‘Water restrictions stop me from washing my caravan!’

Published: March 3, 2020

With many parts of Australia still under severe water restrictions, some grey nomads and wannabe grey nomads are facing a struggle to keep their RVs looking fresh and clean.

In the New South Wales town of Orange, one local caravan owner is calling for an exemption from the city’s tough Level 5 water restrictions so he and others can wash their vans with high pressure cleaners before their big trips.

Berrise Lovelock told the Central Western Daily that he would normally use a trigger hose to wash his van, but that was banned under the restrictions.

He said his van was too big to go through a car wash and the nearest truck wash was 35 kilometres away in Blayney.

Mr Lovelock said pressure cleaners were economical and although he had recently cleaned his caravan with a broom, it did not get the top cleaned or remove as much grime as a high-pressure cleaner would.

He says RV washing should only occur during the two-hour periods allocated on Sundays when residents can water their plants, trees and gardens.

“What difference is it spending half an hour watering your garden or spending it on your caravan?” he said.

Mr Lovelock said owners were keen to clean their caravans now as many would be preparing for a journey.

“It seems to be a nice time to travel from now on,” he said. “You don’t go in the real heat of summer … we’ve got friends with vans and they do similar trips.”

Mr Lovelock said he supported a recent call by Orange City councillor Glenn Taylor to allow residents to wash their cars with high pressure cleaners … and he said that should also include caravans.

Not all council districts under water restrictions ban high-pressure vehicle washing.  The Central Western Daily reports that the use of high-pressure cleaners on vehicles is allowed in Dubbo which is on Level 4 restrictions. The vehicles need to be on the lawn to be washed. They can also be washed with a bucket and rinsed clean with a trigger hose.

Vehicles can also be washed at home in Mudgee which is under Level 2 water restrictions. The Mid-Western Regional Council allows washing with a bucket and rinsing with a trigger hose on the lawn between 9am-noon any day.

  • How important is it to you that your caravan or motorhome is sparkling clean when you hit the open road? How often do you wash it? Comment below.
  • We now have a Grey Nomads Instagram page. Please click here to follow us.
22 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

I wash it when I leave and I wash it when I come back, maybe I will wash it when the opportunity is there but not a priority

Red dust is a badge of honour leave it there

In the scheme of things is it that important to clean your van before you go. It will be dirty again quite quickly on the road. Can it wait til you reach a location where you can use some precious quality drinking water thats been treated for you at great expense to keep you and your community safe from desease. It feels good to be proud of your possessions but a much better feeling to gulp down a glass of clear tasty water. Life will go on if your van’s not clean but not if you dont have drinking water.

Nicely put Ruth, couldn’t agree more.

Well said

Clean van or full water tank, the van will get clean when it rains, fill the water tank, you will need it more.

Get over it!

Wow, I can’t believe that this is a 1st world issue, surely there are bigger issues you would have in preparing for a big trip other than worrying about whether the bloody van is clean outside. I just wonder why you would even publish this ridiculous story, really get over yourself Berrise.

Totally agree

Get a water tank …..
Then you can wash when ever you like

You have got to be joking

You can go away with dirty van can’t if you don’t have drinking water get you priorities right

Whether the van is clean or dirty isn’t an issue with us it will get clean when it rains or I will put a bit of water in a bucket and us one cloth to clean and one to dry as I go. No problem. And with the water restrictions we don’t even wash our car

Omg this IS a joke….right?

Is he a Victorian…???

No l think from NT

This is the sort of attitude that gives GN’s a bad name. It is all about “Them and what they want”, and not really bothered with the real issues surrounding them

if you have a washing machine collect the grey water and use it to wash your van. We do this using a water pump to spray the van and the van comes up clean.

lol I too thought this was some sort of a joke ! ! 🙂

I wash it before I leave, and when I arrive home, some caravan park’s won’t allow you to wash your van, or car.
It does not worry me if it is dirty when travelling.

Fair enough if the van has mud on it – wash it off at the first opportunity – or brush it off!
Road grime? Is this going to affect the aero dynamics? I don’t think so. This chap is like one I saw in a park facility who insisted that leaving the tap running fast while he cleaned his teeth saying “the river has plenty of water in it!”

I thought that washing your van with a high pressure hose was a no no !! We are first timers on owning a van and were told at the hand over never to use a high pressure hose as it will affect the sealing of the van and possibly cause water leaks. We have been on the road for six months and kinda washed the sides of the van once but now I don’t bother – any dirt/dust will come off in the rain at some stage!

ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop