive stories." I'm surprised you didn't ask about how one empties a cassette - many people I chat to are fascinated about the personal hygiene situation on a boat! 😀

Yes, I didnt ask that question much  I remember speaking to somebody near hampton court on the Thames and he informed me there was a mobile sewewrage puper going around that he uses but after reading the posts on the forum in seems as if it is not thex norm

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, AndrewKyiv said:

I remember speaking to somebody near hampton court on the Thames

 

 

The Thames is about as different from the canals as cars are from trains, as in yes they are both transport but totally different in every other respect. And so it is with living on The Thames, and living on the canal system. 

Edited June 1, 2022 by MtB

[LadyG]

On 30/05/2022 at 22:09, AndrewKyiv said:

Ok thanks for that. Did you notice how long it took to fill each boat up?

OP must have very little fun in his life

[cheesegas]

48 minutes ago, AndrewKyiv said:

Yes, I didnt ask that question much  I remember speaking to somebody near hampton court on the Thames and he informed me there was a mobile sewewrage puper going around that he uses but after reading the posts on the forum in seems as if it is not thex norm

As MtB said, the Thames is totally different and you will not be able to CC there; most moorings are 24hr and you need a home mooring. None of the fuel/pump out boats that service the canals also do the Thames. There are 1 or 2 fuel boats on the lower Thames but the service is infrequent.

[Ewan123]

On 01/06/2022 at 10:18, Noviceboata said:

Yes, I didnt ask that question much  I remember speaking to somebody near hampton court on the Thames and he informed me there was a mobile sewewrage puper going around that he uses but after reading the posts on the forum in seems as if it is not thex norm

That's Pete Wakeham with the pump out - I think both his boats Lynx and Baron do pump out but they've not got a reputation for being very regular! I think they get plenty of custom but you would need to use the canal-side pump outs too (since you'll be cruising beyond their working range). I think it's fair to say that cassettes are a fairly frequent faff but pump-outs are a more occasional big faff (that you have to pay for too)... 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Ewan123

[ditchcrawler]

On 30/05/2022 at 21:10, Noviceboata said:

Thanks for that, guess it makes sense to use a laundromat. So that means if you were continuous cruising you wouldnt have the luxury to stay in one place for 2 weeks due to the washing machine?

 

We are not CCers but go away for 6 weeks at a time with no washing machine and never used a laundrette. So basically my beloved does the washing when we eget home, so why you can't go 14 days without a washing machine I don't know. If you really go CCing and cruise the waterways you can fill your tank every day if you want and also have a washing machine on board your boat.

[blackrose]

On 30/05/2022 at 21:28, Noviceboata said:

Guys it depends what you are used to. Have you tried living in Ukraine during -25c and the electricity goes out for 3 days? 

 

Good point. A lot of people on this forum have very little experience of living and dealing with life in other countries. The amount of posts I've read about how you have to downsize and get rid of stuff to live on a boat... I lived in Tokyo for 10 years before coming back to the UK and buying a narrowboat. I had about the same living space on my 45ft boat as I'd had in my room in Japan. Having said that, after a few years I wanted more space so bought a widebeam. 

[blackrose]

On 01/06/2022 at 08:49, cheesegas said:

 Change the water whenever you fill up to avoid it going stagnant. 

 

 

How do you do that? My tank holds 1275 litres. If I wanted to change half a tank regularly I'm sure it would eventually reduce the longevity of my water pump.

 

I fill up once every couple of weeks, sometimes longer. I can make my tank last a month if I want to. But I've never noticed water going stagnant in 20 years of living aboard. 

[cheesegas]

1 minute ago, blackrose said:

 

How do you do that? My tank holds 1275 litres. If I wanted to change half a tank regularly I'm sure it would eventually reduce the longevity of my water pump.

 

I fill up once every couple of weeks, sometimes longer. I can make my tank last a month if I want to. But I've never noticed water going stagnant in 20 years of living aboard. 

Ahh, sorry, my bad wording - I meant to change the emergency water in the 20 litre jerry can whenever you fill up, not the water tank, that would take ages! Otherwise a 20 litre can might go stagnant after a few months, wouldn't fancy drinking it.

[booke23]

14 minutes ago, cheesegas said:

Ahh, sorry, my bad wording - I meant to change the emergency water in the 20 litre jerry can whenever you fill up, not the water tank, that would take ages! Otherwise a 20 litre can might go stagnant after a few months, wouldn't fancy drinking it.

 

I understood exactly what you meant in your original post, and it's good advice. Just make sure you don't mix up the Jerry can of fresh water with the Jerry can of urine!