HOW DO TINY HOUSES GET WATER: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Tiny houses are essentially the same as traditional homes. Just like their older counterpart, they need a good source of power and access to water to be truly livable. However, setting up water and electrical connections requires more effort because of the distinct decrease in square footage that you have to work with.

This is why many prospective tiny homeowners often find themselves asking: how do tiny houses get water?

With traditional houses and stationary houses, this is a non-issue, as provision for plumbing is often made as the structure is being erected. But, the unique features of a micro-home means you’ll have to explore special house plumbing options if you want fresh water.

Fortunately, you’re spoilt for choice here, as there are a host of options you can choose from, many of which may or may not even require professional service to put in place!

How do Tiny Houses Get Water – The 4 Best Options Available to You

Homes on wheels can get all the water they need for their daily house living by:

Employing a Zero Water Source System

A common option for tiny homeowners, you can simply forgo setting up any complex water appliance options for tiny homes!

Following this tiny house water option means that you won’t be running water automatically to various areas of your home like the kitchen sink, house toilet, and shower. By extension, you’ll be able to make more judicious use of any available power sources.

You won’t have to cough up any upkeep costs with this system either. 

However, forgoing internal plumbing in your tiny home can make life somewhat challenging, as you would have to bring the water into your living space yourself.

Basically, you’d be replacing your tiny house water pump system with gallons of water, jugs of water, and even bubblers and water bottles. Depending on how you use water per day, you may need large numbers of these containers. This will cut into your living space.

Also, because square footage (or cubic feet) is at a premium here, where you’ll store the water becomes an issue too. You can only keep so many gallons of water around kitchen cabinets.

Ultimately, you’ll have to keep your portable water source supply outside, meaning you’ll have to worry about your water freezing in frigid climates.

As an off-grid water system, it isn’t bad. However, if you plan to live in your tiny house full-time, this might not be the best way to go.

Getting a Water Tank

Getting water tanks is a more convenient option for people determined to have an off-grid water system. Bear in mind that to use this tiny house plumbing option, you’d have to install house water pumps as well. This further adds to the price range you have to pay for this option.

However, once everything’s set, all you have to do is manually fill up the water tanks once with the aid of a hose (heated hose or white hose) or any other appliance. After this, you can simply use a house water pump to circulate the rest to the needed areas in your home.

One advantage of this option is that you don’t need to rely on a traditional power source, as you can simply use solar panels or alternative power sources.

Another perk is that it doesn’t cut into the square feet or cubic feet of your living space since you can conveniently stash the water tanks in various corners of your home.

The two drawbacks of using this system are that it might cost you a bit to set up, and you might need larger tanks. This is because smaller ones might not fully serve your needs.

Using RV Water Hookups

This option is reserved for owners of houses on wheels who plan to live in a permanent location. A permanent location is needed here, as it makes connecting a water source to the piece of land easier.

This kind of setup is akin to using a garden hose to connect a portable drinking water source to your RV hookup.

This is one of the easiest ways to get water into houses on wheels, as all you need is a surface or underground water source on or close to the piece of land your RV is on.

From its setup, the one major flaw of this tiny house plumbing option should be apparent. As it’s purely stationary, homeowners who intend to move their houses on wheels around a lot will need to consider an alternative source of water supply for when you’re on the road.

Also, if the region the piece of land is situated in is cold, you’d need to get heat tapes to make sure your water hose doesn’t end up freezing.

Setting Up a Tank and Hookup System

This last option helps you get all the water you need, whether you want to traverse remote locations or live on the grid. With a small house water tank and an RV hookup, you get the best of both worlds.

While you may be able to easily maximize the living space available to you following this line of action, the catch is that you may have to go for relatively smaller water tanks for this to work perfectly.

That being said, the latitude it offers you where water is concerned isn’t to be easily disregarded.

Conclusion

How do tiny houses get water?

By forging a water source system, using an RV hookup, getting a water tank, or finding a blend of the last two options!

When making your final decision, some things to consider are whether you plan to live fully on or off the grid and the size of funds you can afford to spend on setting up this type of system.

For a more thorough guide on which way to go, reach out to experts here.