Earlier in the month I talked about the problems that I’d had filling up the Motorhome at Moreton-in-Marsh and Henley Caravan Club Sites and I’ve now had a response from the Caravan Club.

I emailed the Caravan Club last week with a description of what had happened and asked for some advice and an explanation and received the following email.

“The fitment you have encountered on some sites is an anti-pollution device called a Nabic pipe interrupter. It is a mandatory Water Board requirement in some areas where for pressure reasons service points are directly mains fed rather than via a storage cistern.  Although we understand the drawbacks of this particular fitting very well we have managed to find nothing better on the market for the moment and others we have tried have been greatly inferior.  They work best if the back pressure is minimised ie gentle radius on the hose, no pinch points, and a relatively short unobstructed flow. A slightly larger diameter hose is beneficial but not all will have been modified.  The variations in motor van design are not helpful, and for the present we cannot find a more reliable system within the context of the regulations.”

I responded to this with the following;

For information my motorhome is an Autocruise Starseeker and the problem for me is that the water filler to my motorhome is not just an open hose.  The hose has a connector which limits the water pressure from the mains tap down to a level that will not cause any damage to the internal water pipes or connectors within the motorhome.  It normally takes quite a while to fill up.  Now with this arrangement it is impossible to fill my motorhome up using a tap with this interrupter fitted. Would you please let me have the names of the sites that have these interrupters fitted. I also wonder if you know whether the Camping and Caravanning Club are also fitting these interrupters?

Response from Caravan Club as follows;

“I am afraid I have no knowledge of the systems on C @ C Club sites but their choices will be the same ie convert all supplies to tank fed, fit an anti-backflow device or risk enforcement action.  I am sorry to say also that we do not have a record of where these devices are fitted – quite often it would have been a local action in response to a notice issued by the inspector for that area. You might consider serviced pitches where you would have access to your own tap and could connect this directly to your van ( which is why your vehicle has a limiter ). You would need to supply your own hose.  The handbook identifies sites which have them and we have an ongoing programme to add more. Sorry not to be more help.”

I’m very happy with the response generally and at least I know now what they are called although I will press for a list of the sites that do have them fitted already.

I’ll also now contact the Camping and Caravanning Club now that I know what they are called and find out if this issue is affecting them.