Using a "Water Thief"

A "water thief" is a rubber adapter that allows you to connect a garden hose to an unthreaded faucet like those often found in primitive and non-hookup campgrounds.   One end is a tapered and ribbed rubber fitting that slides tightly over the unthreaded faucet.   The other end is a male hose fitting onto which you can screw a standard female hose connector.   It gives you a temporary way to connect a hose to fill your RV fresh water tank or use a short hose to more conveniently fill your water jugs when tent camping.  With it you can leave your jugs on the ground and use a short section of hose to fill them instead of having to hold them up to the faucet.  4-5' potable water rated hoses are about the right size for filling jugs and are available at most RV stores.  Always use a hose rated for potable water if you can to avoid adding a plastic taste to your water.  An ordinary garden hose isn't likely to be contaminated unless it has been used to flush holding tanks, but it often adds an unpleasant taste and toxic chemicals to your water supply, especially in hot weather when the plastic is heated and softened in the sun.  Keep in mind that unthreaded faucets are used to discourage any semi-permanent connections, so never tie up a public faucet beyond your fair usage.  Here is what one looks like:                                

                                                   

To use a "water thief", push the rubber end of the device as far onto the unthreaded faucet as you can.   They are designed to be fit tightly and normally don't require any kind of clamp.  Then simply screw your garden hose to the threaded end.  I've seen people use hose clamps to keep a water thief secure but it kind of defeats the convenience of the water thief and the purpose of the unthreaded faucet when you clamp it on and make it semi-permanent.  Using a clamp may also damage the rubber and quickly make it unusable.

DO NOT attempt to use a "water thief" to connect your city water connection to your RV. The rubber adapter is intended for a temporary hose connection and not designed to withstand the pressure if the other end of the hose is shut off, as it would be when connected to an RV.   It may hold for a short while but will soon blow off.   Besides that, it isn't polite or ethical to hog the faucet.   One of the reasons they use unthreaded faucets is to discourage semi-permanent connections since the faucets are shared by several users.

If you use a "water thief" to fill your RV fresh water tank, be considerate of other campers who may be waiting to use the faucet.  The number and location of faucets in the campground is intended to give reasonable access to water based on the number of campsites each faucet is expected to serve and short uses for each site.  If you tie it up for a long time filling a 100 gallon RV tank you may be depriving other campers much needed and deserved access.  If you need to fill a large RV fresh water tank, do it when other usage is low.  Avoid tying up the faucet around mealtimes.  Using a water thief to attach a hose to make filling your water jugs easier could actually help you reduce how long you are using the faucet since you can move the hose from jug to jug faster than you can switch jugs if you're filling them directly from the faucet.

"Water thief" adapters are usually available at most RV stores for around $5.00.  They take up little room in your camping supplies and can add convenience to your camping experience.

Fill 'er up!