How to plumb in hot and cold water in a DIY campervan
- Bobil Vans
- Feb 27
- 5 min read
Campervan plumbing can be a hassle to get your head around. What inch plumbing piece needs to connect to this brass fitting? Do I need PTFE tape, what pipework size should I use, 10mm, 12mm, 15mm, copper pipe, plastic pipe? Compression fittings, pushfit?!
Hopefully this blogs vastly simplifies campervan plumbing and help you get on track for your campervan build, along with giving you a great option to simplify your campervan plumbing once and for all.
Which campervan plumbing system is best?
Whilst there is no "best" campervan plumbing system, we here at Bobil Vans have converted over two dozen vans, along with installing hundreds of hot water systems for all sorts of customers.
This means a lot of pipework, shower, taps, hot water in all variations, sizes and shapes of campers, from the smallest cars to the largest RV's.
We have found the easiest and most versatile campervan plumbing system to be John Guest 12mm pushfit pipe.
We will get into comparisons between different plumbing systems below so you can choose for yourself, but we rarely stray away from 12mm pushfit pipe and fittings.
What is needed for a campervan plumbing system?
Before we explain the different options for campervan plumbing, we should first explain what is needed for a full system.
Water Tanks
This one is pretty obvious, but you need somewhere to store your fresh water, and somewhere to store your used (grey) water. We sell a variety of water tanks here, but in short, you can use nearly any shape and size tank, so long as it fits your campervan.
Some people choose to store their tanks inside, our over wheel arch tanks are great for this as they save a lot of otherwise wasted space.
Alternatively, if you can fit water tanks underneath your van, this is the best space saving option. We've even gone so far as to design our own custom underslung tanks for the most common van conversion model - the Ducato/Boxer/Relay vans.
Water Pump
This pressurises your water lines, or in other words, pumps water from your fresh water tank into your sink and/or shower, giving you water pressure when you open the tap and a nice flow of water.
Pumps come with different pressures, usually measured in PSI or Bar. The higher the number, the stronger the jet of water, but generally also means the more water that you use per minute. Since water is a precious limited resource, especially when off-grid, bigger doesn't always mean better.
We sell the Seaflo Water pump, which has a 20 and 30PSI version. We've found 20PSI to be great from most campervans, and 30PSI pumps for the largest campervans, or ones with large water tanks and shower units.
Accumulator
An accumulator does 2 main things for a campervan plumbing system:
It tanks any water expansion in the cold water line, and water expands and contracts as it heats up/cools down.
It smooths the flow of water, prolonging the life of your water pump, preventing the pump from turning and on off constantly, and gives you a smoother flow of water out the tap
Sink/Shower Unit
Standard household sink and shower units work just fine in campervans, so pick the style you like the most and install away.
Different taps and showers can use different connectors, so be sure to make note of which types you need in order to connect onto your water pipes...
Water Pipe
This is the big one and what connects everything together. It's also the largest point of headache for most people, as you need to choose a standard, and then be sure to know all the connections you need as well, and make sure it all goes together in a vibrating metal box so that nothing leaks!
Which water pipe should I go for for my campervan?
There are several different pipe systems you can go for in your campervan, and they mostly fall into 2 categories: compression fitting and pushfit fittings (sometimes called John Guest pushfit).
Compression Fittings (copper pipe)
Compression fitting pipe systems is what is used commonly in UK households, and uses copper pipe with a variety of locking compression fittings to connect the copper pipe together. It's robust and has been used for decades.
Copper and and various fittings are really easy to pick up in almost any handware store, meaning finding the right fittings is easy. You can also call a regular plumber and they'd be able to take a look, fix and even potentially install your system for you, without having to find someone specialised in campervan plumbing.
The downside, is that copper cope is not all that flexible, meaning you need to solder elbow pieces and splitters together, which isn't always easy or neat, and takes time.
Pushfit Systems (John Guest)
Pushfit systems work differently. Instead of a compression fitting, pushfit is right in the name - you push the fitting onto the pipe, and it fits into place. No welding, no tightening. Easy peasy.
The pipe is plastic, and can be various sizes. 10mm, 12mm, 15mm and 22mm are available, with 12mm and 15mm being the most common.
When researching pushfit systems, you're bound to come across "John Guest" - this is simply a brand name, and they were the inventor of the pushfit pipe system.
12mm pushfit is specifically designed with campervans in mind, with a semi-flexible pipe, but its fittings are more expensive.
15mm pushfit is found in hardware stores and has rigid plastic pipe. Its fittings are often cheaper but the pipe isn't flexible for more connections are often needed.
How do I know how many connections are needed?
If you have all your components, then everything needs to be connected together with cold and hot water pipes connecting together. This can get rather complicated when trying to visualise and map out the route and connections for our campervan plumbing system.
That is why we have created 1 product that solves this issue completely.
We have produced our complete plumbing system - this has everything you need to connect your fresh water tank to your sink and shower, with every single connection and item in between accounted for, for both cold and hot water.
The above diagram shows you all the connections you need to make to link all components together. This can be done with copper or plastic pipe.
For our kit, we've gone with12mm John Guest pushfit pipe as it is flexible or easy to use. There are drain valves to drain the system, and isolation valves so you can shut water off if there are any leaks you need to fix, or need to work on your system.
John Guest pipework comes with a 50 year guarantee, so it is bound to outlast your campervan.
For more information, check out the product listing below.
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